20 Lorong 6 Geylang
Singapore 399174
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| Room Number 504 that is where our room is located in Fragrance Hotel ~ Emerald. |
Before we visit
Singapore first thing we consider is where to stay. We need to budget
everything as Balong and I need to spend a week in here and my worries
is the cost per day and how safe the place is. There are so many hotels
to choose within the
city center but it’s cost is way out of our budget.
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| Balong's journey via Philippine Airlines to Singapore from Manila. |
The
purpose of our hotel accommodation is mainly for sleeping and something
decent to stay on. I asked our friends Llowel and Lemwuel where is the
‘best’ hotel to settle and they
referred us to check Agoda.com and Booking.com. Both websites has its
own recommendation but I did several research myself first before making a
final decision.
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| The colorful street of Geylang. |
Most
of the hotels I’ve seen are more than what I expected, our budget is
only around PHP 2000 to PHP 4000 per night as we need to stay here for 7
days. Spending PHP 25,000 for
the hotel alone is way too much for a budget traveler like we are, you
know (hehehe!).
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| I adore the beauty of the buildings that surrounds the area. Some are allotted for bar houses but others as restaurants. |
Llowel suggested to book a hotel for the first 3
days and shift to another hotel in the next 4 days if ever we can find a
much lesser, inexpensive accommodation.
Am ok with his suggestion but I have no patience of going to the
process of cancelling and rebooking to another hotel and much worse do
the refund as my weakness really is to complain (ahahaha!)
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| This is the intersection of Geylang Road and Sims Way. |
I
asked Balong what his point be, he suggested: ‘wherever that hotel
would be as long as we are together that is more than enough!!’. Say
what????? How sweet of him to say that
huh? (ahahaha!). Well, we ended up booking ourselves in Fragrance Hotel ~ Emerald for one-week accommodation. You know how much is the price per night for two? It’s only
SGD 78 just around PHP 2,574 or USD 60 per night, which is absolutely AWESOME!!!! What can you say about that huh? It’s quite hard to resist (ahahaha!).
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| There are so many old houses and it's intricate detailings remain. |
I don’t know what to expect really but i keep my fingers cross as I already guaranteed the slot using my credit card (ahahaha!). Balong and I came from two separate countries
and our meeting point is Singapore. He arrived a day before from
Manila as he wanted to pick me up in the airport the next day.
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| On our way to Kallang MRT Station, just 10 minutes from our hotel. |
I arrived around 7am in
Changi Airport from Dammam, Saudi Arabia via Singapore Airlines. I
was too excited exiting the immigration line but unfortunately, when I
arrived in the lobby, Balong was nowhere to be seen. I wanted to call
him up but my phone is totally drained. I did
try several times to swap the simcard from one cellphone to the other
but it’s not working really. Adding to the agony, I am really exhausted
for almost 8 hours of air travel and have no good sleep even.
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| Sims Avenue where most of the 'bus stop' to and fro Singapore can be found. |
Almost
20 minutes already had passed and I was in the midst of decision making
if I hire a taxi going directly to the hotel or will I have to wait for
him. Thanks as the wait didn’t
last that long as when I looked at the right corner of the Terminal
Balong arrived with Llowel soaked in wet as it rains heavily when I
arrived (Llowel is our friend who is based here.). I just found
out that they got lost and they need to transfer
from one terminal to the other as they’ve gone to Terminal 2 which is supposed to be in Terminal 3.
Well, explanation doesn’t matter anymore as I just hug him tightly.
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| This is where our hotel is located, # 20 Lorong 6 Geylang . |
I
felt sorry for what I’ve seen but was thankful that they arrived. I
thanked Llowel; but he said his goodbyes right away as he still have an
afternoon shift in
Resorts World Sentosa. He just dropped us to a taxi stand
and we part ways in there. His apartment is just in Tampines and only a
few bus stop away in the airport. But before he leave, he promised to
meet us up later on that day.
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| Facade of Fragrance Hotel ~ Emerald. |
While in the taxi I asked Balong how’s his first night in
Singapore, he said that it was just fine and the taxi
driver he took from the airport last night don’t know where the hotel
is. Fortunately, when he started asking the locals, they found out that
the hotel is just a block away (ahahaha!).
He had his vacation here way back that’s why roaming around is just a
piece of cake. I didn’t mention about his impression about the hotel but
he bump-in and said that he already paid it in full. Say what????
Supposed to be I am the one who will pay for it as
I used my credit card to guarantee the reservation, but since he did it
himself. It’s party time then!!! (ahahaha!).
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| Two huge vases around 6 feet tall can be found on both sides of the sliding door. |
Fragrance Hotel Emerald is located in 20 Lorong in the lively district of Geylang. If we talk about Geylang, the word tags along with it is the ‘notorious and famous red light district’. Hmmmmm sounds interesting (ahahaha!). Pub houses can be found almost everywhere and considered as one of the vibrant places to enjoy especially at night.
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| The hallway from our room. |
Our travel from the airport to the hotel took only around 15 minutes sans the traffic. We paid
SGD 25 or around PHP 825 or USD 19 as fare to our friendly driver who explained what to expect in
Singapore. He said that Night Safari should be on our list along with
Singapore Flyer. Even he will not say so, those spot were already on our top destination.
