Exploration

Whenever I am in a new place, I usually take a walk around the area where I am residing or staying. My walks usually take me around the neighborhood, allowing for some exploration of sorts. I usually look for interesting features like shops, restaurants, or some other tourist attraction like maybe a temple or park. Some areas have a history and would have markers in certain locations where something important happened in the past.

In the Philippines, I would surely be going to the local market and try to check out the town's products. Shops in or near the local markets would usually be my source of souvenirs. Also, in the Philippines, I would usually go to the church, or cathedral in the case of the larger cities or towns, where, if the church structure happened to be old enough or had a distinct architecture about it, I would probably take a few photos for my collection. If it were safe to go around at night, I would usually explore the city. Unfortunately, it wasn't always safe to go around after dark even in the bigger cities.

While in Japan, I would try to walk along the main street where many things of interest would usually be present. It was this way that I found some nice shops or restaurants and souvenir shops that featured local products. If I happened to be in another city on a Sunday, I would also search for the local Catholic Church. Unlike today when information is usually readily available from the internet and the search can be facilitated by tools such as Google or Yahoo Maps, I would try to get my hand at a local tourist map. I also usually asked my parish priest, Fr. Burke if he knew about a church with an English Mass in its Sunday schedule. I remember he had a directory with him by which he was able to give me an address and a phone number of the local church. This way, I was able to hear Mass whenever I was out of Yokohama or Tokyo. I will be writing more about my adventures in Japan in future posts.

Since we're practically new in Singapore, even though the Clairvoyant has been here for almost two months, we have been exploring the city state in our free time. This afternoon, we finally got to walk around our neighborhood near Lorong Chuan Station. Our walk took us along Serangoon Avenue where we found other residential developments including HDBs (government housing) and new buildings in exclusive enclaves. There are many schools in our area and some of the schools seem to be the top-notch kinds given the kind of neighborhood we are residing in. We also discovered that we were a 10 to 15-minute walk from the NEX mall as we were able to trace the origin of fellow walkers whom we saw carried the distinctive grocery bags of Fair Price. Near the junction of Serangoon Avenue, the HDBs featured shops including a Seven Eleven, and restaurants and eateries filled with customers. These were usually families or friends or both having their dinners out instead of at their homes. The Clairvoyant tells me this is quite common in Singapore and not just during the weekends but especially the weekdays when people even bought dinners from the many shops you'll find around in malls, transit stations or the neighborhood.

I look forward to exploring this city-state when I am in Singapore. Perhaps I will be maximizing the coverage of the city's transit system much like what I did when I was in Japan. I was also able to do the same thing in Bangkok and San Francisco, adventures that I still haven't gotten to write about. This time though, I am sure that I have more time for exploration and familiarization. After all, this city will be a second home for us for the next months or years.