Our flight to Singapore was early in the morning, but in able to receive the discount on AirAsia, Alexis and I were on a separate flight than Skye and Ethan. We arrived in Singapore at about 9:45 AM and waited in the airport until Skye and Ethan arrived around 11:30 AM. Immediately upon arrival we could sense that Singapore was going to be a high-tech city- the airport had free wifi!! We waited for Skye and Ethan to arrive while we relaxed at Starbucks and then the 4 of us grabbed a bus to the center of the city.
I loved Singapore right away. Everything outside the airport was very green and well-groomed and the traffic was minimal. The architecture in the city was beautiful and due to the laws against spitting and chewing gum it was SO clean! We hopped off of the bus and found our way to Little India- an area in the city where we could actually afford the hospitality.
After settling into a dorm-style hostel, we grabbed some Indian food for lunch at the restaurant down stairs. For the rest of the day we explored the mall across from our hostel- a mall filled with arcades, video-game studios, and western food! We were all pretty wiped from the confusing night's sleep and the flight so after Alexis and I went on a wild goose chase to print out our Universal Studios tickets, we all headed to bed early. We had a long day at the theme park to look forward to! Skye and Ethan decided to join us at the park so we knew it was going to be a fun day !
We woke up bright and early to have a full day at Universal- it closed at 7 pm so we had to get in as much as we could during the day. Universal Studios Singapore (USS) was located on Sentosa Island- a vacation and tourist paradise with a casino, aquarium, and multiple resorts, restaurants, and shops. The island itself cost 1 SD (singapore dollar) to enter and was a very fun spot. The walk to Sentosa Island was pretty cool, with views of the harbor that cruise ships docked at and also a view of a gondola over the harbor.
Luckily the park wasn't very crowded and we were able to get on all of the fun rides multiple times. USS was similar to the park in Florida, it had dueling dragons, Shrek 4D, the Mummy roller coaster and the Jurassic Park rafting ride. The best part of the park was the 4D Transformers ride that a motion simulator car chase and fight against the transformer characters. The 4 of us went on nearly every ride in the park, including the children's rides like Sesame Street's Spaghetti Space Chase and the Madagascar carousel. I love theme parks so I had a smile on my face the whole day. We saw some characters walking around including Frankenstein, Betty Boop, and the cast of Madagascar! We were able to get the front row of every roller coaster and the longest wait was about 45 minutes- 90% of the time we walked right on ! Overall it was one of the most successful days I have had at a theme park and it was one of the happiest days we had had on our trip !
The next day was sadly our last full day in Singapore. Our time there was brief, as we had anticipated it being a very expensive city. We decided to explore the harbor area of the city, so we headed to Marina Bay. The harbor was beautiful, with an amazingly modern bridge overlooking the skyline of the city. There was a soccer field floating on the water and the Singapore Flyer (similar to the London Eye) was in clear view. We continued to explore the area and visited the Gardens by the Bay, which was a modern garden of super tall, fake trees. Skye and Ethan wanted to return to Sentosa Island to visit the Aquarium, but Alexis and I couldn't afford such activities! Alexis and I discovered that the science and art museum had a free exhibit on the top floor so we decided to check that out and then explore the high end mall on the harbor. The mall had some of the nicest stores I had ever seen, and even had an indoor skating rink!! You could also go for a gondola ride on the river on the bottom floor. I felt very out of place in my t-shirt and flip flops while everyone was shopping at Louis Vuitton, Burberry, and Prada !
For our last night on our back pack adventure, Alexis and I wanted to celebrate all that we had seen and done in the past 5 weeks. We put on the only decent clothes we had- 6 dollar dresses we had purchased on Khao Son Road in Bangkok, and headed back to Marina Bay. Inside the mall we asked the concierge what type of restaurant would allow us in in flip flops and we were pleasantly surprised when we discovered the sky lounge in the hotel wasn't that strict. So up we went- to the 58th floor where we were greeted with amazing views. We ordered a berry champagne deliciousness and enjoyed the scenery. Next to us was a rooftop pool and we were surrounded by amazing buildings and skyscrapers. It was pretty crowded up there so after one drink we headed back into the mall to find an alternate location for dinner. We chose a pizza place overlooking the harbor where we were able to watch a pretty cool laser/water show. Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World" began playing and Alexis and I teared up a little bit thinking that our amazing journey was coming to an end.
The next day our flight back to Bangkok was later in the afternoon so we had the morning to spend with Skye and Ethan. They were continuing on to Malaysia and the south of Thailand, so it was time to say goodbye to our new best buds. We visited the popular tourist spot, the merlion, but due to anxiety, heat, and dehydration I didn't last long in the park. We said goodbye to our friends and headed for the airport. I really wish we had more time in Singapore- there were so many cool places to see and the city was very welcoming and easy to adjust to. I was sad to say goodbye to Singapore but I was mostly sad to say goodbye to Skye and Ethan, after 5 weeks we had become really close and Michigan is pretty far away- so the next reunion is pretty up in the air - but is definitely going to happen someway somehow!
Alexis and I headed back to Salaya for 3 days where we spent the day with Araya, got our haircuts, and packed up our stuff. We watched a lot of our new movies and stayed in the air conditioned apartment because it was nearly 105 degrees in our town! Way too hot to function!!
Monday night at 3 AM we headed into Bangkok to begin our journey back to America. We had a brief layover in Tokyo- a full day in San Fran and then it was homeward bound to the east coast.
These six months have taught me so much about the world and myself. I am incredibly grateful to have had such an amazing experience and thankful to everyone I met along the way who made the memories so special. I hope to return to SE Asia one day- it is such an incredible and beautiful part of the world. Now its time to start the next chapter of my life: finding a full time job and settling into the Boston scene. Sawadee-kha Thailand and khob khun kha for everything <3
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