kat's guide to Singapore

Do you need a vacation? Planning a trip one of these days to...Singapore? For the travel virgins, you might wanna read on about some of the main attractions that Singapore has to offer. Ive recently visited the country and it was really amazing. But i must say that i havent fully enjoyed my trip for a couple of reasons. One of which is because my mom and I were on a packaged tour along with some of the not-so-fabulous-people-on-earth. Anyway, for those who havent been bitten by the travel bug, here's a list of suggestions that might help to make your vist to Singapore memorable and hassle-free.

1. Hop through different Travel Agencies. There are tons of them but be patient to sort them out to have the best deals. Our travel agency booked us for Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. But when we got to Singapore, we were informed that the itinerary of our trip was changed. We would have a City tour of Singapore instead. MAJOR BUMMER. Be a hypochondriac to hop through all of these agencies and find a reputable one.

2. Change currencies. If you can, change your peso into Singapore dollars before leaving . It can save you time rather than finding a money changer booth while your'e on tour. Check the rates before you do so.

3. Money in your pocket.Unless you have a very generous sponsor or your'e just filthy rich, this should not be a problem. But for the common folks like you and me, a good Php 10,000- 20,000 would be enough for a 3-day trip to Singapore. But if your'e really on a tightER budget, at least Php 8,000 will do. Just stick to $1-3 food and your'e good to go. =D

4. Singapore Sale. Now would be good time for you to pack your bags and head down to Singapore since its their annual eight-week Great Singapore Sale. Literally, all of their stores and malls go on sale. It runs from May 23 till July 20. TIP: if you wanna find great bargains, skip on their fancy malls and head down to Orchard Street and Bugis Street. Its a whole street full of bargains and shops where you can find EVERYTHING. They also have a shopping complex called Mustafa Center. It is located at Little India and it caters to the budget market. (ahem!) The best part of it is that it is open 24hours. =D

5. Main Attractions. We were able to visit some of their popular tourist attractions and these are just some of my recommendations:

> Singapore Flyer- Its a ginormous ferris wheel that houses up to 30 people. It offers you the best panoramic view of the entire region which will take about half an hour. DONT MISS this.

> Sentosa Island- The island is packed with all sorts of adventure to suit every type of tourist. We were able to to ride cable car to which we had a fantastic view of the island from above. We also visited the Underwater World which houses 2,500 fishes in one huge aquarium. And we watched Songs of the Sea which is a spectacular musical with pyrotechnics, lasers and computer images with the sea as the stage. This should NOT BE MISSED.

There. That's it for now touristas. Enjoy your trip! hope these tips helped. :D

the KAT goes to SINGAPORE

i just got back 2 days ago from Singapore with Doray , auntie Myrna and my cousin/room mate/newly-appointed-travel buddy Adet. we took a much-needed breather from all the chaos here in Pinas. At sa ulo ng nagbabagang balita: presyo ng gasolina aabot sa Php 65! presyo ng bigas di rin magpapaawat! at isang batang babae, dinukot ang kaliwang mata! see what i mean? people are going bonkers in here with all the crisis, that they start to randomly pull out some little girl’s eye out of the blue. sick bastard. anyway, before i veer further away from the glorious vacation i had, let me share with you pictures of our adorable selves.

on the succeeding days ill try to make an account of what we have done in Singapore and you might get some tips if you have never been to the country. if you will take a tour package just like me, ill suggest what you can miss on the tour and what NOT to miss.:) hey, take my word for it. ;D

sicKAT

been very sick lately. my migraine, whom i endearingly refer to as mr. M, has been visiting me a couple of times this month alone. over the months it has gotten from bad to really really bad.

the medicines i pop to ease the pain is no longer taking an effect. can i use narcotics now? yesterday, it was really bad. i had to go home even before the end of my 2-hour tutor with KAI because i was about to throw up on the kid's face. his mom and dad was beginning to worry since i had this episode a week ago too. and so, feeling like a spartan woman, i bravely went home albeit the nausea and im-about-to-fall-flat-on-my-face-if-i-dont-get-into-a-cab-right-now. THIS IS SPARTAAAAaaaa....aaahhhh....i cant feel my fingers anymore. pinapawisan ng malaking singot.tagam.

