Eug In Sin: Yeeesh...

Hi all,

I decided that I could do with some comedy today and am going to check out the latest Mr Bean movie (something Bean Holiday whatever). So, as an indication of how crowded this city can be and also Singaporeans creativity when it comes to entertainment, I joined the queue that snaked all the way out of the cinema to buy a ticket. Check this out, at 4.30pm, I can't buy a movie ticket for a 5.40pm movie for just myself! (yes, just myself) So I have to settle for a last row, side seat for the 7.30pm showing. Geez...at least the movie tickets here are cheap (SGD9.50) compared to Australia in general and the cinemas are nicer too.

It's been a while since my last post and yes, I've been a busy bee buzzing around. Just been back in Malaysia for work recently. It was good timing too since it's my brother's birthday today (happy birthday Dave) and I could take him out for dinner. Only one minor whinge about travelling to KL though - the Hotel Nikko charges RM220 (about SGD100) for transportation between the airport to the hotel. It's easily the most expensive one in all the countries that I've been too. Gee whiz...almost lost my cool on that. Compare it to catching the very, very nice and clean train to Central station for RM35 and if you're game, the Hotel Nikko is 6 stations from central station for RM1.

The Nikko hotel itself is what I would call "ordinary" in pure Aussie terms. And it's a recent jinx or something but soon as I stepped in the room and wanted to use the bathroom, I realised that it hasn't been cleaned and the last guest err...didn't seem to be able to aim straight. ;-)

Anyway...enough of KL...nothing significant there. Came back to Singapore for a day and then went off to Manila in the Philippines. I changed my flight on the day to an earlier one and then realised I was very, very late (as usual) for my flight. Got to the airport and the check-in counter lady said the flight was very full. She then left her counter and walked off to the ticketing counter and I'm going "Damn, am I too late for check-in? Nah...there's still 1 hr to go!" She then came back and again said the flight was very full. Then I noticed she took the blue coloured boarding pass and yippee, got myself a free upgrade for a three and a half hour flight. Can't complain! The Singapore Airlines service is first class. Good service, good food and check it out, in business class, we get these really nice headphones that completely cut out external noise. So there I was, enjoying my movie when there was a tap on my shoulders. I jumped a bit when I took the headphones off as it was so noisy! I guess I'm too used to cattle class.

It's my first trip to the Philippines (yippee...I can add another country to my map) and I must say it was a pleasant suprise how nice the city is. OK, maybe the Makati area is nicer since it's the financial district. Sure, the city is crowded and there are lots of traffic jams everywhere but the weather was nice and cool, and the atmosphere just reminds me of my home town 10 years ago. My home town is a resort town so you can imagine sitting next to the beach, enjoying a cool breeze, reading a book while sipping a nice Mai Tai type feeling. :-) As a way to describe how densely populated the city is, as the plane landed, I could see houses that share a common wall with the airport! And this is next to the runway. I wonder if people who grow up or live in these houses have very small ears? I can't imagine what the purported (sp?) 100dB noise churned out by planes taking off can do to one's ears.

As usual, there are lots of 'girls' hanging about the hotel and the Starbucks across the road. I don't think I've ever seen so many women hanging out in a Starbucks before. Sheeesh. Manila was again a fly-in, fly-out thing so nothing else much to write about. I stayed at the Shangri-la which was quite nice and it's located next to this big giant shopping centre. It actually feels quite safe to walk around at night and there's tons of security people everywhere. I went for dinner at the local TGIF. :-) OK OK...I didn't feel like trying their local fare which looked quite bland so decided to have a nice onion soup (which came with more cheese than soup) and a caesar's salad. It's probably not the most healthy combo in the world and oh yeah, plus onion rings too.

Couple of pictures. Might be a bit more grainy since I'm using my old phone now and it's only got a mere 1.3 Megapixels.