SINGAPORE AIRPORT BUDGET TERMINAL

Late in the afternoon it was time for us to get ready for our flight back to Manila, Philippines. We arrived at the Singapore Airport Budget Terminal about 3 hours before our scheduled departure. The Budget Terminal is a 25,000 square metres single-storey terminal, which comprises two adjacent areas for departure and arrival.

The airport Check in Hall has airline service counter, AXS machine, baggage weighing machine, children's play area, custom inspection for GST Refund, lost and found / left baggage counter, POSB automated teller machine, post box and public phones. For those who are a bit hungry, you can grab a bite at Han's Café and Bakery.

Check in Hall Check in Counter Han's Café and Bakery

There are two GST refund operators in the Budget Terminal, namely Global Refund and Premier Tax Free. These are for visitors to Singapore, who are entiled to claim back the Goods and Services Tax (GST) paid on their purchases when they take them home. A 5% Goods and Services Tax (GST) is levied on most goods and services. One needs to spend S$ 100 or more to qualify for the refunds. Since we were too early at that time, hubby went first to the Customs officer who is located in the check in hall for GST refund. He just showed the goods together with the refund cheque / voucher, receipts and passport.

After checking-in, we entered the Departure Lounge (Restricted Area). The lounge has a free internet kiosks, free laptop access, free local calls, GST Refund Agencies - Global Refund & Premier Tax Free, money changer, outdoor smoking terrace, prayer room, POSB automated teller machine, post box and TV lounge - Channel 5 and Channel NewsAsia.

Free internet Kiosks and O'Brians Sandwich Bar

There are mixes of retail and F&B outlets at the departure lounge of the Budget Terminal such as DFS (liquor and tobacco), Nuance-Watson (perfumes & cosmetics), King Power (chocolate, candy and delicatessen), Carlo Rino and Hang Ten (fashion apparel & accessories), Times Newslink (books, magazines, & stationery), Mini Toons and Gifts & Accessories by International Gifts & Costume Jewellery Pte Ltd (gifts), King Power (general merchandise), Sports Connection (sporting goods), a mini mart 7-Eleven, Genki Sushi, O'Briens, Killiney Kopitiam and Polar Puffs and Cakes.

(1 photo source from tiffy of BudgetAirline.com)

SUNTEC CITY MALL

Suntec City Mall is a giant 83,850 square metre shopping mall in Singapore, with over 400 retail, dining, and entertainment outlets. It is divided into four thematic zones - Galleria, Tropics, Entertainment Centre and Fountain Terrace. This is also home to the World’s Largest Fountain, The Fountain of Wealth, a feng shui masterpiece that signifies the achievement of wealth and prosperity. You can enjoy here a nightly multimedia show of laser, lights and sounds. It stretches a kilometer across the mall. It was recorded in the 1998 edition of the Guinness Book of Records.

The Galleria showcases a wide selection of famous brand names such as Espirit, Raoul, Hush Puppies, G2000, La Senza (sexy lingerie from Canadian premier lingerie retailer) and trendy Spanish Fashion label Mango. There’s also an entire floor devoted to children, including Toys “R” Us, Cloud 9, Creative Art Corner, KiDstyle, Chateau de Sable, Crosscom, Seafolly Girl and Virtualand located at Level 3. Specialty shops offering home furnishings, casual wear, lingerie and leisure products are located in the Tropics zone. There is the worldwide French hypermart Carrefour, where you’ll find just about everything ranging from movies to music, food, car and household accessories, fashion, groceries, pharmaceuticals, electronics and more. There are also over 70 different restaurants, bars, pubs and fast food outlets at the Suntec City Mall.

Just a 10-minute walk from City Hall MRT station or walk through CityLink Mall to reach Suntec City.


Address:
Suntec City Mall
#3 Temasek Boulevard
Tel. 6825 2667 / 6825 2668

ESPLANADE MALL

Esplanade Mall offers over 9,600 sqm of exciting mix of retail, lifestyle and entertainment outlets over three level. There is the Library@esplanade, Singapore first performing arts library. Music aficionados can also check out Frank Brothers Violins, which sells vinyls and handcrafted musical instruments such as violins, violas and cellos. For souvenir hunters, you can stock up on Esplanade-themed keepsakes, chocolates, movie paraphernalia and customized teddy bears.

I already had in mind what to buy at the Esplanade Shop (located on the second level), which I ran across through surfing the net.



