Singapore

The decision to go to Singapore was pretty last minute. I knew I had some extra time before London and I would be alone, so why not go see a familiar face in nearby Singapore? Jimmy and I actually are family, contrary to popular belief! My dad and his mom are cousins which makes us second cousins, so it was even better to visit with family!

When I first got to Jimmy's place, he had to go back to work for a few hours which gave me the perfect time to recover from my week with Jordan. I did laundry and slept for a couple of hours. Jimmy picked me up around seven, and we headed toward Marina Bay. We walked around for quite a bit, and I immediately saw how beautiful this country is. Jimmy took me for late night snacks at Newton Plaza for fried rice, sting ray, mussels, and sweet and sour chicken. It was my first time ever having sting ray, and I hate to say it was pretty good.

I must have been exhausted, as the next day I slept until 12:30, a rare occurence. We took the MRT (subway service) to Orchard Road, walked around a bit more, and went to the Marina Bay Sands Sky Bar for happy hour. One beer here was 17 Singapore Dollars, or $15. Similar to the sky bar in Bangkok, this was pretty pricey, but then again all of Singapore is expensive. It was an unfortunately hazy day so the view wasn't great, but it was still cool to see the city from above!

That same night, we went to Jimmy's friend Albert's place. Albert and his girlfriend are from Spain and were some of the friendliest people I have met along my way. After some beers and tequila, we went out to a club named Kyo, where their friend was DJing. Kyo also had $5 drinks until midnight, so we surely stocked up and played beer pong!

Jimmy had all intentions of taking me to Sentosa that next day, but neither of us were feeling even 40%. Sentosa is an island resort that has a sand-less beach and Universal Studios Singapore. I didn't feel like I had to go there because I had heard from many people that it is nothing special. Instead, we had a lazy day and finished with a feast in Chinatown for dinner.

My last day in Singapore I was on my own. I took the MRT (which is incredibly easy to navigate) to the Botanic Gardens. These gardens are filled with plants native to Southeast Asia. I spent a couple of hours there and set off toward Orchard Road with the intention to go shopping, and shop is what I did. Besides souvenir shopping, I haven't bought a thing for myself since October, so I thought a small spree was deserved. I did some damage at H and M, and when I accidentally stumbled upon Forever 21, I literally had tears in my eyes. I did more damage.

Singapore is in no means a place for the budget traveler, but is definitely a place I'd pick to live if I were to move to this side of the world again. It is beautiful, extremely clean, and very modern. Singapore has incredibly strict laws, hence the cleanliness. One time on the MRT, I took a sip of my Vitamin Water. Jimmy quickly told me not to drink anymore and pointed at a sign. $500 fine for eating or drinking on the MRT. No eating or drinking on public transportation?! Sounds ridiculous, but as I looked around no one was and the subway was spotless. I'm a large fan of this country and hope to spend more time there in the future (when not on such a budget).