I had read that Singapore was a lovely Western-like reprieve after busy, unorganized and dusty Southeast Asia. I had also read that it's really expensive. Neither of those things bode well for my travel destination choices and I carefully crafted my layovers to avoid Singapore. Even though *I* made sure to avoid it someone has a layover in Singapore and I thought it would be nice to meet him before we headed off to Malaysia. Oh man, I was worried if he was cute enough to justify Singapore but he got lucky, this place is gorgeous. Ok ok, he is definitely worth it regardless :)
I was in the country for mere minutes and a stranger paid my bus fare since the driver didn't have change. Very sweet! I even threw a xie xie her way.
Other highlights include:
The incredible not warm croissant at VXX Cooperative.
Amazing classical music concert at the Singapore Botanical Gardens last night.
Getting lost in the architecture of Duxton area, pics to come. Mix of old and new is quite impressive here.
Speaking of getting lost: Walking. I walked miles today from Chinatown to Telok Ayer to Downtown to Marina to you name it. The buildings are unique and the only way to take it all in is to be cheap, I mean walk.
My delicious $3.40 lunch of masala dosa, methu vadai and chai at Tekka Food Center in the famous Little India. I haven't been to India but I imagine it just like that. It's probably louder and busier and that's a scary thought.
River Boat Cruise opened up my eyes to the beauty of this place and threw in tid bits of history. The waterfront is quite a sight and I took over 200 pictures during a 40 minute ride. Shocker.
Gardens by the Bay is an expansive area of vertical gardens made look like trees, Heritage Gardens representing the history of Singapore and anything you ever wanted to know about plants and flowers. It is free for the outside gardens and after spending three hours there I didn't touch on a quarter of the space. The inside gardens are a cloud forest and the world's biggest glass greenhouse. Since there was an extra charge for those, I stayed outside enjoying what I could before the dark settled in and the light show started.
The light show was set to Broadway music with the lights playing along accordingly. It was really cool but my video can't do it justice. I'll be Googling one to share.
After one light show on to another? I ended the eve a light and music show over the water, with the dramatic skyline in the background. Beautiful way to end the day.
To be honest, I started this blog in the morning and it was quite a negative piece of writing. As the day went on, I started to enjoy Singapore more and more and by the eve I was loving it.
I won't ignore my original worries of this place and some of the things I was concerned about (cost!) were indeed true but I made the absolutely best of it and still have money to eat tomorrow.
Bonus, right?
A 20ish year old guy came up to me and asked if I spoke Spanish, Portuguese, English or Polish. Odd selection of languages and I told him what I speak. He proceeded to tell me how he and his friends are traveling from somewhere to Nepal and it's been an amazing adventure. Last year they traveled from Mexico to Brazil.
-Can I take a picture of you?
--Why?
-It's a Polaroid so I'll give you the image. It's how my friends and I fund our travels. Only $10.
Crap y'all, *that* is an entrepreneurial skill! I hope he found someone today because señora doesn't drop tens like that. Maybe I should have? I almost instantly regretted denying him. Would you?
Some other random things during the day:
Walked into a tea house. Chose a seat. They told me it's $5 "room charge" for that area. I moved to a different area. Sat down. Tea $30. Walked out.
Salon wanted to charge $15 to remove nail polish before applying new one. That's a no.
Ordered the aforementioned croissant at a super hipster place and the lady questioned why I would ever want it not warm. He entire exchange was odd and I think the encounter changed her life.
I was excited to visit Baba House, a heritage house museum to get some historical info. I emailed ahead to make reservations. I took the bus there and the lady said they only take reservations that were booked two weeks ago. TWO WEEKS?!
On my first eve I needed something to do since going to bed at 8 seemed like a bad use of time. The highly recommended Night Safari was fun but not spectacular. I forgot how loud children are, especially if you keep them up at 10:30 pm. I had this romantic idea of a quiet ride through the jungle but got an Oakland Zoo train ride for $45. The set up was beautiful but the children annoying (yes, I know I have one!) and I wonder how much the animals love having lights illuminating them late at night.
But let's not end on a negative note. Singapore is beautiful and I'm glad I came. My mood throughout the day reminded me one more time to do as much as I can and not get discouraged by first impressions. If Heather and I conducted our week in Indonesia based on the first few minutes of scary men swarming us at the Lombok airport we would have had one crap of a time. Every single place (even Panama ;)) has something to see, do and eat, you just have to find something that is up your alley. Singapore has all those things and even though it's way too expensive for a long trip, I'd be happy to have it for my layover next time I'm Asia. Ya know, on my way going to places I actually love ;)
In a couple of hours my solo adventure comes to an end and my favorite package arrives. We are off to Malaysia tomorrow!
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