I acquired some Esplanade jewelries made of 92.5 sterling silver such as Silver Rear Studs (S$14.50 per pair) and Silver Bangle (S$29.50). I got a 30% discount (S$13.20), so I only paid S$30.80 for the two jewelries.

silver rear studs
silver bangle

Esplanade Shop is the main place in town for all things related to Esplanade. the specialty of the shop is exclusive Esplanade signature goods including commemorative coins, a variety of clothing items, soft-toys, post-cards, stationery and books on esplanade. Also available in the shop are perfromance related items such as CDs and books. Please remember the shop does not accept refund or exchange for all items purchased as stated on their receipt.

Address: Esplanade Mall
8 Raffles Avenue
Singapore
Open daily from 10am - 11pm

ESPLANADE - THEATRES ON THE BAY

The Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay is a glitzy, avant-garde perfroming arts and entertainment center located on six hectares of waterfront land alongside Marina Bay near the mouth of the Singapore River. It contains a 2,000 seat Theatre, Art Gallery, a 1,600 seat concert hall, two Studios, Concourse, Passages and Esplanade Mall sheltered under its large pair of metallic looking domes. Some say they resemble a pair of giant, metallic durians. Here you'll be able to catch some of the contemporary Asian and Western theatre, opera, musicals, dance perfromances and popular music concerts. You can also catch the free outdoor performances here on weekends.

One easy way you can explore this enormous state-of the-art centre is to join a 45-minute guided tour at S$8 per adult, S$5 per child (12 years and below). You'll learn about the centre's unique features, the background of the architecture, and how Esplanade came to be. They run at 11:00 am and 2:00 pm, Mondays to Fridays; and at 11:00 am on weekends and public holidays.

The centre opens at 10:00 am and closes at 10:00 pm or half an hour after the last performance. Admission to the public spaces of the Esplanade is free.


Address:
Esplanade
1 Esplanade Drive
Tel. (65) 6828 8377

MARINA SQUARE SHOPPING MALL

Later on we went to Marina Square, the newly revamped 700,000 sq. ft. shopping mall in Singapore. It comprises four levels of shopping with more than 300 shops such as Buffalo, Massimo Dutti, Zara and East Zing, a home and lifestyle store, Earz, a CD depot for used and new CDs, and Miniature Hobby, a store for toy collectors, Marina Food Loft (a hawker fare from two mini restaurants and three zones of local, international and halal food stalls in a designer-style setting), and a giant hypermart.

It has an easy access to and from Suntec City, Citylink Mall, Millenia Walk and the famous Esplanade theatres. The complex also houses three hotels, which are The Oriental Singapore, Marina Mandarin Singapore and the Pan Pacific Singapore.

Inside Marina Square

We went straightaway to Creative Store located on the second floor. It houses the most comprehensive range of Creative's Personal Digital Entertainment (PDE) products such as MP3 Players, portable speakers, headphones, speakers, audio products (internal and external sound cards), web cams, input devices as well as prodikeys dual-function keyboards. The Creative Store aims to provide an enhanced shopping experience where customers can get a better understanding and can also test-drive the latest products.



Hubby bought more than a few sets of small and trendy Zen V MP3 Player (S$ 200.00), which features a brilliant full color of 1.5" OLED display. And 1 set of Muvo v100 (S$65.00), that offers the ultimate convenience from its 2-piece integrated USB flash drive design and supports both MP3 and WMA formats.



We also caught sight of "Kids Carnival" by John Little located on the ground floor. It offers a comprehensive range of children's merchandise, ranging from fashion finds, toys and many others.


A 10-minute walk from City Hall MRT station or walk through Citylink Mall to reach Marina Square.


Address: Marina Square
6 Raffles Boulevard
Tel: (65) 6339 8787

HOME

MUSTAFA CENTRE

Mustafa Centre is located on Syed Alwi Road in Little India. It occupies one entire block on the eastern side and it is only the place open for 24 hours in Singapore. Some common misconception about this shop, made us a little bit apprehensive, not knowing exactly what to expect. But we stand corrected. I can't believe that this place is a shopping Mecca, more than I thought would be. Mustafa offers 15,000 types of merchandise at some of the lowest fixed priced in Singapore.

Since I'm a WATCHaholic who simply adores watches, I was like entering a wonderland dazzling with eclectic mix of trendy and functional designer watches to be had. It offer pickings aplenty! But I also had a guilt feeling when I saw the same watch that I bought from another store. It was sold here in Mustafa at a lower price. haaay... Nevertheless, I still got another watch for myself. I had a GUESS Limited Edition Ladies Box Set - a Gold Plated and Ivory Dial Color Quartz Movement with Light Brown Camel Croco Leather strap and with extra White Interchangeable Strap. Yippee!!!

