A big dream and a big world: In love with Singapore

Hey y’all! :)

After an exhausting flight in the middle of the night, we arrived safely in Singapore. Luckily, we had arranged the transport from the airport to our hostel previously, and didn’t have to pick up the battle with a horde of taxi drivers like at our arrival on Bali.

Arriving at the Sleepy Kiwi hostel, we fell into our beds without even changing our clothes because we were so tired (it was about 3:30am). On the next morning, we enjoyed a nice breakfast with amazing coffee at the hostel (which was included in the price). It was a buffet with toast, fruit, different kinds of jams, peanut butter, etc. Following the backpacker rule no.1 (free food = all you can eat) we ate as much as we could. Afterwards, we got our backpacks and walked to the Green Kiwi Hostel where we stayed for the rest of our time in Singapore.

After getting settles, we met a Singaporean, Shah, in the lobby who offered to show us some of the city. We were really excited! A free tour with a local is probably the best way to get around in a foreign city. :)

Together with three other German girls from our hostel, we took a bus to the downtown area of Singapore. On the way, Shah told us a little about his life and about the people here. There are 4 official languages in Singapore, Malay, Indian, Chinese, and English, so every sign is translated in each language. Furthermore, a lot of different ethnicities live here side by side. All over the city, we could see Mosques, Hindu temples, and different kinds of churches, really cool!

Shah showed us around the finance district and the Singapore river and showed us awesome places to eat (We tried Prata, a kind of thin salty pancake with a delicious vegetable sauce, and a special ice cream that was served in a piece of rainbow toast :D). Unfortunately, it started raining in the afternoon, so we went back to our hostel. In the evening, we decided to visit a mall nearby and to get something to eat in the district called “Little India”. The mall was, like everything in Singapore, super modern and it was decorated with lots of Christmas lights (we realized that that was probably be the most christmasy atmosphere we would get since we will be somewhere in Cambodia or Laos around Christmas). After strolling through it, we went to a vegetarian Indian restaurant with delicious authentic Indian food.

On the next day, we went to Little India again. We walked through its decorated streets (there had been some kind of festival) and were amazed by the totally different atmosphere there. We also went to a kind of mall called “Mustafa Centre”. But it was not like any of the other malls here. It reminded me more of a gigantic souk. You could literally buy anything in the multiple-story building from electronics to clothes to toys to food from all over the world (we even found German Marzipanstollen!!). We were so excited about the place and stayed in there for a long time.

Then, we went by MRT (Mass Rapid Transportation, the subway of Singapore) to Chinatown where we were again in a whole different world. Now everything was no longer Indian, but Chinese. The restaurants, the shops, the signs, the people,… We found a street with food where we tried another typical Singaporean dish called Murtabak, delicious!

After we ate, we went by bus to a park called Southern Gardens, where you could walk on a high steel path between the tops of the trees. It was amazing! We felt like in the middle of a rainforest rather than in a big city, and ended up on a hill with a fantastic view over the harbour and other parts of the city.

On Thursday, our third day here, we had booked a free walking tour through the civic and colonial district. Along with a group of other tourist from all over the world, we followed our guide, Wei, along the Singapore river and into various buildings which had been governmental institutions previously. He told us all about Singapore’s interesting history and we learned about the different colonial times, wars, and its way to become an independent state in 1965. At the end of the tour, we went to the Esplanade, the performing art centre, which was in a really cool building made of glass. From the front steps, we had an amazing view on Singapore’s main attraction, the Marina Bay Sands.

After the tour was over, we went to a restaurant called “Guac and go” which was totally amazing because you could create your own wraps and salads. We had planned to go on a rooftop bar afterwards, but it started raining, so we went back to the hostel. When the rain stopped eventually, Taddi and I went to our favourite place again: the Mustafa Centre. :D We stayed in there for what seemed like hours.

Back in our hostel, we decided to go see the laser show at the Marina Bay Sands. It was not very spectacular, and we were a little disappointed… It was worth it though because we got to see all the skyscrapers by night, really cool!

On Friday, our last day here in Singapore, we went to the Marina Bay Sands and the Gardens by the Bay. First, we walked through the big gardens which offered a multitude of different plants, arranged in various areas, for example the Chinese garden, the Indian garden, the Malay garden, ... it was so beautiful! Especially the colorful flowers! The area I liked the most was the one with the so-called "supertrees". These trees are artificial and each contain a water reservoir and solar panels. On the outside, they are decorated with plants and lights, so they glow in the dark. They were so awesome!! :)

After we finished walking through the gardens, we went inside the Marina Bay Sands, the biggest and most famous hotel in Singapore. It contains a mall with lots of expensive designer stores and an ice rink. We relaxed for some time on a bank in front of the building and enjoyed the gorgeous view on the skyline of the city. When we got hungry, we went to the food hawker (that's what the cheap and local food courts are called here) beside the Esplanade Centre. Once again we had some delicious singaporean food. :)

At 7:15pm we went into the Esplanade Centre because there was a free Indian fashion show. It was small, but so cool to watch! After that, we went to the Gardens by the Bay again to see the glowing supertrees by night. They looked even better!!! :)

On the way back to our hostel, we made a (not so quick...) stop at our favorite shopping mall: the Mustafa Centre. XD

Back at the hostel, we collected our backpacks and went to the bus station where our sleeping bus to Kuala Lumpur departed.

After spending four wonderful days here in Singapore, I can only say that I absolutely love this city!!! The people are extremely helpful and friendly, the whole population seems so tolerant with all the different religions and cultures living side by side, the streets and buildings are super clean, there are lots of beautiful parks and gardens, the food is good, etc. I love it!!! :D

Right now we are already at our next destination: Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, but I will write about that in my next post.

Stay tuned,

Annette <3