a holiday in Singapore: days 3 and 4

I stared at this pretty stained glass window for almost two days!

These two days almost ruined our vacation. Why? Because my body suddenly decided to get sick with fever. 

As mentioned in my previous entry, this trip was preceded by a very hectic holiday schedule. Add to that my asthma attack that hounded me just two days before we left for Singapore. In other words, I really wasn't in the pink of health during this trip. And so...I found myself feverish on our 3rd day. 

I had no choice but to stay put in our hotel, while Francis went back to Funan to buy the laptop model I've chosen. He came back late afternoon lugging my new toy, but I can tell he didn't have fun padding the streets of Singapore alone. In fact, I know he got frustrated because we were supposed to go to Sentosa that day, and he's been wanting to go there because he didn't have the chance to check it out the first time he was in the city.

I did manage to get well towards the evening, though, so we were able to explore the neighboring Bugis area. 

Bugis Street Market is like a tiangge, and is very much alive at night. I went gaga over clothes, shoes and cute bags. In fact, I saw this adorable canvas bag made to look like a postal envelope. It was very reasonably priced that I decided to get all four colors (one for me, one for my sister, one for my sister-in-law, and one for a good friend).

 

 

 

The bustling Bugis area is brimming with lots of tempting buys: from fresh fruits to a variety of snacks, and of course, fashion accessories!

 
The Bugis area is also home to Bugis+ Mall (formerly known as Iluma). It would have been great to have explored it further, but alas, this frail girl had to go back to their hotel to get some rest. 

Come early morning the following day, I found myself once again racked with high fever. Since I was desperate to get well right away, I forced myself to make a cup of hot instant coffee, down a tablet of Biogesic, and take a quick bath--all done while taking care not to wake up Francis. I didn't want him to worry and get frustrated again. I tell you, I've never pushed my body to its limit like that, as I didn't want to waste another day lying in our hotel room!!! Haha!

Well, technically speaking, I only wasted (again) half a day. We managed to visit Mustafa to grab some pasalubong, and then ate lunch at The Banana Leaf Apolo in Little India. Sadly, I was not able to eat a lot because the dishes were too spicy for my taste. After we've had our fill, we immediately went back to our hotel so we can drop off the pasalubong we bought before heading off to Gardens by the Bay.

 

 

 

The sights surrounding our hotel, which includes the Masjid Abdul Gafoor mosque (bottom photo)

But.

Both my legs were terribly aching, and I can feel my body temperature rising again. I thought an hour of rest would cure it, but I was wrong. One hour became two, and two turned to three, until it was already evening. Only then did I feel a wee bit better. Instead of going to Gardens by the Bay, Francis and I just grabbed dinner at a nearby Burger King. I was still not giving up, though. Unfortunately, even if my mind was so raring to go, I knew that I am physically not that well to venture out. It was utterly heart-breaking. We didn't go all the way to this country just so I can lie in bed with fever!

Apparently,  we had no choice. We had to forego Gardens by the Bay. I was so disappointed. Meanwhile, Francis tried his best to convince me (and himself, too) that things like this happen, and that I shouldn't be blaming myself. Mind you, it was one of the worse feelings ever, especially since we'd already be leaving for Manila the following day! It was so horrible that I was really sobbing my heart out!

We woke up the following morning feeling so morose. Little did we know that that same day would give us a chance to redeem the two days we lost. But that, folks, is a story for another entry. Suffice it to say for now that we didn't leave Singapore like a whiny bunch of sore losers. Haha!