GUESS Limited Edition Ladies Box Set

Another items that are in great supply here are jewelries, perfumes and electronic goods & gadgets located also at the ground floor. Then we went to the second floor where the supermarket is situated. Hubby left me there, so I had a shopping galore all by myself. I bought oodles of chocolates and candies. Believe it or not, my most favorite is "My Singapore: Orchid & Merlion" chocolates. I thought this would be a commercialized version. But i was wrong. The chocolate was delectably delicious combination of smooth chocolate and surprisingly crunchy of whole roasted almonds. Darn! Now I'm salivating just thinking about it. hahaha... It was undoubtedly a brilliant indulgent treat for a chocoholic like me.

My fave - Orchid/Merlion Choco
Some chocolates that I bought ranging from S$2.20 to S$7.15

I also bought some grocery items and a few flexible Singapore refrigerator magnets (S$1.80 each). I started a new hobby as a fridge magnet collector when I started to travel, but I only collect Country Fridge Magnet.



Shopping in Mustafa Centre is a shop 'til you drop with no guilt since this caters mainly to the budget market where you can also practice your bargaining skills. There is almost nothing you won't get here ranging from books, food, clothing, footwear, sportswear, household appliances, CDs and DVDs and others. This place is a must for budget shoppers.


ADDRESS:
Mustafa Centre
145 Syed Alwi Road
Singapore
Tel. (65) 6295 5855
5-minute walk from Farrer Park MRT station

LONG JOHN SILVERS

Afterwards, we had lunch at Long John Silvers, a United States-based fastfood restaurant that specializes in seafood and fish and chips. It is named after the fictional pirate Long John Silver from the Robert Louis Stevenson book Treasure Island.

The restaurant also serve chicken dishes in a variety of styles - fried batter fillets, grilled and wraps. So, we opted for Hot Grilled Entry 2 with grilled cajun chicken on rice with 1 side dish (S$5), and Classic Batter Dipped Combo 1, which consists of 2 chicken & fries with softdrink (S$ 3.90). Both were just okay though.

(Hot Grilled Entry 2)
(Classic Batter Dipped Combo 1)

As soon as we gobbled down our food to have enough energy, we immediately went to Mustafa Centre.

PARKWAY PARADE: NGEE TIME GALLERY

The following morning, we headed first to Parkway Parade, a suburban shopping centre located just 8 kilometres to the east of Singapore's CBD off the Marine Paraded exit on the ECP. It comprises 6 levels of retail and an office tower with 17 levels. Parkway Parade is designed around a central mall with a number of smaller secondary malls and boasts an impressive atrium space, which filters in natural light.

We happened to stop by at Ngee Time Gallery shop at basement 1 near the escalator.

(Ngee Time Gallery Shop)

I was super elated when hubby bought me a GUESS stunning ladies gold plated fashion watch (S$ 195.00). (Yahoo! Another new addition to my watch collections.) It has set with two rows of crystal stones around the bezel and features day & date dials. It comes with the offical box and instructions and with a free Wow Pod magazine.

(Guess ladies watch bought from Ngee Time Gallery)

Aside from Ngee Time Gallery, there are also hundreds of stores conveniently located such as Best Denki, Giant Hypermarket, Planet Fitness, Isetan, Borders, Treats and Timezone just to name a few.

At basement level, food & beverage, and eclectic specialy mix are found. Level 1 is mostly a fashion targeting young executives. Level 2 is a lifestyle, family, youth and ladies fashion. Level 3 is a value retailing, food and beverage. Level 4 is predominantly a family entertainment and services. Level 5 is mainly medical and beauty services, and Level 6 is primarily a Furniture Mall / Fitness Centre.

VIVO CITY: THE CHICKEN RICE SHOP

For dinner, we headed to The Chicken Rice Shop, a chicken rice, fast food and Halal family chain restaurant from Malaysia. They serve traditionally prepared steamed, roasted, honey barbecued or braised chicken as its signature products.

Our dishes came out not too long after we ordered it. As soon the food promptly placed on our table, we both digged into the Roast Chicken and Braised Chicken, served with a bowl of rice, ipoh bean sprouts and soup of the day (S$ 4.99 per order). The chicken was surprisingly tasty and it came with a dipping condiments.


The restaurant also features more than 25 other local favorites such as Hainanese Curry Chicken, Spicy Mixed Vegetables, Stuffed Fish Balls and Hong Kong Beef Stew just to mention a few.


Address:
THE CHICKEN RICE SHOP
#B2-37, Vivo City,
HarbourFront Walk #01-01,
Singapore
Tel. / Fax: (02-) 6376 9388

VIVO CITY: CEDELE CAFE

Afterwards, I dropped by at Cedele and grabbed some chocolate chip muffins, banana walnut muffin and 2-berry muffin sold at S$ 2.70 per piece (around Php83.00 each). It was good but a bit expensive though.

This bakery cafe offers traditional decent loafs, muffins, pastries & pies, cookie crunch, cakes and many others. They're also known for all their food served free of trans fat.

