Singapore Day 1: Departure from Manila and Arrival to Hostel

Tuesday, October 19
Departure from Manila and Arrival to Travellers Inn Hostel

It was a rainy morning when my mom and I left our house at 1:00 AM. We wanted to go to the airport before the streets become flooded because of Typhoon Juan. Since the two of us arrived too early for our 6:40AM flight, the check-in counter of Cebu Pacific was still closed.

The two of us decided to find some seats and sleep. However, we were not able to do that because even though terminal 3 is spacious, it lacked plenty of seats. There were also inconsiderate people occupying too many seats so that they can sleep leaving other people to just sit on the floor including my mom and I.

We passed our time by chatting with an OFW bound for Hong Kong. She told us that she was at the airport a few days ago but was asked by the immigration officer to come back because she had incomplete papers. My mom and I were afraid that the same thing would happen to us but the OFW reassured us that we had nothing to worry about since we are just tourists.

I’m sure glad the OFW was right! :) Honestly, I was nervous because the Immigration Officer that I lined up to kept asking questions to a boy my age and there was even a person sent to the office. I also recalled the horror stories in a forum of people grilled by IOs but I was lucky to pass through the officer without any question.

Inside the plane, I waited for the dancing safety demo but there was only a regular safety demo. Since there was turbulence, I also could not sleep properly. :(

At the budget terminal in Singapore, my mom and I were also fortunate enough to be lined up at a nice lady immigration officer. The officer just asked me if I am going to Sentosa. :) As nice as the immigration officer was, the taxi driver who drove us to the hostel seemed grouchy. Still, I was impressed at how he and the other taxi drivers we encountered during our stay in Singapore gave us change up to the last centavo.

Upon arrival to Travellers Inn, we were greeted by Jenny and Daniel, the owners of the hostel. We were booked for a private room w/ shower costing 60sgd. However, there was a problem with the booking so we had to move to a private room w/ queensize bed (same price) the following day. It was a good thing that happened because the room with queensize bed was bigger and more comfortable than our previous room. Also, the shower and toilet area was just on the ground floor and it was very clean since Jenny always cleans the hostel. My favorite part of the hostel’s location is the 24 hours foodcourt just in front of it! ;)