Last weekend (April 2-5), I traveled to Singapore for my long Easter weekend break. I am trying to get to 27 countries by the end of my 27th year. I think I'm going to make it (possibly)!
Another IJM Fellow and I decided to go and explore this modern, air conditioned city in SE Asia. It was a much welcomed break from the craziness of Phnom Penh. We had a great time walking around, enjoying the sites and eating great, GREAT food.
On Friday, April 3, we woke up bright and early and decided to walk around the Harbor and see some of the must-see, iconic Singaporean attractions. We walked past Parliament, the Supreme Court, the historic Fullerton Hotel, the MerLion fountain, the Marina Sans Hotel, and the Garden by the Bay. We loved the opportunity to stroll on sidewalks (!!!!!) without worrying about a moto popping the curb and running us over (as is typical in Phnom Penh were walking is a hazard). I took a long time at the Garden by the Bay, as there are some amazing sites there which notably include the "super trees" and some awesome flower conservatories.
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| Marina Sans Hotel. The 2nd most expensive building in the whole, wide world. It's awesome. |
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| Garden's famous "Super Trees" |
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| Inside the "Cloud Forest" Conservatory |
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| So many beautiful flowers. |
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| Flowers made of legos. Pretty cool! |
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| Lego Venus Fly Trap. |
On Friday night, Amanda's Singaporean friend (whom she had meet in Chicago) came and picked us up. She took us to her church to attend a Good Friday service, then took us to a Hawker Center to chow down on some local food. Hawker Centers are basically the best thing in the whole world. It's a one-stop-shop for great, local food. We tried friend noodles, fish balls, oyster omelets, satay and some delicious beef, coconuts/sugar palm juice, and Chendal (my favorite Malaysian dessert which consists of red bean, coconut milk and palm sugar, so delicious!). It was great to be with a local who ordered us a bunch of food to try. My favorite part of travel is eating food, so this was a definite highlight from the weekend.
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| Hawker Center |
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| Satay stall |
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| Just a small portion of our food. I got too excited when the rest came to snap more pictures. Whoops. |
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| Bluck, stingray anyone??? Gross. |
On Saturday, April 4, we headed to Little India. We wanted to see some temples, and I was on a mission to get some henna. I love henna and basically think it's the most beautiful thing in the whole world. We stopped into Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple which is a Hindu temple dedicated to to the Hindu goddess Kali, fierce embodiment of Shakti and the god Shiva's wife, Parvati. It was beautiful, smokey with incense and full of people. I loved being inside and watching the people worship. We then stopped by an Indian beauty parlor to get some henna and threading on the ole' eyebrows. The Indian lady asked me if I did my own eyebrows, when I told her I did, she said that one of my eyebrows was good while the other was "not-so-good". Haha! Thanks blunt Indian beauty parlor lady :) She fixed me right up and apparently my eyebrows are more acceptable when I left.
After leaving Little India, we headed toward Orchard Road--the mecca of shopping in Singapore. Since I am heading off to Australia and New Zealand this weekend (eek!), I was in need of some colder weather clothing items, so we heading to the mall to enjoy some shopping at H&M, Forever 21, and other fun stores. We also indulged in some wonderfully, delicious McDonalds. I couldn't tell ya the last time I really ate McDonalds in the US, but when I am traveling to a more "modern" country where McDonalds is located....you can bet all the money in my bank account, I will be eating there. I scarfed down a double cheeseburger, fries, and diet coke. NO REGRETS. It was amazing and totally worth it. Plus, I figured I had been walking miles upon miles and sweating gallons, I could get away with one big splurge meal.
On Saturday evening, we went back to the Garden by the Bay to watch the "Super Trees" perform. They perform at 7:45/8:45 pm every night. They light up and "dance" to movie music (think Star Wars, ET, Indiana Jones, The Little Mermaid, Lion King!). It was really fun. It was especially beautiful laying under them, looking up at the lights, and seeing the beautiful Marina Sans Hotel in the background. A perfect last night in Singapore.
On Sunday morning, I woke up bright and early and camped out in the hostel lounge to watch the UK game. The weekend could have ended on a better note, but this was not the year to add championship #9, sadly. I shed a few tears and left on a sour note back to Phnom Penh. Oh well.
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| Seeing my dreams crumble to pieces....win or lose though, I bleed blue till I die. #youpeoplearecrazy |
Overall, Singapore was fun! It was a nice, modern escape from Phnom Penh. I'm glad I spent the time and money to go and see it. It was lacking a bit in character (as compared to the other places in SE Asia that I've seen), but I really enjoyed it.
