Singapore Trip Day 4 Part 3 - See You Again Merlion

The coming of nightfall signals the end of this journey. It's uncertain when we shall see our friends or Singapore again, but we have no regrets as we made the most out of this trip. Thanks to TC for planning this trip, Ji who made the draft for our itinerary, our hospitable friends who went out of their way to accomodate us and the Singaporeans for making Singapore the way it is today. ^^


It was 8pm of July 26, 2009 when we left Akashi after a delicious dinner courtesy of Che and Mon to rejoin my folks...
The Departure
It was a cinch to get back to Clarke Quay from Vivo City via MRT, in about 45 minutes we were back at Novotel to get on the cab. There were still a lot of time, but we had to stop by the customs to refund our tourist tax at the GST Refund counter. Of course, we were back at the budget terminal.

Selected items can avail Tax Refund for tourists. Ask the merchants before purchasing, of course, you need to keep the receipts ;).


A sign in the airport - Male Toilet, or for kids who aren't potty trained *snicker*.
Our parting meal... Double Wasabi Fish Fillet :9, now this trip has gone full circle.

Here's the security, the lounge area, and the gate to the plane. You can buy last minute pasalubong at the duty free stalls, or you can sit in one of their comfortable couches. There's even a couple of massage chairs that simulate hand massage for the legs popularized by Osim, not sure what brands these are though.



Love this shot ^^!


We have arrived at our destination, thank you for flying Cebu Pacific :)
My Loot
Here's some preview of each notable item I brought back from the trip.

Zumreed Headphones
Cute and functional as advertised. This is also my first set of headphones, it's worth every penny ♥.

Western Digital MyBook External Harddisk (1Tb)
This purchase was really planned and it is serving its purpose as secondary storage aside from my laptop's limited space. At S$179.00 you can't go wrong with this. (note: There was a Seagate 1.5Tb that has more value per money, but Ji was more biased towards MyBook :p)

Bossini Shirt
Ji and I bought a pair of shirts that complement each other, hopefully this one's not available in the Philippines. The exclusivity gives it more value lolz.

Saint Seiya Figures
Mission accomplished! I was able to get the just released Andromeda God Cloth priced at around S$85, which I was really aiming for since it's going to cost a lot more than it should if I get it shipped or from a local store. Now, hopefully I'd also have opportunities to get my hands on the 3 remaining God Cloths of the other bronze saints (Dragon, Cygnus and Phoenix).

God Cloth Andromeda Shun will go nicely beside God Cloth Pegasus Seiya!
I'm NOT sorry I spent more than I should've :D 'cause I bought two more figures... The Pisces Gold Cloth and Virgo Gold Cloth! Hooray! The two remaining Gold Cloths from the 12 zodiacs I'm searching for a decent price, especially since the Pisces was particularly hard to find by this time, now this set is finally complete.

Pisces Aphrodite, the beautiful saint. Virgo Shaka, the one closest to god.
Ok, I lied, there's one more figure :p and it's the stalwart of Hades' army, Pandora! She comes with a huge harp. This is a premium figure in Japan and the only way to get her there is by sending in purchase coupons from other figures. This one is a bit more expensive than I was hoping for since it's a consignment item.

Extra generic Canon digicam battery
This should come in handy, though the IXUS 990 SD is very efficient in terms of battery usage, taking videos on it drains it relatively fast.

Novotel Hotel Card
Oops! I have no intention of taking this back as a souvenir... honest! -_-'

Plum Liquer?
This one is from JR :D I've tried it and it actually packs a punch!

Recap
A lot of sleep was sacrificed in order to make the most out of this trip but it couldn't be helped, and all that continuous walking with deprived rest caused a strain on my lower back for at least a week (;_;)... I've met most of the people I know in Singapore, got to see a lot of sites, chowed on some of the most delicious food, fulfilled my shopping list, and spent time with some of the most important people in my life ^_^ I couldn't ask for more. Admittedly, it's tiring to recall and compose these articles of our travelogue but I surely enjoyed it and hope you also enjoyed reading. However, I know that there's still a lot left to be experienced in Singapore, heck I'd want to revisit most of these places as well. While it's uncertain when we'll get the chance to visit again, we'll be sure to share the experience with you ;).

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A Couple of Years After

See this item here?

