Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Fun in Singapore part 2

After the very social and utterly exhausting Saturday I had, I ended up just chilling on Sunday. I was supposed to meet up with Paulo, Giselle, and Gabe for lunch but Gi texted me early on Sunday morning to tell me that Paulo was sick and so they had to take a rain check. Ben also invited me to hang out with him and his friends but I told him I was just really tired. I needed to make sure I was well rested for the work that I needed to do the next day!

On Monday, I headed to Vivo City to have dinner in Marché with Denise, Marion, and Kleng and her family. Marion was in Manila the week before and Kleng was unavailable when I met up with Denise and Yong Han on May 1st, so we decided to meet up again for dinner that week. I suggested Marché because I had eaten there before and enjoyed the food, the ambience, and the set-up. Apparently so did the rest of them.

Now interestingly enough, my friend Joyce was also in Singapore during my second week there. Anna had been encouraging Joyce to visit her in Singapore and weeks before, Joyce had already booked her tickets. So it was cool that I ended up going there practically at the same time so we all got to hang out. We met up in Clarke Quay on Tuesday night and had dinner in The Tapas Tree (a Spanish restaurant).

Joyce and Anna in The Tapas Tree

I was feeling really tired so I begged off early (which was actually around 1030pm already) and since we didn't really get to hang out as much as we wanted to, we agreed to meet up again on Thursday. We found ourselves along Orchard - we ate in some noodle place in the basement of Paragon. After dinner, we swing by Wheelock Place so I could get dessert - Paul told me the week before that the desserts in Big O Cafe and Restaurant were really good so I wanted to try it before I left Singapore. Big O was closing already but they let us buy a couple of cakes to go. Joyce wanted to see my hotel room so we bring our desserts there. And I really do have to say that the Big O Cheesecake is a definite must-try for dessert lovers. It is so unbelievably good! So good in fact that the next time I go to Singapore I will try it again.

I hung out again with Ben on Friday night, but this time with a different set of his friends. We begin the night with a few beers in Balaclava in Suntec City. At around 11pm, the crowd was thinning and the few people who were still hanging out decided to move somewhere more exciting. Ben and his friend Stuart were talking about Attica and I say, "what is Attica?" They look at each other and then look at me and ask "You've never been to Attica?!?" So naturally they decided to take me there.

We make a few stops before heading to Attica. We grab a drink in this Cantonese pop bar (can't recall the name of the place), then we head to China One for a couple more drinks. We move to this other bar in Clarke Quay before finally making our way to Attica (Ben's friend Mel managed to get us through without paying the entrance fee - way to go, Mel! :) ). Ben had a couple more friends there - Sandee and Shazana - and we spend the rest of the night just hanging out there.

check out the cool Attica fog :)

I ended up getting back to the hotel at almost 5am and I fell asleep almost instantly. I get up about 5 hours later to pack my stuff and check out, and by around 1230pm I meet up with Alvin, Che, Paulo, Giselle and Gabe in Crystal Jade in Takashimaya for lunch. I hadn't seen Alvin, Pau and Gi in my Singapore trip prior to that day so you could say it was a bit of a photo finish LOL. After lunch, we moved to the Coffee Club for coffee and dessert.

just the adults

Gi with Gabe

I head back to my hotel at around 3pm (buying a couple of boxes of Royce chocolates along the way) and then head to the airport for my 5pm flight. All in all, a fantastic trip. The work was intense, but it was great getting to hang out with all my friends there. Can't wait 'til my next trip to Singapore!

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