IT KNIGHTS INVADE SINGAPORE!
Hi everyone! been out of blogging for a long time. Well that’s because senior life was hella busy and gives me no time to check my tumblr anymore. Anyway, since I am here again, i wanna share to everyone my recent experience at SINGAPORE. Yes you read it right, Singapore. I went there last week and I have so much to blog about it. okay to start of..
The Letran Information Technology batch 2012 (that’s us) had an education tour at Singapore. Left Philippines last February 1 and stayed at SG until February 5. The tour’s main objective was for us to be exposed in a country where there’s a lot of innovation. Since we are IT people we need to be knowledgeable with these kind of matters. Technology is very much utilized in Singapore and we IT students have to adopt with the fast and growing generation of these. It will surely benefit us when we are in the real world, eventually. So moving on, we have an Itinerary of the whole tour. From Day 1 to Day 4, we have a place to go, schedules to meet and plans to do. So let me detail it for you. :)
Feb. 1, 2012 (DAY 1): BYE PHILIPPINES! HELLO SG!! :))
So our flight from NAIA was scheduled 6:30 in the morning and the estimated arrival at Changi Airport was 10:00 am. We are actually ahead of the estimated arrival because the time we landed at Singapore was around 9:40 am. I find Changi Airport better that the other airports I’ve been before. And obviously, it’s way better that our NAIA. :D (click on the photo for the larger view)
all photos are taken at Changi Airport
So how did we spent our first morning at Singapore? Of course, as a tourist we first roamed around the City. And with help of our Tour Guide, Mr. Ken, he toured us with so much stories to tell along the way. Like for example, he told us the story behind the name “SINGAPORE”. Singapore is an english name from a malay word “Singapura” which means the Lion City. Singa = Lion and Pura = City. Okay, you get my point. :)
currently in the bus when I took this photo. A view of marina bay.
Our first stop was at CHINA TOWN for lunch. The very famous Peking duck was my first choice.
The name says it all . :))
Roasted Pecking Duck to be exact only for 3 SGD. :)
Then after lunch we head out to Thian Hock Keng Temple, one of Singapore’s oldest Buddhist-Taoist temple.
at Thian Hock Keng Temple with Ma’am Grace. :)
It’s only a small place so we didn’t stay too long. Afterwards, we went to Merlion Park. Of course we must not miss a photo opportunity with the famous mythical creature of Half Lion and Half Mermaid, THE MERLION.
TADA!!! :))
IT KNIGHTS WITH ZE MERLION! yahooo! :D
Okay, So much for the Merlion. We had plenty of photo souveneirs with this mythical creature. Enough to say that ” YEAH! WE ARE OFFICIALLY IN SINGAPORE!! ” haha! :)) And soooooo, the next destination was at LITTLE INDIA, a market where all the people are indians, obviously :D We went to a mall, not really sure of the name but we went there to find a money changer because from that time I still don’t have a single SGD. Fortunately,we found one. hooooray! So we strolled around to see something to buy but we saw none. Nevertheless, we still appreciated the visit at Little India. :)
Now my favorite part of the day. CHECK-IN AT THE HOTEL!! wuhu! check-in means room and room means bed and bed means sleeeeeeeep! HAHA! :))) The hotel where we stayed is named HOTEL ROYAL located at Newton Road. As we arrive at the hotel, met a filipino employee already. We are very much glad to talk to him. :) Moving on, my roomates are Gwen and Ara. As we got our key card, we immediately ran up the elevator and went to our room, chose a bed and jumped on it right away. HAHA! We are craving for sleep, really. So we had a quick nap and woke up around 8:30. We prepped up for dinner and went out to find a place where we can eat. We found the nearest food center which was the NEWTON FOOD CENTRE. As I entered the place I said to myself ” now this is what I call singapore cuisine” So much stalls to choose from.
hotel entrance.
Our Precious beds! HAHA!
hello! :D
this was my dinner. I forgot what it is. Sorry. But it’s delish. promise. :D
FEB. 2, 2012 (DAY 2): MICROSOFT AND UNIVERSAL STUDIOS! LEGGO!
Our calltime for this day was 8:00 am in the morning so we had an early wake up call. We woke up around 6:00 am, prepped ourselves and had our buffet breakfast. Food was superb. My Tummy was really satisfied. :))
breakfast.:) munched down loads of carbohydrates for that very loooong day. haha!
