Hi friends! I received incredible support from so many of you in response to my last blog post in the form of phone calls, emails, responses on here, Facebook comments + messages and so on. THANK YOU for allowing me to speak about the difficulty on this journey and THANK YOU for responding with love + kindness. You’ll be happy to know that I’m doing much better, each day brings more comfort and familiarity. I am getting there friends.
Today, I want share with you details from my trip to Singapore, a trip that came at the right time that I greatly enjoyed!
So back in mid-September my tourist visa expired and when that happens (and you want to stay where you are) you take a so called “Boarder Run,” which means you leave the country right before your visa expires and then come back in a few days or so with a new one, lasting 30 days or 3 months. I am now on a Business Visa until December 16, which feels like a lifetime away. Think dog years here people. . .
Anyway, I knew I had to leave and a work colleague mentioned Singapore, she said it was a safe place to travel as a solo female traveler so I took her advice and went! The trip itself kind of snuck up on me. There was an awful storm here the day before I was supposed to go, so class was cancelled and I pretty much stayed in my apartment all day eating Pringles and got up the next morning around 4:30am. It isn’t until I’m at the airport that I realize I know nothing about Singapore. Like nothing. I didn’t know the currency, the language, I forgot to call my bank and tell them I was traveling, I didn’t know how far my hostel would be from the airport. . . nada.
Turns out it was quite a smooth trip regardless, both of my plane rides were pretty empty and once I had the row to myself. There was a short layover in Hanoi and lunch was even provided on the plane. All I took was my book bag, too, because it was just a three day, two night, real-quick trip!
Long story short, I loved Singapore. I think that Singapore is the country America wants to be. I was surprised to find out that Singapore is home to people of many different backgrounds and that they all live quite peacefully together. There are many different people groups that make up the majority of Singaporeans, such as those of China, Malay, Indian, and English descent. (There are of course, many others.) Fun Fact: Mandarin, Malay, English and Tamil are all the official languages of Singapore.
Singapore is also a relatively new country, in fact, 2015 marks only their 50th year as an independent country! There is also a lot of British influence in the country, because of their more than 100 years of colonization of the land.
Okay, so tour-guide Olivia is signing off. . .
Basically I had a great trip, stayed in an awesome hostel which I booked completely last minute. It was in an old part of town, called Clarke Quay (pronounced ‘key’ which I only learned after I left). I had a sweet roommate from Indonesia, who let me tag along on her very well planned trip the first night there. She knew where all the free things were. Grateful. Singapore is also very walkable which was great. We went to an art exhibit where photographers showcased images that embodied what “Singapore” meant to them. We saw live music, walked around, had dinner at an open stall market and rode The Flyer, which is like the largest ferris wheel. It overlooked all of Singapore and we went at night so we got to see the city all lit up!
The next day my roommate and I did our own thing. I decided to see what the hostel had to offer and chose a Hop-on, Hop-off tour which lasted me most of the day.
I loved Singapore, did I mention that I loved Singapore? Well, I did.
Because of the massive British influence in the country the driving part of the tour took place on a double decker bus. They also drive on the left side of the road, like in Britain. It was great. First time through I rode it without getting off, because the breeze from the top was too dang nice and I wasn’t quite in the mood to be sweaty, yet again. When the tour was finished I hopped off for a break to stretch my legs and decided to get some lunch. I stopped at this really great German restaurant! I ordered a cheese plate, because, cheese plate . . . a beer and really wished my mom, aunt and cousins could have been there. My brother doesn’t appreciate cheese quite as much (and I would have loved to hear my cousin order it raw).
I got on the tour bus again after lunch and actually hopped off and on this time, managing to land myself in a puddle of water (more than once) as I did so. And then the more I saw of Singapore the more I fell in more in love with it . . . I’ll shut up now and just show you my pictures.
Sites that made my last minute trip possible are listed by their associated pictures.
I loved my hostel. The staff was the best! http://www.stayquarters.com/ http://www.agoda.com/
Art from the people of Singapore!
Free music from these two gems that were amazeballs.
The Flyer – you can see all of Singapore!
http://www.singaporeflyer.com/
Yes, they had Starbucks and I almost peed myself and scared the crap out of the guy in the front window.
Clarke Quay! This is what my hostel backed up to!
Little India!
More from the Hop-on Hop-off City Tour!
My cheese plate, so yum.
http://www.brotzeit.co/outlet/singapore
Cloud Forest at Gardens by the Bay! If you’re ever in Singapore you need to see this. So worth the money!
http://www.gardensbythebay.com.sg/en/the-gardens/attractions/cloud-forest.html
Gardens by the Bay!
http://www.gardensbythebay.com.sg/en/home.html
As always, thanks for reading (and viewing)! Your support means the world to me. Comments and questions are always welcomed.
Please keep a look-out for another blog post later this week about life in ‘Nam as of late.
Best,
Olivia
The Blessed Adventure 