Singapore - holiday experiences

DESTINATION: MALAYSIA -> SINGAPORE 2014

I was very excited to visit Singapore because I have wanted to see the city since high school after reading a novel called “Tana merah” which was published in the 80's so it was a funny coincidence that our host / family friend in KL also said she had read it then!

After flying from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore we took a taxi to our hotel and it was really exciting to see Gardens by the bay architecture through our taxi window. It gives you a very nice first impression of Singapore! After arriving to our cozy hotel, we took a little rest before looking for a restaurant to eat our dinner. In Singapore there are plenty of restaurants and food courts that are very cheap (for a Finn this is amazing as you can have lunch only for 3 euros).

Gardens by the bay from the distance

Naturally, the first tourist attraction that we visited was the Raffle’s hotel for a Singapore sling drink at the Long bar. The drink, once created at the bar, was expensive but as I remember it tasted good. After Raffle’s we started walking to other attractions around Marina bay, tasted some waffle ice cream in a shadow of a tree at some park. The weather was so hot! It is very pleasant to stop walking for a while, buy some cold lemonade and enjoy the atmosphere. After that we discovered that the National Museum had a VIP day and we went there for free! That was great! We also wanted to take pictures of the city’s landmarks Merlion statue and Marina Bay Sands hotel.

Merlion

Singapore sling

One more reason to visit Singapore was that I wanted to meet with my Singaporean pen-pal. We agreed to meet at a subway station and from there we headed together to a café, and it was very nice to meet her after many years of exchanging emails. We planned to meet again on the next day.

Before meeting again with my new friend my boyfriend and I decided to spend the whole day in the Botanic gardens. I love nature so it was awesome to spend time “in the middle of” a rain forest. We were, once again, lucky because students got a free entry on that day including “VIP Orchid Garden”, I really liked the place, especially when we were the only ones walking through the rain forest trail at that time.

We walked a lot on that day, because we tried to walk to Botanic gardens at first and then got a little lost and realized we have to take the subway. Again, weather was so hot and humid. Remember to drink water to avoid dehydration. ;) When walking back from the Botanic gardens we saw some office workers and I was wondering how they could walk outside long sleeved shirts and trousers on. Well, offices have good air conditioning..

There are strict rules in Singapore so if you don’t want to get strikes - do not throw any trashes or chewing gum on the ground or eat at the subway stations. And the most important thing, do not bring your durian fruit to the subway!

In the evening my boyfriend, my new friend and I decided to go to a night club, but before heading there, first we had a small dinner at some food court and there I tasted some bubble tea for the first time! It’s not very well known in Finland so it was a new experience for me. After that we visited the night club (it was the ladies night, surprise free entry for us girls) at the 62 floors. I have never been on that tall building before, I guess. There was an awesome view by night, many ships in the harbor lights on, absolutely stunning. And once again, we noticed some Finns – at the same time with us in the elevator some older men were listening to our conversation and asked “are you also from Finland?”

Singapore at night

We spent the last two days of our holiday on Sentosa island, which is an artificial entertainment island. You can reach the island by walking. There are many things to do in Sentosa with kids or friends, for example, Universal studios, Segway riding, flying in a wind tunnel, which I tried. It was quite expensive for a few minutes try, but a cool experience for those who know how to do it right. I tried it and I didn’t realize that I should breathe using my mouth not nose, I felt like I was suffocating because the air blowing under me was so powerful. I think I didn’t quite follow the instructions (don’t look down). It was such an adrenaline-rush, but at the same time, not really my thing, but I’m glad I tried it and now I don’t need to feel “I should’ve tried it”.

The next time if I ever visit Singapore I want to see Gardens by the bay! And to plan beforehand more precisely where we want to eat! Usually in a big city when you are the most hAngry there are no available restaurants around or you just go randomly to some place. Sounds familiar? That’s what I thought so. ;)

Sadly our Southeast Asian trip had to come to an end and we needed to return to Finland. Stay tuned for the next story about Amsterdam!