i was hailing aimlessly at every cab that went by.cursed a few of them actually.i realized i was at a loss and decided to take the jeepney. then i got off the jeep because people were staring at me. i looked at my arms and they were pale. so pale that i looked like i had skin bleaching or i was about to be buried. gross. i started to bite my lips in an effort to make it appear un-dead.i assume from the look of the man in front of me that my puckers were bluish.double gross. but the heavens took mercy and i was finally able to get a cab. i sluurred: manowng...towrilll tah. then i dozed off. i awoke to the smell of fresh carabao dung.ahhh...im almost home. i tipped the driver and as soon as i got to the door, my puking reflexes started. at that time, the oval office became my bestfriend. i will skip the gross part here. you get the picture.

there. i just finished my first sickly story. now its your turn... :) share!share!share!

i finally found playphonics

i just wanna share something here. its a song from a local band "Playphonics". as i am a huge fan of bands with women on vocals, i gave this band a chance and as soon as i heard their first single "PAGBIGYAN", i got hooked. i searched for months for the single on the web but found nothing. but ALAS! i finally found it posted on imeem.com- the overly used music application embedded on friendster profiles. :) the song is all about being hesitant to enter into a new relationship with someone. having this fear of getting hurt and all that BS but never gave it a chance. it sounds too familiar about someone i know.tsk2. anyway, here's the lyrics of song. and maybe YOU can relate to the essence of this melodic piece.


Ano bang nakakatakot sa ganyan?
Kung sasaktan, talagang masasaktan.
Malayo o malapit man,
Kung di susubukan, di matututunan.

Sabi mo gusto mo naman siya.
Pero natatakot kang umikot ang mundo mo sa kanya.
Natatakot kang iwanan niya.
'Ni di mo man lang binigyan ng pagkakataong mahalin ka niya.

Hindi sa layo ang sukatan.
Hindi sa anyo ang basehan.
Di ba dapat, sa nararamdaman.
Bakit di pagbigyan?
Paano mo malalaman?
Maari ngang masaktan.
Maari din namang wagas na pagmamahalan.
Bakit mo inuunahan?
Ba't hindi pagbigyan.

Pilit mang iwasan.
Pilit mang talikuran.
Di mo kayang diktahan.
Di mo kayang pagtakpan.

Bakit di pagbigyan?
Paano mo malalaman?
Maari ngang masaktan.
Maari din namang wagas na pagmamahalan.
Bakit mo inuunahan?
Bakit hindi pagbigyan.

enjoy the music. :)

david cook won!!!

The traffic on the internet is heavy. With the news of David Cook winning this year's American Idol, bloggers and readers who are fans of the talent show are going crazy. Before the Final showdown between the two Davids, the wicked Simon Cowell told everyone that David Archuleta clearly knocked out Cook with both of them performing their three final songs. Archie, the monicker for the younger David, performed songs that were...expected. The type which would impress the audience. While on the other hand, MY David chose three different songs that showed different sides of him. The songs were not well known but he delivered it with sincerity and dignity. Remember the way he sang "Always be my Baby"? Well what do you know. America favored the rocker David over the boy-next-door David. And to that, i am UTTERLY happy with the result. I was nearly in tears as Ryan Seacrest announced that he won. A friend of mine sent me a message saying she was crying too. Mr. Cook is a swooner. No doubt about that. Let me share with you a video I found in youtube. its his commercial for Guitar Hero. Its so funny and he is frggin hot. =D




Rock on Mr. Cook!

that mr.boyd

this man never fails to amaze me.

as you all know, he is the gorgeous creature fronting the band Incubus. if you didnt know that, you must have been living under a rock or you are an exchange student from Mongolia. this artsy-fartsy (i love this term) guy is a musician, a writer, and a painter. he has so far written two books: WHITE FLUFFY CLOUDS and FROM THE MURKS OF THE SULTRY ABYSS. i have yet to read them but im trying to get my hands on those babies. recently, he finally launched a website for his books. it's at http://www.brandonboydbooks.com/. aside from the two books, there is also a limited edition collection of his artworks including his famous tats and a separate collection of random art prints which you can order.

here's a sample of the print i grabbed from the website:

incubus fans might recognize this design in one of their videos. i remembered i wanted to have a tattoo after seeing the video and it would be exactly the same as this one right here. its kinda like wanting to have your belly button pierced after watching Alicia Silverstone on the video "Crazy" by Aerosmith. Wait, was it Alicia or Liv Tyler? I cant tell them apart.

before i veer further away from the topic, check out the site and read Mr. Boyd's "about me section". its very clever with lines such as: "I am straight yet i adore sparkling mineral water" and "If you feed me at midnight, I multiply." hmmm.. i wonder WHO feeds him?

bulletins on friendster

Just before this entry, i spent a good 30 minutes reading the posts on the bulletin on my friendster account. I dont normally read or care what's being posted but i decided to waste my time to find out. True to what I had in mind, it was chockfull of junk. I know there aren't any rules as to what or what not to post but do you really have to post how angry you are at Leslie? Im sure she'll feel your wrath but as for the rest of us, we really dont give a rat's ass about it. And please, DO NOT POST IT A GAZILLION TIMES unless you dream on becoming Friendster's Next Professional Annoying Spammer.

