The Singapore break

In my Travel Talk column last Dec. 10, 2006, I wrote about how Cebu was very busy preparing for the Asean Summit that was to have taken place the following day. I had imagined the benefits that the exposure would bring to our beloved Cebu and it does not take too much genius to figure out the revenue that it would generate for the tourism industry. This time the destination that everybody was taking about was.... CEBU!

For reasons known only to somebody UP THERE, a typhoon visited our city, which caused the cancellation of this important event. It was a great disappointment for many, but to me, it was a time to be with family! The scheduled holiday break allowed my family of five to visit my daughter and her family of four who now reside in Singapore. We filled our day with a visit to the Singapore Zoo and do some malling. The following day, we found ourselves in a motor coach that took us to A'Famosa Resort in Malaysia. The trip to A'Famosa took longer than we thought since the expected travel time from Singapore to A'famosa of 2 hours, as stated in their brochure, was from the border of Singapore and Malaysia and not from the city of Singapore. We were billeted in a 4-bedroom villa with a private pool which was a good 10 minutes ride to and from the Club house. Along the way, we saw children and adults on horseback, driving go-carts, adults playing what looked like war games, and golfers enjoying a round of golf. The villas were Mediterranean style houses. Large families such as our party of 9 were housed in these villas. Small families were at the Resorts' Hotel and Condotel which did not have its own swimming pool.

They have a Waterworld with all kinds of rides that would delight any child and the parents, as well. Nighttime brought us to Cowboy Town where we had our dinner and where we were entertained by fire-eating and fire-blowing Indians. We were also treated to a parade where elephants danced, doves flying in the exact route of the parade, ducks and flamingos walking in platoons, chickens, roosters, dogs, orang utans and lions walking and dancing to the tune of the Bossa Nova. At the end of the parade there were fireworks! My favorite entertainment was the animal show, where cockatoos would ride the wire in a bicycle, where Macoo's could sing Happy Birthday to the delight of the audience.

Everyone's favorite was another exotic member of the parrot family that would fly and land on the arms of a child holding a 10 Malaysian Ringgit... pick up the money with its beak and fly back to his trainor with the money. I should have tried a 10 Peso bill, to see if it would recognize our currency. Of course, the other animals like the dogs and the chimpanzees would not allow themselves to be outdone, so they did their share in keeping the audience as thrilled. A 2-night stay is a good treat for parents and children with ages 3-15. For the golfers, its a good place to have a tournament, and to the grandparents (like me)...well, watching your children and grandchildren enjoy themselves should be enough!

Today, the delegates of the Asean Summit are in our city once again to decide on various issues that will improve the trade relations and national security of the Asean Member countries. Let us then, do our share in giving them our authentic Cebuano hospitality which they will bring back home and remember for years to come! It is my hope that there will be more tourism exchange among our Asean neighbors.

For your comments, you can reach me at Delmar Travel & Tours, Inc. Tel. # 2536561 & 2536571 or by email at [email protected].