Singapore and KL In 5 Days

By Ambrosio R. Villorente

At the Singapore Airport

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF SINGAPORE with the author and wife, Rencee Villorente. (ARV photo)

To break the monotony of their lives in Aklan, Dr. Ambrosio R. Villorente and Dr. Florencia F. Villorente traveled to Singapore and Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia. They spent one day and one night in KL and four days and three nights in Singapore.
Singapore is an Island City State formerly a colony of the British. It was included in the Federation of Malaya which later was granted independence. Sometime in the mid 1960’s Singapore severed from Malaysia and declared its own independence.
Compared with the Province of Aklan, Singapore is quite small. It is about 56 kilometers long and 27 kilometers wide. The area is about two thirds of Aklan populated by 4.20 million people including the 120,000 Filipino OCW’s. According to the taxi driver whom we rode with, it takes him no more than one hour to drive his taxi from end to end.
Though small, Singapore has wide roads planted with trees on both sides with shrubs interspersed with trees on the street islands, under which are sewers and drainage. I learned that most of the tree species were imported from the Philippines like Acacia, Mahogany, Gmelyna and Narra. Pedestrians walk along the beautifully constructed pedestrian lanes.
We went to some of their attractions such as the National Museum, Jurong Bird Park, National Science Center. There was neither police nor security guards in these establishments. We went to Sentosa, a very small island about one third the size of Boracay. However, it is fun filled 24 hours a day.
From the mainland Singapore, Sentosa is reached by cable cars and buses, train and boat. According to our tour guide, by 2010 Sentosa will have five new 5-star hotels, a Universal City Studio and Casino.
Once in Sentosa, taxis are available to go around the island to visit and watch several attractions. Bus rides are free from one attraction to the other such as the Songs of the Sea, a nightly extravaganza. I was mesmerized by the show that featured pyrothenics, water jets, brilliant lasers with captivating music with dramatic effects.
The Sentosa 4D Magix is a new state of the art technology. It put my heart in act. We watched the movie: "Pirates" which shook my seat. The Dolphin Lagoon is inhabited by six dolphins from Thailand which cost US $2 million. They are trained to amuse people. The Carlsbery Sky Tower is 131 meters above sea level. It is circular which provides spectacular views. The Underwater World portrays sharks, eels, stingrays and many other sea creatures via a moving travellator that ferries visitors through the 83 meter long acrylic tunnel as if into the depths of the ocean.
Sentosa is a model for people to emulate in the administration of tourism. Boracay tourism management system is so far away from Sentosa.
Six Hours To KL
We spent six hours traveling from Singapore to KL, Malaysia. Actually, five hours were spent for traveling and one hour for stop. We stopped at Singapore Immigration office for exit, stopped at Malaysia Immigration office for entry. No visa is required for 14 days stay in Singapore and 30 days stay in Malaysia.
It is estimated, KL is about 400 kilometers from Singapore. We passed by a beautifully asphalted road riding in a double deck bus. We were 19 passengers that enjoyed the luxury of the bus like TV, air con, very clean and with reclining seats all push buttons. The road is one way, three lanes. The other vehicles coming from the opposite direction pass on another road separated by lines of trees interspersed with flowers. Both sides of the roads grow trees.
From Singapore to Malaysia, there is no rice planted. The lands are fully planted with Oil Palm trees, some bananas and coconuts. There were poultry houses, cattle ranches. We saw some vegetables like gabi.
Only very few individual family houses are observed as the government has constructed multi-level condominium. Nobody crossed the highway throughout our journey.
My time with Rencee in KL was limited. We arrived at 2:00 o’clock in the afternoon and left at 9:00 o’clock am the following day. We saw the Petronas Twin Towers but failed to ascend. The tickets that day were all out. We spent the rest of the day in a mall by the Twin Towers.
In going to the Hotel, we experienced heavy traffic due to the rain. While we spent 10 Ringgits from hotel to the twin towers, we spent 50 Ringgits in going back. We were back to Metro Manila at 5:00 pm, August 24 via PAL that flew the route for three and one hours at 34,000 feet high. /MP