We arrived in Melaka, Malaysia in the dead of night. It was only around 9 in the evening but the city looked like it had already gone past its bedtime. The shady city blocks drastically turned to a new light come morning.

Visiting Melaka was more of my idea. Given my liking for old cities, it was a place I’d totally prioritize if I were traveling solo.

We only allotted an hour (two hours tops) for an early morning walking tour of Melaka. It was too short, I know, but we wanted to leave early so we could spend as much time as possible in the capital, Kuala Lumpur, for our first time experience in Malaysia.

Early morning at the Melaka River in Melaka, Malaysia

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We were on our way to Malaysia from Singapore. There were three ways to go at it: by plane, train, or bus. After weighing out all the options, we decided to take the bus. It was the cheapest option and afforded us the chance to see a bit of the Malaysian countryside before arriving in Kuala Lumpur.

There were several bus companies offering daily trips for the 4 to 5 hour bus ride from Singapore direct to Kuala Lumpur Malaysia. We discovered we could spend half the bus fare if we crossed over to Johor Bahru, Malaysia first and then catch a local bus from there.

Our new plan got us to consider taking an overnight stopover halfway between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. Melaka was an easy winner since it’s after all a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Kranji MRT Station at the outskirts of Singapore

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Singapore is a highly cosmopolitan city. I was amazed at the diversity of cultures in its society. I live in an somewhat ethnographically homogeneous place. It was kind of a new experience for me to interact with different races.

For our walking tour of Chinatown, I wanted to see the multi-cultural facets in this old district of Singapore. Chinatown implies a place with strong Chinese influence. Beyond the main streets of Chinatown, we also got to see influences from other cultures.

It was cool to be able to visit a Chinese temple, Hindu temple, Mosque, and a Christian Church all in one day … and within walking distance from each other.

Singapore Central Business District

Walking past the Singapore CBD towards Chinatown

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A walking tour along the Singapore River was what I was most excited about. Singapore is one of those cities where its river has had a significant impact in its history and development into the mega city that it is today.

We would’ve already explored the area along the banks of the Singapore River if not for several mishaps, which offset our sightseeing plans. To keep up with our itinerary, we spent the whole day for a DIY photo walk along the banks of the Singapore River and old streets of nearby Chinatown.

We started from the City Hall MRT station and worked our way towards the Esplanade.

St. Andrew’s Cathedral

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We spent our second evening yet again at the Merlion Park. I earlier hoped to experience the Singapore Flyer or get a breathtaking view of the Singapore Skyline at night from the SkyPark of the Marina Bay Sands. Unfortunately, both were closed down for private functions because of the F1 night race.

As an alternative, we did a long walkathon from One Esplanade all the way to Marina Bay Sand and the Double Helix Bridge. It was very tiring to say the least but we were able to see a lot of interesting views along the way.

Fullerton Hotel

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I was excited to spend the day at Universal Studios Singapore. … so weird for me to look forward to visiting a theme park.

We took the MRT to the Harbourfront Station and walked to the ticket counters at the 3rd level of VivoCity Mall. Paid the admission fees of Sentosa Island, which included round trip tickets on the Sentosa Express monorail and transportation within the island itself.

Universal Studios Singapore located in Sentosa Island sits within the huge property of ResortsWorld Sentosa. I liked Universal Studios because it caters to a more matured market (unlike Disneyland). Pretty cool to have a theme park based on famous movies.

View of VivoCity from the Sentosa Monorial ride

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We left the hostel at a quarter before 6PM. I wanted to spend the sunset / dusk at Singapore’s most iconic landmark, the statue of the Merlion found at the mouth of the Singapore River.

Got off at the Raffles Place MRT Station and started walking towards the River. The first recognizable landmark we passed by was the historic Fullerton Hotel. There were a lot of luxury cars parked at the front. It was the F1 season (Fomula 1 Night Race) in Singapore.

Car junkies around the world flock to Singapore at this time. I’ve spent hours playing NFS and I admit it was kinda cool to have the game realized in a real megacity like Singapore. The streets around Marina Bay were blocked off because it was used as a race track for the night race. I can only imagine the thrill of speeding through skyscrapers and thousands of spectators.

Fullerton Hotel Singapore

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For our 5-day Singapore and Malaysia trip, we booked an outgoing flight from Clark instead of NAIA (Manila) International Airport.

Aside from the cheaper airfare, I was also interested to visit the Clark International Airport for the first time. The Clark Airport is the closest thing the Philippines has to a low cost carrier terminal, particularly because the it operates as the international hub of some budget airlines.

If the airfare was the same, flying out of Clark would definitely be more of an inconvenience taking into account the 3-hour drive from Manila and the negligible difference in airport fees.

Still, it was a great experience to transit through the Clark Airport. It was a glimpse into the future since the Clark Airport is being planned as the long term replacement of NAIA.

First view of the Clark International Airport

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It was finally the end of my 11-day Northern Luzon trip. The only remaining item in my itinerary was to take the bus from Baguio back to Manila.

I already had an idea of how to commute from Manila to Baguio. Somehow, I wasn’t able to find sufficient details online about the bus if coming from Baguio. I only found a lot of outdated web pages.

When I was finally in Baguio, I realized why there weren’t a lot of “Baguio to Manila” bus guides. There was no need for it. Commuting between Baguio and Manila was very convenient thanks to the excellent service of Victory Liner Bus company.

Victory Liner Bus Terminal in Baguio. Entrance at Utility Road. 

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