As part of completing the e-commerce bootcamp of digitalfilipino.com, I went on a study trip of sorts with my classmates to Singapore and Malaysia. I’ve been to both countries several times before. They are right beside each other and makes perfect sense to visit both in one go.

The Chinese New Year environment
For this study trip, I had a great experience. In Singapore, I arrived on the first day of the Chinese New Year. While most establishments were closed for that holiday most other areas of Singapore were festive and all dressed up for the occasion.

Waiting Game before official business
I arrived ahead of everyone so I was able to roam about on my own for a bit.

Then, since everything else in Chinatown was closed, I decided to re-discover Marina Sands. I went up to the Marina Sands Skypark (SGD23 per head) for a fantastic view of the city. I also discovered that the fastfood area of Marina Sands also has some affordable offerings (SGD10 for lunch).

I went on to re-discover Singapura Plaza at Orchard Road where I enjoyed dinner with my teammates and our hosts for the e-commerce summit to finally kick off official business.

Discovering co-working spaces
Discovering the co-working scene in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur was very interesting. Co-working spaces (where employees of different small companies can work together in open spaces and consult with each other) seem to be all the rage now with start-ups and I can see why. I now plan to check the co-working spaces in Manila soon!

Project presentations and industry exposure
In SG and KL, we had the chance to present our projects to various people in tech and learn more about the future of tech, too.

All teams worked hard and presented their projects to the Filtrepreneurs members (photo credit: Ces Noblefranca).

Walk, walk, walk
After all the presentations and industry exposure meetings, the most fun part is always to explore. I’ve been to SG and KL several times since 2008. It’s always great to revisit my favorite spots and discover new ones through good, old-fashioned walking. It was a lot more fun this time with the #LostKids.

Summarizing my 8D/7N itinerary here:

Singapore
Day 1 – Temple visit, Marina Sands Skypark, dinner at Singapura Plaza
Day 2 – Lunch at Orchard Central, presentation day and socials
Day 3 – Industry exposure meeting, walking with classmates
Day 4 – Lunch at Boat Quay, coffee and cake at Cat Café, meet Terapinn, cable car ride at Sentosa, take night bus to Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia
Day 5 – presentation day
Day 6 – Industry exposure meeting, Petronas Towers, drinks
Day 7 – Batu caves, shopping
Day 8 – shopping at Central Market, Airport

A great tech experience all in all!