Started day 2 at Microsoft Office/ School Technology Innovation. Had 3 Seminars, one is for the Windows phone, Second is for the IT Global Job opportunities and the last one was all about The Cloud. But before these seminars started we are toured around the office, especially at their newely transferred Microsoft Technology Center. They got this Data Center which was built in a more Eco-friendly environment. Instead of using the AC with the highest temperature it can give, this data center was built with only water and pipes for the servers to be maintained. No more high electricity involved. Also, they showed us the feature of XBOX Kinect and the newest Windows phone which is the Nokia Lumia 900. Since some of the hubs are not yet finished already. We only saw few then afterwards we went back to the conference room for the seminars. Will not detail anymore what happened to those 3 seminars but one thing I can say, it was all informative and made me more inspired. :)
Got cool shirts. :)
We are Microsoft Certified! yeah! :D
Then the time came for the most awaited part of the day. UNIVERSAL STUDIOS, baby! :))) Tickets were already distributed and our advisers gave us all the rest of the day.
They have the most awesomeness attractions. and I think all of them are my favorite. :D but here’s my top 3. brace yourselves! :)
THE REVENGE OF THE MUMMY! This is my top 3. Man this ride can give you the chills. With their scary visual effects, this ride will never fail you. Thumbs up!
BATTLESTAR GALACTICA: HUMAN VS CYLON. The world’s tallest pair of dueling roller coaster. This freakin’ ride is my top 2! When you say the word Galatica expect me to screeeeeeam as an answer back. haha! I just so enjoyed this ride. Rode it twice actually and still craving for more. If you want thrill,fast,heights and lots of loops. Galactica will give it to you. Do I sound excited? because I really do, typing this paragraph made me feel hyped! haha! SUPER THUMBS UP!
and yes! down to my Top 1! THE TRANSFORMERS 3D! yahoooo! One word to describe this ride.. GENIUS! Can’t even compare it to other rides. It is a 3D movie/rollercoaster ride. 2 in 1! what can you ask for? and tell you what, 3D effects is at it’s best! Never saw Optimus Prime, Bumble bee and Megatron that close to my eyes and hands until I rode this. SUPER MEGA THUMBS UP! :D
After all the rides, it’s good to cool down a little. We saw the Streetboys who was about to perform. PINOY PRIDE is the name! Felt so proud when our kababayan were receiving applause from people of different nations. Hands down to Streetboys. Still awesome as they were. Speaking of Pinoy Pride, care to watch this video. He is a good friend of mine and this video knocked me out with laughter. HAHA! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GQH9qrpP9w
at the end of the day, We were all tired but hey, nothing beats having loads of fun especially when you’re with awesome friends. :D returned to the hotel for rest and dinnah!
Had our dinner at Velocity. A mall nearby Hotel Royal then went to CLARKE QUAY. A place where bars and liquors are your company. haha! So we went there via LRT. There is a big difference of experience riding the LRT here than our very own. Believe me. Trains are fast, stations are clean, people are giving and well disciplined and most importantly,convenient to transport on.
See the comfort and convenience? haha!
So this is Clarke Quay, we didn’t had booze but we just stayed along the riverside and had some random stories and laughs. Then went back to the hotel to rest.
February 3, 2012 (DAY 3): OH ROBOTICS, WE MEET AGAIN. :)
Day 3 was for the Robotics Seminar held at Singapore Science Center. We spent the whole day learning, building and playing with robots.My groupsmates are Val and Clarisa. yeah! All girls team. :) Our mentor was a Filipino but unfortunately he is not quite good in tagalog. Okay, so he thought us first the basic elements of robotics. Then he introduced to us RoboRobo. RoboRobo is the name of the robot we built. It is a car that has a controller that has a capability to move/push things. Let me show photos of what we had been through this seminar.
A RoboRobo ready to be born. :D
see the progress? haha!
