Singapore

So, a little over a week ago, 3 friends (Catie, Jenna, and Pedro) and I decided to step outside Hong Kong and test the waters in Singapore. We spent 4 days experiencing what Singapore has to offer, and it was by no means long enough! I already can't wait to go back!

Our trip started crazy early (we got to the airport at 5am!) so we could make the most of our trip. So. after sleeping the entire 4 hour flight (I wasn't even awake for take-off and my friends are all amazed at how well I can fall asleep in any place) we landed in hot and sunny Singapore. We made our way to the lovely hotel (I still miss the bed I had there) before really starting our day.

The first real thing we wanted to do was have lunch, so we asked the hotel where a good place to get local food was and they directed us just down the street. Following their directions lead us to something reminiscent of an open warehouse. It was huge, with rows and rows and rows (we never saw how far it went down, but I made it to row 8) of permanent food stalls. They had a variety of local cuisine, from stir-fry, to noodles, to dumplings, and it all smelled delicious. Plus, there were fruit juice (fresh squeezed too!) with fruits like watermelon and starfruit that I wish were sold everywhere they were so good! It was a great start to the day!

After eating we headed over the Marina Bay, a scenic area of Singapore. It has several points of interest around the lake like area. First, and hardest to miss, is the Marina Bay Sands Hotel, famous for its infinity pool at the top of the towers:

It is meant to look like a cruise ship at the top. We wanted to go to the top, just to see the views (the pool is restricted to guests only sadly) but you had to pay about 20 USD to get up there and we didn't want to do that. 

Another thing to see is a bridge that you take to walk the bay. It is a twisted metal walkway that is modeled after the double helix of DNA. 

Finally, is the mascot of Singapore, the Merlion (a mermaid lion combo). I have no idea how it came about (though I'm sure a Google search would tell me) and apparently they are all over (they sure do love to sell them as souvenirs) but it really is neat to see!

They love to take the Starbucks logo (because she too is a mermaid) and put this guy in her place and sell it on every souvenir ever (I totally have a tote bag with that on it). 

Though each sight was awesome on its own the big picture was beautiful as well!

We ended the day by going to the Gardens by the Bay to see some of the famous gardens at night. Not much was open so latte, but we did manage to have impeccable timing and walked up just as the holiday light show was beginning. We were serenaded by some holiday favorites from the Nutchracker, Frozen, and stars like Mariah Carey. 

It was a great first day, but day two was just as fun! We started the day a little late (we all wanted sleep!), but when we all were finally ready, we made our way back to the view above at marina bay to eat some pastries we bought and enjoy the morning view.  From there we headed to China Town to see how it compared to Hong Kong and to waste some time. It was all very similar, but I did pick up some beautiful raw stone necklaces and I got more of the delicious fruit drinks. 

From China Town we headed to an appointment we had at Breakout Games. They can be found all over the world, but Singapore is known for having lots of these. What it is, is that you pay 20 to get locked in a room. Though there is (thankfully) more to it than that. You pick a premise (we were magicians assistants who broke into the magicians home to take his tricks and managed to get locked in) and then throughout the room there are boxes to unlock and clues to figure out and other rooms to get into, all so you can figure out the combination to get you out of the rooms! You get 1 hour, but it took us 1 hour and 6 minutes. Mostly because we were crazy unorganized and lost everything we needed as some point. Also, none of us had ever done this before but we managed to pick the hardest premise to complete! No matter the troubles, we had so much fun!! I can't wait to try again (because there are some back by my college) and get a better time.

Sunday started with more exploring. We got a small snack at the local market before heading over to Little India to see what that was like. It was far different than China Town, and functioned more like a city than a market. There was less to do there, so after wondering through the city for a while, we found an Indian restaurant that seemed good, and had lunch there (my first Indian food and I love it)before moving on to see more exciting things.

Our next stop was back to the Gardens by the Bay, where more attractions were open, and we went into the flower dome and cloud forest, each beautiful in its own way.

Cloud forest:

waterfall in the dome

walkway above the waterfall, despite my fear of heights I did go up there

its a car made out of moss!

waterfall from the back, closer to the top

Flower Dome: this one was full of very pretty flowers, and decorations in preparation for Christmas

one of my favorite flowerr

the beginning of their Christmas decorations

From the gardens we headed to see what Arab street was all about. By this time it was rather late, so a lot of things were closed but there was a beautiful mosque at the beginning of the street

plus there were several carpet shops still open (not exciting) but they also sold some beautiful scarves (odd combo but far more exciting) and everyone, including Pedro (though for his mother) bought at least one! While wondering the street we found a restaurant that had a lot of people, so we thought it must be good, and we were right! We all had some delicious dishes we shared as well as some tasty sodas (hand made according to the server but who knows) and the whole meal came out to be like 5 USD a person and we were stuffed! I wish we had something like that back home!

Monday was sadly our last day,but we spent it having a blast at the Singapore Zoo!! They have the zoo set up so it is all free range-ish. Like the monkeys swing on ropes over the walk ways, and there was even a peacock walking wherever it wanted through the streets! Plus I got to ride an elephant, and feed some giraffes and some elephants!! It was an incredible day and I am totally not too old to enjoy this zoo!

this guy was right above me!

told you he was just walking in the streets!!

he was at waist level sitting on a feeding post

lizard just climbing on walls around the park

these bats were in a caged area that you could walk through so they would fly right over your head

these guys were in the same cage as ran right past you on the road

ditto, see above :)

Overall, these days in Singapore were in incredible! The city was so clean, and had a great mix of Western and Asian culture. There was so much to see and try that we never got the time to do, and I crave so much of the stuff and the places that were there. If I ever had to live outside of the US, this place would definitely be on the top of the list!