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| Instead of using an ordinary key they have a card detector with chips in it. |
The hotel is a budget friendly accommodation complete with amenities that you need. Going to and fro
Singapore is very accessible as it’s just around 3 minutes
on foot to Sim’s Avenue where most of the bus stop is located. Since we
are an avid user of
MRT in less than 10 minutes you’ll arrive to Kallang MRT Station (EW10)
in no time. If you want a more faster mode of transportation, ask the
reception to find a taxi for you and they gladly help you out.
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| Please don't disturb mate... yoga in session ahahahahaha!!!!! |
When
we reached at the hotel, two large porcelain vases can be found on both
side of the sliding door. I can’t help myself but admire as it is way
much taller than I am (ahahaha!).
There are two friendly and accommodating receptionist who help us with
our baggage. The reception area is on your right and seems Balong is
already at ease as he knows already the sequence. The reception area is
not that big but good enough to accommodate
guest. I noticed that there is a small fridge on the side selling
fruit juices and we bought 5 bottles with us.
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| While reading all the information above, what makes me happy most is the 'NO SMOKING PLEASE' sign at the bottom as i hate smoking (peace~ ahahahaha!) |
On
your left, they have 4 sets of PC units which I don’t know if it’s
free or not. We have our own laptops so we didn’t bother to ask but
we’ve seen few guest using it. Just beside
the elevator, there are plenty of brochure to choose from illuminating
the list of tourist spot to take pleasure in once you’re here in
Singapore. Aside from its free you can get as many as you want as I’ve seen Balong took one pamphlets each.
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| Just insert the card you used as a key in the slot then you're ON. |
Our room is situated in the 5th
floor of the building and there is an elevator to hop on. We’ve seen
few Filipino’s staying in the hotel and feels like we are just in
the Philippines. When we arrived in the room, as expected the bed is
king size big enough for two person and very well arranged and tidy, very good
enough for what we paid for.
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| The TV is open but no one is watching (ahahaha!) |
As usual, we brought our teddy bears with us serve as our ‘babies’ (wink wink ~ hehehe!). There is a 36-inch colored TV but we barely open it for the rest of our stay
(ahahaha!). We are only here at night as most of the days we are
out exploring. There is a hair dryer which I am fond of using too and
a jug heater complete with sachet of coffee and sugar.
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| First night of Balong in the hotel with our 'kids' in the background (wink wink hehehehe!) |
The en suite bathroom slash toilet is awesome as when I check the unit, the heater works perfectly fine (ahahaha!).
They have prepared two sets of white towels
with soaps, toothpaste and toothbrush. We brought our own toiletries
but good for them to prepare one. Everyday, they clean the restroom and
the room entirely in the morning and replace everything in it, from
towels, to linen, to pillow cases.
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| Our treasures: Fluppy, Louie, Bob, Cammy, Mica, Alpo, Brent, Russ, Tizdalle, Ruy, Joe, Coco, Teddy, Razzle and the last the youngest, Baby Vanessa (hehehe!) |
There
is a wi-fi available too, when I open my laptop to email our families and
friends about our arrival in Singapore, it just suddenly pop up. It’s an earth friendly hotel as air
conditioning and the lights can
be controlled right before you enter and before you leave. Once you
left the room and when you took the security card from the central slide
every equipment connected to electricity suddenly shut down.
There
is a mini fridge on the side but I am not really an alcoholic drinker
and I prohibit Balong to do so that’s why there is no beer inside (I am sorry baby, ahahaha!).
The room is perfectly fine for me. It maybe within the ‘red light district’
but since we were in the topmost part of the hotel I haven’t heard any
loud music around. It’s the best place to stay especially if you’re on a
budget.
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| Our youngest Baby Vanessa, prefer to go to Barrio 7 than here in Singapore (ahahaha!) |
The
room feature modern furnishing beautifully decorated and well equipped
for a comfortable and pleasant stay. It is just a 2 star hotel but the
vicinity is completely safe and
we even travelled at dawn from city center to here and no one even
bother us.
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| BFF Lemwul busy doing his excuse letter while Llowel and Balong watching Naruto ahahaha!!!! |
If
ever you’re hungry, restaurants and hawkers stalls are the least of your
worries as many famous local eateries can be found in here. They are
usually open 24 hours and there are
varieties of famous local flare to choose from. Ignore the ‘norm’
about pub houses, they may have quartered in here but having a taste of
local cuisine is another story. There are some shopping malls around
but we haven’t visited ourselves as we’ve
been to Vivo City already.
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| Poor Balong, this is what is left in his pocket when he paid the hotel accommodation for one whole week!!! ahahaha! |
If ever we will be back to
Singapore, pretty sure I’ll pick Fragrance Hotel ~ Emerald in
Geylang without a doubt. We haven’t encountered any
problem for the rest of our stay here. In fact, very thankful to the
cleaning staff who did a great job doing the chores everyday. We were
contented and satisfied with their services, amenities,
security, and specially their friendly staff. When we left the hotel we
leave a note in our room saying ‘thank you’ and a few bucks as tips.
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| This is just one of the corner of Geylang at night. Looks tempting, ayt? hehehehe... |
Thanks Fragrance Hotel for a wonderful experience!!!.
That’s all for now folks, have a great day and night everyone..
Cheeeeeeeeeeersss
Enan signing off.
SMILE
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