DAY 9 AND 10 IN MERLION CITY: HAPHAZARDLY DELICIOUS

intercontinental, malay street, iluma, victoria, queen, waterloo, bugis square, national library, raffles hospital. darn it! where do i begin?

DAY 9
i had a feeling that i had to come to the interview early because the office would be hard to find. and couldn't be anymore correct. from the bugis station, according to the map, i had to walk pass victoria street, then queen street, then i would reach waterloo street, which was where the waterloo complex (obviously) was located. and so i set out walking outside the mrt station, following the signage that said victoria street...and the raffles hospital. big mistake.

when i got out the starwell, i walked a bit and i was overwhelmed by this huge mall at the corner of victoria and ophir (?). i was amazed with the posh interiors and the beguiling lighting scheme only to be amazed to realize it was a hospital. you read that right. it was the raffles hospital, complete with shangri-la mall-like facilities. i was laughing my ears off to myself. who would imagine: a hospital with mall-like facilities and features. only in singapore.

anywho, i crossed the street, looking for victoria, through the guidance of a stocky old indian man, and made my way through the street. sure enough, after victoria street was queen street (such subtle puns), passing by the Our Lady of Lourdes Church, which was the first catholic church for the catholic indian community in singapore. i was getting kinda cocky, because i was pretty sure that waterloo would be next, and yea, it was not. my world crumbled. i scrambled, scurrying, asking people where waterloo street was, but like me, everyone else was clueless. eventually, there was this middle-aged indian lady who prophesied it might be somewhere down the road i was at. i said "thank you" and walked straight ahead.

passing by bencoolen street, i almost tripped on a gutter, and there it was... the stanford building, with the address: waterloo street. i was thrilled. and so i walked a little bit more, and found two eautiful buddhist temples. i stopped for a moment and paid my respects, and then trodded on. on the corner of middle road and waterloo, there it was - the waterloo complex. contented, i started to walk the way back. passing by the intercontinental hotel at victoria street, moving towards the national library (which i would like to note, had really spacious lobby interiors and greenery). i asked how i could get to the bugois mrt station, and found myself passing by iluma.

iluma was a massive structure of two buildings. one part had a geometric, earth-toned pattern to its walls, while the other was a whimsical, almost appliquéd exterior of what was similar to capiz lanterns. i was amused. but there was more to come, little did i know.

after i found the bugis mrt station, and realized i should have taken the right exit going up bugis square instead of the left exist going to the raffles hospital, i decided to trod back to bugis square for some window shopping. along the way to the mrt station, i passed by BGH and the malay street - a covered walkway similar to that of vegas, only smaller. it was just one whole block of food stalls, giordano, hypnosis (the store, which was on post lunar year sale; the dresses, which my wife would adore, were as cheap as S$5! honest.), M1 and starhub (phone service providers). i was enjoying cool breeze that led to bugis square, when i decided to leave and walk back towards iluma. it was such a splendid idea.

lo and behold, the iluma, with all its "capiz lanterns" were lit up, in a sequence of patterns every other minute, and it was like seeing stars dance right in front of you. it was drop-dead amazing. that moment i wished my wife and kid were with me. they would have loved it.

after that, i knew i had a place in singapore. i had to prepare for the interview the next day. i had to be READY.

DAY 10
it's officially my tenth day in singapore and i had an interview today at waterloo complex in waterloo street (obviously), near bugis mrt. i put on my trusty purple, long-sleeved shirt, some trousers and formal leather shoes and went straight to eunos to grab breakfast and go to the interview.

as usual, i had some bee hoon and tofu for breakfast, with some bottled water that i had to spare. after than, i went up to the platform and waited for the train to arrive. and boy were there a lot of passengers. i forgot that 8.30 was rush hour, and so i had to wait for about 7 trains to pass by before i actually got a train to ride (the trains arrive every 2 minutes during rush hours; not bad eh?).

