Singapore x Google 2019: DAY 2
"Hazeful morning" that's the greeting that I came up with to describe and welcome you to my 2nd day in Singapore. I woke up with a sore throat today which is probably a side effect of inhaling so much haze during my night walking tour last night.
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| Complimentary breakfast at Ibis Singapore in Bencoolen |
Just to share, Singapore has been enveloped by a haze that came from the burning forests of Indonesia. According to the news, the haze measures 86-96 PSI on the Pollutant Standards Index (PSI). This is way above the "Good" level which is 0-50 PSI. Anyway, I still woke up early and ate breakfast at Taste (restaurant) with my QSR family. After breakfast, we booked a Grab car going to Google Singapore in Maple Business City.
Morning activities in Google Singapore
For today's round of talks, I learned a lot about the Best Practices of Googlers Across 6 Channels, Full Design Challenge, and the Design Thinking Cycle. These talks inspired me to challenge myself to become a Google Certified Innovator in the near future. The sessions ended at around 8:30 PM and I got back to the hotel a little before 9PM.
Afternoon Activities in Google Singapore
Although it was already late, I did not miss the opportunity to do some night biking tours that night. For those staying at Ibis Hotel Singapore in Bencoolen, the hotel offers free rental of their bamboo bikes. They have a "fleet" of four bikes but during my stay, only three of the four bikes were operational. Going back to my night biking tour, I was accompanied by my good pal Adrian Cruz. Our plan was to bike to the Gardens by the Bay area which was just several kilometers away.
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| The Bambo Bike of Ibis Hotel Singapore in Bencoolen |
Equipped with Google Maps, we started our adventure from the hotel going to our destination at about 9:20PM. About halfway through the trip, I was shocked to discover that the map was set to a drive setting which means we were led to the major highways and to the Benjamin Sheares Flyover going to Changi Airport. I felt really bad as I dragged Adrian along for this much longer ride. During this time, we only had two options, first is to just soldier on and just let the map recalibrate hoping that there is a nearer path to our destination then, on the other hand, we could just simply turn back and head back to the hotel.
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| Biked up the Benjamin Sheares Flyover |
Thank God, Adrian was also an adventurous fellow so we just went on with our first option. On the far end of the flyover were stairs leading down to an uncemented pathway. We carried our bikes down the stairs and followed the pathway. To our amazement, we found ourselves in the Marina East area. Just then, the Google Maps recalibrated and showed us the biking path to get to the Gardens by the Bay area and Marina Bay Sands.
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| Gardens By The Bay Flower Dome |
The updated route brought us to the scenic bike route of Gardens By the Bay East which passes through Marina Barrage on the other side before leading to the famous Flower Dome. After taking plenty of photos and videos, we then decided to head back to our hotel.
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| The Backpack Adventures biked around the Marina Bay Area |
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| Adrian crossing Helix Bridge with his bike |
Instead of retracing our route, we continued on and crossed the Helix Bridge then biked thru Temasek Avenue until we reached the Fountain of Wealth then back to Rochor Road until finally reaching Bencoolen Street where the hotel is located. Overall, Adrian and I biked about 19 kilometers that night and probably inhaled a good amount of haze as well.
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| The Backpack Adventures visits the Helix Bridge |
That night, I slept like a baby. - super tired but feeling accomplished. I can't wait for what learnings and adventures I'd face in the future.
Previous: DAY 1
Next: DAY 3
How I wish I could work in Singapore too.
ReplyDeleteFor sure you would. I work in Japan now. =)
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