The City of Lions

Current System Configuration: Vacation Mode
BGM: Groovin' Magic by Round Table feat. NINO. The opening theme of Aim for the Top! 2: Diebuster. Cute, funky and retro.
Breakfast: Toast, scrambled eggs and ham
Lunch: Homemade beef stew and rice
Dinner: Mos Cheeseburger for the win!

Singapura, the City of Lions. Singapore.

It's my sixth day here, and I can defintely say that I like it here. I'm staying at my dad's condominium in the Siglap area (which is Singapore's equivalent to Ayala Alabang). It's a neat low-rise condo, with a pool and a gym and the like. It's very close to East Coast Road, where there are a lot of great places to eat.

The first thing that struck me when I got off the plane is the multicultural nature of this place. You can't look in a single direction without seeing people of several ethnic origins at a time. Chinese, Malays, Indians, and Caucasians. My dad says there's a growing Filipino population too.

Thus far, Singapore has been really easy to adapt to. I'm the kind of person who can easily appreciate foreign cultures. Thankfully, most of the people here can speak English (albeit sometimes hard-to-understand Singlish), so communication isn't much of a problem.

Singapore's a great place to go shopping. We just came from the Orchard Road area today, which is rather like Makati's Ayala Center, except a lot bigger. We ate at Mos Burger (a Japanese fast food chain) at Ngee Ann City Takashimaya. There's a bunch of malls packed closely together along Orchard Road. There's even a mall that has signs in Tagalog! (Lucky Plaza, which my dad says is a hangout for Filipina domestic helpers. Lots of pinoys there, indeed.) There were so many Tagalog signs that it looked like Greenhills.

It's really easy to go around the city. Walking is safe. People respect traffic lights and as far as I've seen the streets don't have any sinister-looking elements. The MRT system is cheap and fast, although it tends to get packed at certain times of the day. The MRT system also shares the same fare card with the bus system, so there's no need to carry several fare cards at a time. You can even use the fare card to pay at McDonald's!

I just walked to the nearby Starbucks along East Coast Road. The baristas there were a lot more friendly than they are in Manila. They really attempt to strike up a conversation. I've only met one barista in the Philippines who has done that. I got a bit confused, though, as the menu was a bit different. Instead of my regular single mocha frappuccino, I got an espresso frappuccino. The taste wasn't as strong as I'd expected, but it was fine.

I've yet to go to the regular tourist spots (Sentosa), since we're still waiting for my brother to arrive from the US. I expect things to become even more fun once he gets here. I look forward to my mom's arrival too. Expect an update from me soon.

~Where the Lions tread~
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ー黒獅子アスラン