Another thing that I found out was that, there are still a handful of mentally incapacitated people who still believes in chain letters. Make that chain-posts. Is this still uso? Anyone can make it up and make it sound like a really bad curse. Here, I'll make one:

"Since you opened this post, you must turn around 17 times, jump up and down the stairs, wear your shirt backwards and post this as TURTLES ARE AWESOME. If you fail to repost this within five minutes, your dog will kill you tonight at your basement with a pitchfork while you are making out with your gym teacher." Dont think anyone would believe this? Think again.

Finally, this is the reason why i DO NOT READ POSTS on the bulletin board. For friendster users, have you been curious of one entry post that read: Girl Raped in (some school) or Urgent: Programmers Needed. And when you open it, this is the message you'll see: HAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Hand me my pitchfork. Now!!!

the choking game

"The fainting game, also commonly known as the choking game, is a loose term
that covers dangerous activities designed to induce a partial or complete
loss of consciousness brought about by the intentional deprivation of oxygen
to the brain for a period of time. There are two distinct methods used to
achieve oxygen deprivation: strangulation and self-induced hypocapnia."

My own TRANSLATION: a sick game played by teens to choke themselves till they pass out.

I first heard of it when in one of my review classes, our teacher told us about this dangerous game that kids in America and UK had been playing. Its been called different names such as Pass-out game, Purple Dragon, and Flatline among many others. The objective is to deliberately cut off oxygen supply to the brain through strangulation which induces dizziness that is misinterpreted by these kids as a sense of euphoria or being high.

Now I don't know about these boys but, WHAT THE *&$# ARE THEY THINKING? Whose bright idea was it to choke themselves for FUN? Honestly, when our teacher related to us the mechanism of the game, i thought it was one of those dumb games that kids play. We were laughing at the thought of it but as i looked it up on the Internet, it was not something to laugh about. What appalled me the most is that there is actually a video teaching the kids how to do it! The game is so stupid and dangerous. It has claimed the lives of 82 kids in the US. But researchers say that there is a possibility that there could be more fatal cases because deaths due to this game are sometimes mistaken as suicide.

After reading the articles related to the Choking game, I looked back on all the games we used to play when i was a kid. Sure i thought i was invincible but nothing like this ever came across our heads when we were in search for new games. I remembered playing tumba lata, shatong, PS i love you, Chinese garter, and 7UP among many others. But all the "hazards" of all our games were the occasional cuts and bruises on the knees not strangulation, or neurological damage to the brain or cardiac arrest. What happened to the swings and monkey bars? Are kids these days suicidal or just plain dumb? what would they do next? "hey stacy, wanna play stab-me-in-the-back-till-i-bleed-to-death?" stacy: "maybe tomorrow johnny". Tsk. Tsk. Tsk.

for more information on this sick game go to:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choking_game

first post: RANT

i have come back to the blogosphere.not that i have been missed but after a seemingly endless hiatus, i finally decided to work my ass off and just start blogging. it just gives me a sense of control over my thoughts and not give a rat's ass what other people might think. in short, i am able to express whatever it is that runs through my puny brain. i am but a minute occupant of the vast space on the blog world and it feels good. whether someone stumbles upon this or not, it doesn't really matter. i could pretty much sum up into four words on my perception of a blog: A PLACE TO RANT. while some people tend to be vocal, there's a bigger portion of mankind who are not. i dont have the gall to tell a saleslady how lousy she is in doing her job or telling a professor that he's acting like a total jerk. i guess that's why blogs were created. well not the whole reason for it but part of it. a place to just friggin RANT. we were told that blogs are online private journals. instead of the usual paper and ink kind of diary we used to have back in high school were all the kids would have read it anyway, writers have invaded this side of the world. i cannot imagine or quantify the number of blogs on the internet. faceless and nameless individuals who put a mark on their site to be read by a gazillion internet users. now that i think about it, maybe its not so private after all.