i got off at the bugis station and found my way to the waterloo complex. i was an hour early for the interview (the train takes usually 2-3 minutes to reach another station), and so i went to a nearby food stall for a drink, and bought some iced tea. and here in SG, i found out, when you say iced tea (or milk tea), it means tea (like lipton's), smothered with milk and placed in a glass with ice. ansaya!

so i went up to the office on the third floor, 30minutes earlier than the 10am call time. i got in (the guard let me in the number-coded door), and sat. immediately after i sat down, this young lady (who was, i found out, was named CHAR) offered me some warm water for my itchy throat. i obliged and she came back with a green cup filled with warm water. after a few more sips, i was done drinking. while i was drinking, i commented that char's shoes were nice (a pair of red stilettos with small blue polka dots); she said "thank you" and told me the girl in the other cubicle gave it to her because they were too big for her feet. the other girl, jessica, peeped through her cubicle, asking "are you here for an interview? 'cause if you are and you get hired, i'll give you shoes too." i laughed heartily and told her i wasn't a stiletto-type. she irked, saying "oh, you'll get used to it." i was starting to like the office.

the publisher arrived at around 10.33am, and she was more than apologetic. she asked me to take a seat in the conference room first since she needed to freshen up. she was a petite singaporean lady, with brown and tan curly hair. she started the interview but first laying down what the company was, where they've been and wheat she planned to do. it was a quirky conversation, because it was refreshing to talk to someone with so idealistic at the same time, forward views of how singaporean education should be, compared to the current mandate of the ministry of education.

at the end of the interview, she told me that she was actually talking to two other people for the job (one of whom was already outside the door when i came out of the confab room), but she also told me that she had affinity towards filipinos because of the warmth and sincerity, and that she understood my english LOL overall, she reckoned i was 80% there. but she had to talk to two more people and call me up tomorrow afternoon for the results.

and so, after the interview, i went back home. i dropped by eunos crescent, grabbed me a bite (guess what? LOL) with some roki prata (dough made from flour, water and sugar that's kinda like a pancake) which was sandwiched with an egg (which the guy scrambled with his bare hands) and some white onions. at home, i took a quick nap, and before i knew it, it was 3pm. i had to get ready for the quite bite robin arranged for us that afternoon.

at the station, i got off at the tanah merah interchange, and took the connecting train to changi airport. after the train stop at singapore expo, the train went really fast, and finally reached the airport mrt terminal. i went up the escalator, and then found myself lost. again. i was supposed to look for a watson's pharmacy but found myself misreading the map, and so i got so far from the phramacy, robin had to meet me halfway LOL

finally, we made our way to the crowne plaza. the flooring, the walls, everything was ritzy. and i wasn't surprised when i saw the menu card either. drinks at around S$12 up, cake slices, S$20 up. robin ordered two slices of honey pecan cheese cake, and two tall glasses of the house's favorite mocktail rule240 (a drink made of apple, passion fruit and dragon fruit). we talked a bit, ate a lot, and then robin offered to show me the standard rooms in the hotel. i obliged, and we went upstairs together with one of the other guest relations officers (there were only three of them; all of them are filipino). robin told me she had to start at the bottom, and made her way up. i was inspired altogether with robin's success story...

anywho, back to the rooms. the standard de luxe room, which retails from S$350 to S$450 (not including taxes etc.) depending on the bulk of clients, had a great view of the pool on the third floor and the changi airport, an a transparent wall that gave people who bathed a view of the TV in the bedroom. the executive suite was a whopping S$750/night, complete with two T&B's and it's own living room and dresser.

after the tour, we went back to the lobby bar, and the filipinas who were there (richelle and pinky) gave me a complementary treat of pistachio and chocolate chip cookies to take home, wrapped in a clear plastic with gold lines tied by a white ribbon with the name of the hotel printed on it. needless to say, i was thankful. sabi nga nila sa akin, "feel at home sir kasi andami nating pinoy dito sa hotel."

today and yesterday were days of extremes and delicious adventures. i hope tomorrow would be just as great.

still here. hey.