This early part of the year 2015, I made travel the theme of my life – particularly summer – because isn’t it the ideal time to have wanderlust? And since my mom has wanted to go to Singapore for the longest time, this year, we finally traveled there along with some of my relatives.

Accommodation was a big concern for us.
First concern: We were a big group. But that was easily resolved by splitting the group up. My uncle and his family found a place to stay in Chinatown. That left me with my mom and my other aunt. 
Second concern: My mom wanted to stay at the house of her inaanak sa kasal who had migrated to Singapore a couple years back to save money. I wanted to stay at a hotel because I didn’t want to tip toe around and be so concerned about the time – particularly when coming in and out of the house. Nakakahiya naman if we arrive at the house so late after touring the city especially since our hosts would have to go to work pa (our trip in Singapore fell on weekdays). 
Third concern: I convinced my mom to stay in a hotel instead with the promise of paying for our room. So budget became a big concern. Even the hotels in Bugis, Little India and Chinatown were a bit heavy on the pocket.  
The resolution: Airbnb!

  
For those who are not familiar with Airbnb, this is what it says in their website:
Founded in August of 2008 and based in San Francisco, California, Airbnb is a trusted community marketplace for people to list, discover, and book unique accommodations around the world – online or from a mobile phone or tablet. 

Whether an apartment for a night, a castle for a week, or a villa for a month, Airbnb connects people to unique travel experiences, at any price point, in more than 34,000 cities and 190 countries. And with world-class customer service and a growing community of users, Airbnb is the easiest way for people to monetize their extra space and showcase it to an audience of millions. 
Meet my roomies: 
I found this really nice accommodation in River Valley, Singapore – just at the edge of Orchard Road! The room listing described it as an Elegant Queen Room in the City.  It only cost us Php3,000 a night (very affordable for its location!) and the host doesn’t stay there so that also solved my concern of pakikisama. We could come and go whenever we pleased during our stay. 
We felt so safe in this apartment. It had electronic lock system. That’s also a great thing for us because we also didn’t have to worry about bringing keys or a keycard which had the possibility of being lost especially since I’m always losing my keys at home.   
This is our room and it looked just like it did in the Airbnb listing. A friend told me that sometimes what you see isn’t exactly what you get. But it’s not the case here. 
The name of our room – cute! (“,) 
This is what the rest of the apartment looked like: 

I didn’t get to take photos but the apartment also has a kitchen to my mom and aunt’s delight because they at least could heat water up for coffee and put water in the ref. There are also a washing machine and dryer for the guests who wanted to do their laundry. 
WiFi was also provided. I finally got to experience the fast speed Internet of Singapore. So impressed by that! My smartphone updates downloaded in under a minute! 
The neighborhood where the apartment is is also very nice. 
There’s a 7-11 which is probably where you can get the cheapest food and drink in the neighborhood 
 

When you feel like having drinks, you can go to Spize (not that I did since I was with my family)
Craving Indian food? Kurry Korner in the neighborhood 
Chinese food? There’s Boon Tong Kee!

You won’t go hungry in this neighborhood. There’s also a burger bar and pizza place in this area. I just didn’t get to take photos of them. I wish I could tell you guys that I ate at one of these restos at least. But I didn’t. They’re a little pricey. I’d be willing to shell out if I was with friends who are willing to spend too.
And if you feel like getting your hair done, there’s also a salon. 
The view of the apartment building across the street.  
The streets: Such a clean place! So nice to walk around. 
In fact, we did a little bit of exploring on our last day before we left for the airport. 

And we found this Catholic church located just at the back area of our apartment. My mom’s very religious hence the grotto photo opp!

So that’s the story of my Singapore accommodation. I plan to go back to Singapore with my friends and when I do, I feel like I’ll stay at where I stayed again. Thanks to Airbnb which I finally got to try it and will definitely be trying again for my future out of the country travels.