It's one of my bag must-haves - along with my wallet, keys, mobile phone, kikay kit, and planner. If you haven't figured out what it is, it's my 2 years and 4 months old Nintendo DS Lite. Since it is it's 2nd year, I'm giving you two reasons why this here is special to me: (1) it was given to me by Rai as a birthday gift and (2) the cover artwork is me (back when I was still sporting a semi-curly hair), drawn and colored by none other than Rai (yep, he draws and is good at it :) now that's a Rai trivia for you).

Two years ago, I was still bent on purchasing a PSP. I remember chatting with him about this when he suggested NDS Lite instead. He thought it matched my personality better. I had to research and check out the difference between those two as well as the games available for each one. I later found out that some people think that DS is for kids while the other is not. If that's what Ken meant when he suggested DS for me, I can only guess. :p

Honestly, I'm not much of a gamer. As a kid, I didn't spend much time playing family computer or what-have-you's and was more into reading. The end result is that now, I can't relate to most people when they discuss 80's games. Being a late bloomer that I am, I am discovering some classic and/or famous games because of this handheld game console.

In two years, this handy gadget became a reminder of some sort of how Rai has influenced me to nurture that kid in me. It kept me company during long MRT rides. It had been a tool to inculcate fun bonding moments with our close office-friends. I'd say it has served its purpose... and still continues to do so. :)

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Scribblenauts - Write Anything. Solve Everything

This is one of the best games ever made, and by best I mean intuitive, clever and original. In this age where everybody relies on graphics, gameplay and originality are usually compromised. Unsuspectingly 5th Cell, the makers of Scribblenauts for NDS, was able to pull out from their magic hat a never before seen trick.



Retrieve the starite

With Scribblenauts you can virtually write any object to help you solve each level. You can use the freehand notepad or the keyboard to conjure almost limitless possibilities.

With over a hundred levels, each rated by a four star difficulty, your objective as Maxwell is to complete each scenario and acquire the starite. Earn ollars as you progress to purchase new levels. After completing each level it will turn to a star icon to represent your completion, reentering the level will trigger advance mode where you are to complete the level 3 times in a row with the added challenge that any item used during the attempt cannot be used again for the duration of the challenge.

There are two types of levels: puzzle and action. Puzzles are levels where you are faced with a situation that you need to solve like producing an item that fits the requirement, whereas action usually deals with trap doors, switches and may require some dexterity. Of course, this game is not without flaw and the main problem would usually be the tendency of action levels becoming repetitive, but one would argue that it depends on the limitations of one's imagination.



Here's a list of interesting/useful objects I often use during gameplay.
Note: I'll be updating the list from time to time whenever I find something worthy ;)

Combining objects

• Glue
  
• Paste
  
• Tape

Connecting objects

• Cable
  
• Chain
  
• Rope
  
• Vine

Digging

• Jackhammer
  
• Shovel
  
• Spade
  

Flight Small scale (short flight but useful in tight spaces)

• Jetpack
  
• Magic broom
  
• Magic carpet
  
• Wings

Medium scale (permanent flight but limited power to tow)

• Pegasus
  
• Pterodactyl (faster)
  
• Sphinx
  

Big scale (bulky but more powerful) Needs runway

• Plane (all variations)

Omni-directional and floats in air

• Balloon (hot air balloon)
  
• Bomber (stealth bomber and can drop bombs)
  
• Rocketship
  
• Space shuttle (same as rocketship)
  
• UFO (the tractor beam below can lift objects but can also be troublesome)

Hooking

• Fishing rod
  
• Grappling hook

Platforms

• Bridge ladder
  
• Drawbridge

Friendly super powered beings

• God
  
• Superhero
  
• Zeus - see God

Interesting Villains

• Gorgon - turns people into stone, upon defeat, the head can be used once.
  
• Medussa - see Gorgon
  
• Vampire - turns people into ghouls
  
• Witch - uses a wand to turn people into frogs and eats them (ugh)

Unclassified but quite useful

• Blackhole - destroy almost everything in radius before dissipating
  
• Electricity - electrocutes (SPOILER: works wonders on switches)
  
• Garlic - kills a vampire upon contact
  
• Ghost - for scaring unarmed people, does not kill unless provoke
  
• Lightning - see electricity
  
• Magnet - easily attaches with glue, attracts metal
  
• Mech - mobile and shoots bullets!
  