They have 11 branches across Singapore.

Address:
CEDELE BAKERY COFFEE
VIVO CITY
1 HarbourFront Walk
#01-23 Vivo City
Singapore
Tel. (65) 6275 9950
Fax (65) 6275 9951

VIVO CITY: PAGEONE BOOKSTORE

Then we visited PageOne bookstore located at level 2, occupying a floor space of almost 28,000 square feet. It has a large offering of English & Chinese books, totaling more than a thousand titles. In addition, the store also stocks a range of periodicals, music & movie titles, as well as Asian artefacts and handicrafts.

Hubby bought a book titled "The Monk and the Philosopher: A Father and Son Discuss the Meaning of Life", by Jean-Francois Revel and Matthieu Ricard (Foreword by: Jack Miles).

PageOne Bookstore entrance

I left him for a while, and I did a bit of shopping and window-shopping. I bought a Bre Wooden Hoop with Charms Necklace gold (S$9.50) at Viva. The original price was S$19.00 but I got a 50% discount because of the ongoing Great Singapore Sale. :)

Viva is a shop exclusively selling fashion accessories such as necklaces, earrings, bracelets, bangles, belts and hair accessories.

VIVO CITY

After Sentosa, we headed to Vivo City, the largest shopping mall at the Harbour Front precinct in Singapore. The location of the Vivo City is very convenient as it situated just by the Ayer Rajah Expressway. It is a 5-minute drive from the CBD and 10 minutes from the popular Orchard Road.

This shopping mall is huge and spacious, and also houses Singapore's biggest cinema multiples with 15 screens along with other features such as food courts, spas, gyms, restaurants and dance clubs.

Shoppers can find brand name retailers such as GAP, Ted Baker and the Spanish Enclave. Another standout is Candy Empire, a huge store selling imported chocolates, candies and snacks. If you got a serious sweet tooth, you might wanna check this out. But I just wish they made their prices lower.

SENTOSA: SONGS OF THE SEA

We purchased tickets (S$6 per person) at Beach Station Ticketing Counter for the show called “Songs of the Sea”. Approximately 6:00 pm, hubby decided to wait at the entrance gate before everyone else did. Soon, before we knew it, the place was already crammed full of people. We queued for a long time waiting for the 7:40 pm show.

Around 7:20 pm, all entrance gates were opened and we were able to sit at the front row. The venue is an open-air viewing gallery, which can comfortably accommodate 2,500 visitors.

The setting is the traditional fishing huts called kelongs, built on stilts over the sea. We waited again roughly 15 minutes when suddenly from a distance we could hear the sound of music. Finally the time had come that everyone was waiting for.

Visitors are told a thrilling story about Li, a young man gifted with a charming voice who embarks on a gallant quest to break the spell and awaken Princess Ami. It features with a live cast and amazing pyrotechnics, water jets, brilliant lasers, computer images projected on giant water screens, captivating music and stunning flame burst.

(Princess Ami)

The creative visual effects were overwhelming and fantastic. Since we were seated in the front row, we could also feel the heat every time the flames burst out. It was exhilarating! With mischievous sea creatures and Oscar, a cheeky tiger fish, I’m sure children will definitely love this show. It was one of the most entertaining show we had, and it was a great way to end a pleasure tour at the Sentosa Park.

Songs of the Sea is the world's only permanent show set in the sea. The show runs twice a night at 7:40 pm and 8:40 pm and lasts 25 minutes.

.

SENTOSA LUGE AND SKYRIDE

Soon after, we went to the Sentosa Luge and Skyride at Imbiah Lookout. We purchased the Luge ride only (S$6 per person). We went to queue for a few minutes until our turn came. We excitedly jumped on the part go-cart and part toboggan, which is a non-motorized self-steering, gravity driven three-wheel cart.

(Ticket Office)
(I got my hand stamped at the entrance)

But before we proceeded, one of the staff members gave us a detailed and helpful instruction on how to maneuver the unique breaking and steering system of the Luge track. We were told that the gears are in the form of handles that we could decide on the speed as we're in full control. Shortly, we braced ourselves speeding down a hill over a course of 650 meter ending at the Siloso Beach. I felt like a child all over again. It was a fun-filled and exciting ride that hubby and I won't forget. Pretty addictive!

After the ride, guests can also view or purchase the captured candid images at the Photo center. You can have the thrill-pix ride photo printed right away, or you can opt for the "e-mail photo service" (pictures will be send immediately to your e-mail address). I chose the latter.

(my captured candid shot sent through e-mail from Sentosa Luge)

For visitors who wanted both the Chairlift and Luge track rides (S$9.00 per person), you can start your adventure at the Siloso Beach station.