Singapore: Love-Hate Relationship in the City Full of Contrasts

Wazzup Pilipinas!

For the last time the clock strikes at four, the bell rings and the students scream. “What time is it?” we always say and together we were quick to respond, “Summer time!”. Summer is filled with flip flops, ocean smell, dark skin, ice cream, loud music and crazy minds. But mine is filled with indoor slippers, book smell, pale skin, cold drinks, soft music and tired mind. To maybe compensate for my lost summer, my mom rewarded me with a 4-days-3-nights vacation that includes a passport, a luggage filled with too much clothes, and a merlion.

Let me start with saying that I love summer vacation but I hate summer. You might think that there is not much of a difference but maybe that is just you not taking a close look at the situation. I like the ocean-only when there is no heat, I like taking a stroll outside-only when there is no heat, I like being under the sun-that is a lie. 

So my summer consisted of taking college entrance exam review courses that is a must for incoming seniors who aspire to get into the top big four colleges and make a name for themselves, a lot of book reading, a lot more of sleep, and that tiny bit of merlion. I want to talk about the adventures that books have luckily provided me with, or the wonder of truly seeing the world and not just looking at it from books, but let me just talk about the adventures I did with my family. After all, adventures with yourself are fun but an adventure with your whole family makes a fam-bam! 

So for our first day in the city full of contrasts, we went to Gardens by the Bay in Singapore, thirsty and tired but nevertheless appreciating the beauty it is offering to us. I do not like to take too much of your time on that but if you like to talk about shirts soaked with sweats or tourists sleeping on benches, then just say so and I’ll be happy to tell. 

The highlight of my vacation is going to the Universal Studios. We were pumped for the day and were ready for the crowd of tourists waiting to ride the movies. At first, my cousins and I were taking pictures and riding rides that were intended for kids with our parents but somewhere between taking pictures and riding, we were on our own and our parents were happily sleeping on waiting areas. The thing is, I probably have the best cousins in this whole universe and those who think they have the best cousins haven’t met my cousins yet. 

The tourists who rode the rides with us should be grateful they heard our whooo-ing, laughing and occasional unintended cussing. We modeled and called ourselves “The Emoteras” or “No Direction” at picture-perfect-backgrounds. 

During our last night, we agreed to have a ‘night life’ but since we weren’t normal, we used the Chinese indoor slippers we purchased during the day with us having the same style but different colors and walked around hoping to have a great food find. People were staring, and we were a bit tired but we didn’t care because we’re having fun. My summer vacation was fun.

Like all summer vacations, it has its beginning and it has its end. I’ve said that I hate summer but somewhere along that, I also have something I like about it. I like that I see children playing catch with the ocean water while they trip on the sand, I like that summer can also be refreshing, and I like that even though I say I hate it, I can as easily say that I like it. I like that every summer is like a beautiful night’s dream with the smell of salty air still hanging on the air even when you woke up from it. I’m glad that there’s summer and I’m glad summer still comes every year even though I say I hate it every time it comes.



Contributed by Ma. Bernadette G. Rancapero