After the building part, now it’s time to program. Our mentor taught us to program where the IDE was also the same with environment we used in our thesis. So, I’m quite sure I already know what I’am doing. After all the building and programming, Here come’s the fun part. It’s time to test these robot it the battle field. :))
This is the battlefield. a Real Steal in reality. :) 2 Teams will fight and control their robots. The goal is to push the two bottles in the center. First robot to do so,wins. Unfortunately for my team, we got lost because of technical problem. But it’s okay, who knew that playing with robots can be this fun and cool. :))
The robotics session ended with a bang! Had a chance to watch the Tesla Coil demonstration. It was pretty cool. Scientifically cool, I mean. :D Tesla Coil was invented by Nikola Tesla.It is a high-frequency air core transformer that produces large amount of electricity. here are some photos..
See those people holding fluorescent lamps? Tesla Coil made them light up. Look how the the electricity strikes from the Tesla Coil to the lamps. Cool isn’t it? :)
That lady over is or classmate, myka. She was called as a volunteer to sit inside that cage while the Tesla Coil is on. So what the demonstrators wants to prove was, though someone is inside, He/She will not be electrocuted due to cage she;s in to. The stainless steal cage absorbs the electricity given by the Tesla Coil and makes the person inside the cage harmless. :)
See that balloon? Tesla Coil made it popped and flamed. So the demonstrators asked us what kind of air was in that balloon. Why does it flamed? Is it helium or hydrogen? Here’s to find out the answer…
BOOM! awesome shot I got here. :) Photo grabbed from Clarisa Velasco. The answer is HYDROGEN. Why? When the Tesla Coil was turned on, few seconds later the balloon burst into flame. Why? because hydrogen produces fire when immersed in electricity. Pretty cool! :)
So our day ended at Singapore Science Center after that demonstration. But wait, there’s more. :)) Returned back to hotel, had a short rest then went swimming in the hotel pool. :)
Not so bad. :) Water’s warm. HAHA had a quick dip in the pool because we still have to go somewhere in the evening.
Left the hotel and went to the place where the SINGAPORE FLYER is. Singapore Flyer is a Giant Observation Ferris Wheel. It reachers 42 stories high with a total height of 165 m or 541 ft. (i googled this one :D) making it the TALLEST FERRIS WHEEL IN THE WOOOOORLD! :))) One capsule can accommodate 28 persons. Good thing we are many, almost half of the MCSE-4A. yahooo!
View from below.
:)
on board already. Inside the capsule. :)
<3 :)
We were freaks jumpin’ up and down but no worries, it doesn’t wobble anyway. HAHA. We got really excited as we approach the peak. :) Must show ya’ll the beautiful view of Singapore from above.
Here you go! Breathtaking view from the peak. :) Credits to Clarisa Joyce and JM Teruel for these photos. :)
You know what’s rude? it’s after we ride the Singapore Flyer, fireworks burst in the sky. We should have got better shots with those fireworks while we in the ride. HAHA! See for yourselves.
After the ride we ate dinner at MAKANSUTRA GLUTTONS BAY. Had a One time bigtime expensive cuisine. haha!
yum! yum! :D
Returned at the hotel and bought some beers for a little booze. hihi. What do you expect on a last night at the hotel. :))
at our room. :)
We have no other choice but Carlsberg. The only beer we are familiar with. HAHA! The rest of the stories that night is now history! :)))
FEB. 4, 2012 (DAY 4): SHOPPING ALL DAY = TIRED AND BROKE! :D
It was our last day and our advisers gave us the free will to do what we need/want to do. FREE DAY is SHOPPING DAY! So we went to different malls,Looked for pasalubongs and own personal things.
Went to ORCHARD where everything is branded and expensive. HAHA! Kidding! Afterwards, we went to LUCKY PLAZA, It’s like a 168 mall only in Singapore version.
Then went to FUNAN where you can find all the didital stuff you want. A mall full of gadgets. Gwenneth bought an Ipod Touch White here. Price was really worth it.
Then went to BUGIS for more pasalubong! haha!
End our day with a dinner and went straight back to the hotel for check-out. Prepped our luggage and boarded at the tour bus for the ride to Changi Airport.
Flight back to manila is at 2:20 am of Feb 5, 2012. BYE SINGAPURA and HELLO AGAIN PILIPINAS.
THANK YOU SO MUCH SINGAPORE FOR A VERY AWESOME EXPERIENCE. WILL BE BACK FOR YOU. I PROMISE! <3
So this is the end of my blog. i hope I didn’t bore you out. :D but I’m pretty sure I didn’t because my stories and experiences are one of a kind and extraordinary. Thanks for letting me share it with ya’ll! <3 :)