• Poison - very useful for taming beasts such as T-Rex.
  
• Metal spike - very very destructive on contact
  
• Sun - lights a dark area and kills vampires
  
• Thunder - see electricity
  
• Toxicwaste (solid) - make animals sick on contact, turns humans to mutants
  
• Tractor beam - pulls anything in range
  
• Wormhole (destructive) - works exactly like blackhole
  
• Wormhole (intergalactic) - pulls from space a random intergalactic hostile being

Establishments These things don't have much use but usually spawn something

• Heaven - God
  
• Hell - devil
  
• Tomb - spawn limitless zombies (limited to a few onscreen)

Just Interesting

• Edy - summons a T-Rex with bandanna and cannot be tamed
  
• Maxwell - evil look alike that steals items
  
• Meteor - if dropped from sky, destroys everything including Maxwell
  
• Nuke - once activated, destroys everything including Maxwell
  
• Starite
  
• Teleporter
  
• Tsunami - destroys everything including Maxwell
  
• Time machine
  
• Win - gives you a useless starite

You are free to contribute by sending me PMs or post it in the comments below ;)

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Singapore Trip Day 4 Part 1 - A Haven Called Chinatown

Related posts in series:

Singapore Trip Day 3 Part 3 - Drummer Girls and a Guitar Hero
Singapore Trip Day 4 Part 2 - Ikea and Akashi

Before we started on this trip, the thought of visiting Chinatown and checking out all the hobby centers was already on my mind. The thrill of hunting for that missing figure for your set, not knowing if you'll be able to find it or not and at what price. Like walking through a gallery as the store collection display their merchandise as these figures have gone beyond the level of mere plaything and have reached artwork status. Or even a museum for these nostalgic memorandum of the past.

I held back my anxiety as each day we had to bump Chinatown to give way to other activities... until at last, 26th July 2009 arrived and I need not wait any longer ^___^.




Deprived of sleep since the first day, the previous night was no different as Ji and I stayed with the college gang until the wee morning. I really really really wanted to stay in bed longer, but time is of the essence and I will have no regrets.

I can feel a headache coming on...

On this day, everybody (my folks and my cousins, aunt and uncle) are going with us to Chinatown. Although we planned to leave early, we were met with some delays due to a large group. Finally we arrived at the destination via MRT by 11:00am.

All those shops and sidewalk vendors are located right as you exit the subway. This area looks entirely different. I ♥ Chinatown even if the hobby centers are not located here!

Time to split up again to cover more ground, I doubt anybody else is interested with these figures except for Ji and Kat, Rache and Sab's sister who was not able to join our trip. Paui was quite hospitable by offering to wake up early and act as our tour guide ^_^, he saved us a lot of time and effort to search all the malls and buildings in the area. We hit the jackpot on the first building that Paui recommended, which also happened to be where TC got me my last batch of figures :).



Need to remember that exit number NE4-Chinatown, my folks went on the exact opposite direction, their exit is on the other side of this one.


The architecture here is entirely different. Gotta love that change in atmosphere.


With the use of the map at the station, we walked in one direction, all the way to reach the China Square Central


Once inside, almost instantly, my attention went to the display on the stores. There are two shops here that are noteworthy, Playbar and ToyNToys. Obviously most of the shop owners are Chinese, since we're in Chinatown but interestingly, the head person in Playbar is Indian. I found my prospected Andromeda God Cloth here for a relatively lower price, the shopkeeper wouldn't give me a discount stating that all prices are already fixed since there's no point in haggling - I wonder if that's true if you purchase multiple items. ToyNToys on the other hand is most noticeable due to its size.






There were also stalls in the center of the floor and just outside the stores. There's two floors to explore here and fortunately I found everything I was looking for!


And who says I was the only one who had fun... Ji found something that appeals to her and made some friends ^ ^.


Seems like Cinnamoroll at the back caught her eye and some hand bags.

Mission accomplished! It's already time to meet up with everybody as the clock strikes 1:00pm and discuss plans... we're supposed to finish all our personal business as we are near the end of this trip. Personally, I only made plans up to this point :p.

Related posts in series:

Singapore Trip Day 3 Part 3 - Drummer Girls and a Guitar Hero
Singapore Trip Day 4 Part 2 - Ikea and Akashi

Read more...