After food tripping at Food Rep, my friends and I headed to Sentosa.  I initially wanted to go to Universal Studios Singapore. Unfortunately, it was fully booked despite trying to get tickets a week before. Probably it was just because of the Halloween weekend. Perhaps on my next trip =.P

Due to time constraints, I wasn’t able have have my picture taken with actual Merlion. Good thing Sentosa has its own. Hehe.

My chaperones (back left to right) Rom and Obet, (front left to right) Kid and Anna.

In Sentosa, I went to:

• Sights of Singapore museum tour
• Luge and Skyride
• Bikini Bar

Wait for my next posts.

Kaya is a local spread eaten on toast with butter. Yum! I ate the the famous Ya Kun Kaya Toast. They have a lot of branches in the city. My friends also recommended Toast Box.

Ya Kun (Far East Plaza)
14 Scotts Road
#01-16 Far East Plaza
Singapore 228213

Yes. This is an adult store.

Adult stores aren’t new.  However, it’s the location of this store that surprises me.  Usually, stores like this are in “hidden” locations.  They are usually not on high-traffic areas.  Not for House of Condom. It’s at the front side of Lucky Plaza, along Orchard Road, no less, which is probably the busiest street in Singapore. And there stands this store.

House of Condom
Lucky Plaza
Orchard Road
Singapore

He lives near Orchard Rd. To get to his place (according to Google Maps), I have to:

1. Take the free shuttle from Budget Terminal to Terminal 2 (where the MRT Station is)
2. Take the MRT green line to City Hall (NS25 / EW13)
3. Transfer to the MRT red line
4. Take another MRT to Orchard Road (NS22)
5. Walk to his place from there.

Here’s what the Changi MRT station looks like…  wow!

Most stations also have doors on the waiting platform.

Safe. Spacious. Clean. Convenient. Easy.  You simply buy the EZ-Link Card and go! You can also use this smart card when riding a bus.

Technically, I wasn’t really alone. I have managed to make some friends at the Airport. Meet Ronald (a Burmese national) and his nephew, John (picture at the right).

Some MRT ads…

ALL trains have designated areas / “reserved seats” for the elderly, pregnant women, people with disability and people traveling with kids/babies.  There’s also a jingle that plays to promote the seats. It goes (sings…) “Give up give up give up you seat for those in need. Love your ride!”

Finally, the map in the MRT has indicator lights.  You’ll know:

• what stations your train will be covering
• what your current station is
• what’s the next station

You’ll also know on what side will the doors open.

We ordered pasta. It was good but I wasn’t quite happy with it.

I will recommend however their pizza. We tried their Quattro Stagioni. In Italian, it means “the four seasons pizza.” The pizza has 4 flavors… Aria (smoked ham), olives, seafood, and mushrooms.

Establishment: Aria
What to order: Pizza. I recommend Quattro Stagioni.
Location: D’Mall, Station 2

Here’s an incomplete photo of the group…

Here’s the complete photo of the group (minus Chester, the photographer. hehe)…

Guys and gals, thank you so much for making my first climb fun and memorable! =.D

• http://www.alegre.ph/portal/2008/11/27/off-to-mt-pulag/
• http://www.alegre.ph/portal/2008/11/28/my-26-lbs-bag-for-mt-pulag/
• http://www.alegre.ph/portal/2008/12/02/mt-pulag-my-first-climb/
• http://www.alegre.ph/portal/2008/12/02/my-26-lbs-bag-for-mt-pulag-updated/
• http://www.alegre.ph/portal/2008/12/02/last-supper-at-italiannis/
• http://www.alegre.ph/portal/2008/12/03/trip-to-baguio/
• http://www.alegre.ph/portal/2008/12/03/over-or-under/
• http://www.alegre.ph/portal/2008/12/03/next-stop-denr-visitor-station/
• http://www.alegre.ph/portal/2008/12/03/next-stop-ranger-station/
• http://www.alegre.ph/portal/2008/12/03/climbing-mt-pulag/
• http://www.alegre.ph/portal/2008/12/04/the-longest-night-of-my-life/
• http://www.alegre.ph/portal/2008/12/04/to-the-summit-of-mt-pulag/

To read my blogs related to Mt. Pulag, visit:

http://www.alegre.ph/portal/tag/mt-pulag/

If you want to subscribe thru RSS feed, subscribe to:

http://www.alegre.ph/portal/tag/mt-pulag/rss

I’ll probably be writing a couple more entries on this topic.

Around 5:00 am, we started to climb to the summit.  It was dark and muddy.  Halfway thru the trail, the wind started to blow again. Towards the end of the trail to the summit, it was drizzling again. I felt cold again.

The 2-hour seemed too long.  The hills seemed endless.  But finally we got there.

It felt good being on top of Mt. Pulag. However, it was a bit frustrating because there was no site to see. It was foggy, windy and rainy.  Later we found out that it’s best to climb Mt. Pulag during summers.

It was my first time to climb. I practically wasn’t physically fit for this climb. Thus, reaching the summit of Pulag was an achievement for me.

Soon as I was inside, I changed to prepare for the cold night.  I wore thermals underneath. On top of that, I wore a thick cotton or wool jogging pants, football socks and another pair of cotton socks for my legs.  For my my upper body and on top of my thermals, I was wearing my Men’s Health T-shirt, white long sleeves, Ateneo jacket.  Moreover, I was also wearing a scarf around my neck, hand gloves, and a thick bonnet.

The wind was blowing so hard that you hear it whistle from inside the tent.  Moreover, it was also raining.  The water was sipping inside the tent that we had to put Verchie’s poncho over out tent.

By 7:00 pm, I already felt cold.  I was trying to sleep but the cold weather kept me awake. This would soon become the the longest night of my life. Then, an unwanted thing happened. CRAMPS! Both of my legs!  It hurt so bad that I was screaming inside the tent that I awakened Narod.  He told me that the cramps was probably due to cold weather.  He advised me to just relax my legs and keep it warm.

Around 9:00 pm, I heard voices outside the tent talking about Adobo, our dinner.  It was too cold for me to go outside. Moreover, I didnt wanna risk changing my position on my sleeping bag. Changing my trigger another attack of cramps. Thus, I had no dinner that night.

I tried sleeping again.  Unfortunately, I would be awakened every half an hour.  Most of the time, it was because of my wet head caused by the water the sipped thru the tent. The poncho was too small to cover the whole tent.  I had to wipte my head and the wet walls of the tent.

There were times when I woke up shivering. I would try to look for an extra clothing to put on but I have already used all of my clothes.  The clothes I wore during the trek were already wet including the shemag and bonnet, which would have helped a lot in keeping me warm.

I also had a couple of bad dreams. I would wake up gasping for air.  It was very unpleasant.

Next thing I knew it was 2:45 am (November 30, Sunday) and I could hear the alarm clock in my cellphone.  Shortly after, Narod woke up. He went outside to take a smoke.  I remember him not finishing his cigarette because of the cold weather outside the tent.  We later found out that the temperated dropped to as low as 11 degree celcius.

Around that time, it was very peaceful. Everyone was still asleep. There was no wind blowing.  But it was extremely cold, it’s like you’re inside the freezer.

But despite the cold, the sky was so clear. It was filled with stars.  I’ve never seen the sky so clear and so beautiful.  I tried taking a picture of the sky but I had limited equipment.  Here’s the attempt from my SE K750i camphone…

Overall, the experience was very humbling.