Singapore

Singapore… A destination that wasn’t on my itinerary for that year. It is country number 2…means I’ve changed my plans already during country 1. Why not? 😉

Why I went there is because my friend I was staying with in Kuala Lumpur had a long weekend off and wanted to go to Singapore. And as I was curious too and he was happier going with someone instead of alone we arranged that journey. Good thing about it was that we could go there by car and he just picked me up from Melaka.

We arrived at the border with absolutely no preparation. We were lucky that everyone was nice and helpful. The entry by car took a while but in the end without any problems.

The first evening we were exhausted from the unexpected long car ride. We were hungry and went off to Chinatown which was close to my hotel anyway.

Singapore has quite a big Chinese community and so it’s said to have very great Chinese food. I can confirm that now. OK, maybe we took it to an extreme…But it’s been a great feast. We simply couldn’t decide and so we both ordered everything we fancied (which obviously was a lot).

Chinese feast

After that we needed a good walk. So full as we were we rolled down to the Marina to see the first typical things in Singapore. The Marina Bay Sands hotel with its signature pool roof and the flower shaped statue at the bay… Nice to look at and we were in time for the light show (which wasn’t spectacular at all)…

Marina Bay

Light show of the Marina Bay Sands

The Merlion

The next day our first stop was the Botanical Garden and the National Orchid Gardens. The Botanical Garden itself is free of charge and is a huge and really nice park. Amazing, that the city’s people got this place to calm down from big city life. And as it was Sunday there were plenty of people having a picnic, strolling around etc.

Rainforest in the middle of the city

Sculpture in the Garden

Types of Orchids

When we got back to the city centre and to “The Shoppes” (a big and modern shopping mall at the Marina Bay) we met another colleague. She was living in Singapore and therefore was the perfect local guide for us.

Gondola inside the mall

Plastic “ice” rink

She showed us around in the Gardens by the Bay. Definitely the signature sightseeing spot in Singapore. You can up up and walk a few metres in the canopies of those artificial trees (which are exhausts of a geothermal power plant!). In the dome you can find a forest and an artificial waterfall.

Gardens by the Bay and Forest Dome

Walkway in the Sky

Skyline as seen from walkway

Harbour of Singapore

As sightseeing really gets you hungry it was time for another feast. This time: Dim Sum. Chinese steamed dumplings with various fillings. Our guide knew a great spot and yes!! She was right, it was absolutely great!

Dim Sum feast

Dim Sum in the making

For the next stop, we went to the Arabic quarter. Something that wasn’t on my mind, I didn’t know about it. So thanks again to our great guide we found that spot. It’s like the hipster quartet of Singapore. A lot of small bars, cafés and streetart. I felt a little like being brought to a tiny version of my beloved Shoreditch! 😉

They even have a cat café, just like the one in Shoreditch. And yes, we all were curious and wanted to pat a few fluffy cats. So nice 🙂

Fluffy cat in the Cat Café

Haji Lane

Streetart in the Arabic quarter

What else is there in Singapore? Oh yes, the Singapore Sling. The famous, sweet and strong cocktail was invented here. SO we went to the Long Bar in the Raffles Hotel. Here they still have “The Original Singapore Sling” (and a few different and still tasty versions). This is the only bar where you can eat peanuts and just drop the shells to the floor. When you walk in, it’s crunching under your feet. The interior of the bar seems quite original, too. You feel like you travel back to the 60’s, to some sort of colonial times.

Raffles Hotel, birthplace of the “Singapore Sling”

Unfortunately, our tour guide had to leave by then. We all were a bit tired and decided that the day was busy enough and we all go to bed. But I’ve been a bit too curious about the giant rooster I saw the previous day which was obviously the New Year’s decorations (very similar to our Christmas decorations). The day before it was a bit rainy and I didn’t feel like taking pictures. So I decided to check out Chinese quarter again.

Chinese New Year: Year of the Rooster

Chinese Market

No Durians in Singapore?

In Chinatown there’s (as usual in Asia) a big market. It wasn’t too bad and so I took a nice short night walk. And whoever said there are no durians in Singapore…It’s a lie. I found them (actually my nose found them 😂). But if you wanted to buy you would’ve had to eat them inside their store.

And as we’ve been lucky enough with the weather so far that obviously had to change. Long story short, by the time I got back to my hotel I was more than soaked. And I got there barefoot as there was no reason to keep the shoes. You walked through ankle deep puddles anyway…

On the second morning I got up and went to my cute, tiny gym for a run. I was wondering what happened as it was so dark still. But it was dark because it was raining…. Heavily!!

Gym time 🙂

But on my last day I tried not to get moody because of the weather. Massive breakfast (half Asian, half western) definitely helped for that. Yep, Singapore was all about the feast! 😏

Breakfast feast: Western and Asian

And what else can you do when it’s rainy weather? Of course, do the cultural stuff. So I went to the national museum to learn a lot about the country’s only 60 past years. Yes, befor that Singapore wasn’t a country, on its own.

Singapore… For me a country/city that managed to get all the best features of world wide cities into one. Drinking tab water, good public transport, clean streets, multicultural life, etc.

Despite my sceptic about it I actually liked Singapore a lot. Yes, it’s only a huge city. But it’s a nice one. I can imagine that life here can be of good quality.

If someone asked me, if you could spare the time, I would recommend going there… At least for 2-3 days.

Yours,

Nadine