Singapore Takes Two

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Traveler Singapore Takes Two
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- Sep 20, 2018
- ⛅ 30 °C
- Altitude: 9 m
- Singapore North East Community Development Region Novena Goodwood Hill 1.31238, 103.839611°18’45” N 103°50’23” E
Day 1
Shattered Already!
September 20, 2018 in Singapore ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C
Well the last couple of days has completely taken it out of us. The flight was really rough. We had a couple of turbulence moments, we'd watched all the good films on our return flight 2 months ago and we didn't get a wink of sleep. So that's been us up for nearly 48 hours. We got off the plane looking like zombies and feeling like we were going to be sick. Not the best start I must admit! We then jumped on the MRT, grabbed some food from the Hawker Center near Amber's flat and instantly felt like home when we got in. We've been super lucky again to get free accomodation here and I'm so so glad! We had a quick bite to eat and although it was 10:30am we went straight to bed. Now if I'm honest I don't have anything interesting to say apart from the nap turned into a full day of sleep. We did wake up at 3:30pm, but then fell back to sleep till 6:30pm when we rose for a quick Beef Rendang dinner, watched Lost in Translation (what a slow and rubbish film) and then went straight to bed in hope that we would be able to sleep again.

Gosh we must have been tired, we slept all the way through and only woke up to our 10am alarm! Feeling 5 million times better we got ready to meet Melanie and Loz for lunch. It was sooo nice seeing them! They've been travelling for 2 months and had an incredible time. We went for the amazing chicken biryani, walked around little India, took shelter from the down pour with a sneaky beer and then headed to the one and only Raffles.

For those that don't know this is where the famous Singapore Sling was invented and it was scrummy. Unfortunately the entire hotel is closed for refurbishment but the Long Bar is still open. Now I didn't really know what to expect but it wasn't quite this... Every table gets a huge bag of peanuts and supposedly it's the thing to eat the peanuts and throw the shells on the floor. Personally I used the wooden block on the table as the bin as it was pretty horrid walking around with peanut shells all over the floor but hey each to their own! (Look at the picture of Will, the floor is covered.)

After saying bye to Melanie and Loz we attempted to go for a little wander around the town, but ended up catching the tube back home, picking up some dinner and heading home. It was a really lovely second day. Its actually really nice coming back to a place that we've already done the main attractions for as we get to just chill and not feel obligated to do stuff.

The plan for tomorrow is to meet up with Wing and do a crazy high speed walk around McRitchie Reservoir again (for those that read the blog last time!).Read more
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Traveler Singapore Takes Two
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- Sep 22, 2018
- ⛅ 30 °C
- Altitude: 15 m
- Singapore Central Singapore Community Development Council Marina Bay Marina South City Park 1.28158, 103.863611°16’54” N 103°51’49” E
Day 3
Imagine if we'd got up early?!
September 22, 2018 in Singapore ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C
Well we clearly had too much sleep as last night we were awake all night. Ahhh is this what jet lag feels like. So let's say the early morning 3 hour walk around Macritchie Reservoir with Wing did not happen and neither did we see much of daylight to be honest. I watched a film in the morning as Will couldn't bring himself to get out of bed, we had noodle stir fry from the night before that we grabbed for our supposed early start and then did some planning and booking for our US part of the trip (for those that don't know our full route yet I won't spoil it any further).

It was nearing 4pm and we really had to get out the flat and headed to one of the few things left on the to do list, Ben's Cookies. (I genuinely thought this was a Singaporean thing but later found it actually originated in Oxford, wups). Having not walked all day we decided to up our steps and wander there while picking up a burrito on the way. And it didn't disappoint it was a darn good cookie and definitely worth leaving the house for!

Then we walked to Fort Canning. Walking around Singapore is much more fun than taking the MRT. You get to see some real hidden gems and on this occasion we got free Magnums! And not just any magnums the deluxe kind! I got pistachio and Will got Hazelnut. This day was definitely getting better.

Fort Canning is a small hill placed in the middle of the city which had various activity throughout Singapore history. The area was really lovely, with great views of the city and absolutely stunning banyan trees.

The final part of the day was to join the other hundreds of people see the moon festival themed Gardens by the Bay. We did go to the Gardens by the Bay last time but this time it was really special. They had lanterns down the river and all around the gardens. We sat and watched a Chinese orchestra, the Super Trees light show and part of an Indian opera. The day was finished off by eating Okonomoyaki and an oyster puff (mined pork, oysters, Celery leaves, deep fried in a thick batter and sprinkled with peanuts).

So although it was a bit of a difficult start we still walked over 16,000 steps and got some fun things done.Read more
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- Sep 23, 2018
- ⛅ 31 °C
- Altitude: 101 m
- Singapore Central Singapore Community Development Council Telok Blangah New Town Mount Faber Cau 4T 1.2738, 103.81751°16’26” N 103°49’3” E
2
Day 4
Parks, parks and more parks!
September 23, 2018 in Singapore ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C
Today our plan was to go to the southern part of Singapore and walk Mount Faber and the southern ridge. And what a fantastic day it was! First we decided to walk to Little India for Masala Dosa and Vadai for brunch and then jumped on the MRT to the Harbour front.

On arrival we were a bit unsure where the trail started so we asked someone along the way. They were unbelievably shocked that we wanted to walk from the MRT to Mount Faber. At first he wouldn't tell us the directions and repeatedly said we must be looking for the cable car. After getting his friend involved they eventually pointed us in the right direction of the Marang Trail. If I'm honest the heat was suffocating so after talking to them I was quite unsure whether we had decided to do the right thing especially as the heat was truly suffocating, but actually the walk was unbelievably easy! It took us around half an hour. At the top was a lovely bar with the view of the port and actually the most impressive part was the toilets. Now that is a toilet with a view!

We then carried on wandering over Henderson Waves, along a forest walk, through Hort Park, over the Canopy Walk in Kent Ridge Park and finally visited the slightly odd and unexpected Haw Par Villa. Haw Par Villa was opened by the owner of Tiger Balm who with his excess funds designed a theme park containing over 1000 statues and giant's dipicting Chinese mythology and history. I must admit after going through several picturesque parks it was a bit odd going through here. But it was our last stop for the walk and after 22,000 steps and a hell of a lot of sweating we made it.

For the second half of the day we went shopping for a few bits and bats and treated ourselves to a hot chocolate fudge sundae from McDs (well how can we say no to an ice cream for £1), before heading home and going for a swim.

Finally we met up with Amber's friend, Dafina, for dinner who took us out for Sting Ray. It had the texture of pulled pork and had a super yummy chilli and tomato sauce. Really great end to a very tiring day!Read more
Traveler Glad to see the hat is back!
9/24/18Reply
Traveler Haha it seems Will's stylish dress sense is raking in the viewers!
9/24/18Reply
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Traveler Singapore Takes Two
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- Sep 24, 2018
- ⛅ 31 °C
- Altitude: 17 m
- Singapore Central Singapore Community Development Council People’s Park Kreta Ayer 1.28151, 103.844821°16’53” N 103°50’41” E
Day 5
Mid-Autumn Moon Festivities
September 24, 2018 in Singapore ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C
Today is our final day in Singapore 😔 After a lie in, we decided to get a bit more organised and start looking into our next destination as we are flying out tomorrow! After a few hours of chilling we decided to go for a swim and instead of a having a leisurely swim we've both decided we want to learn how to swim properly (Will has even been watching YouTube videos!).

Time for lunch and where better to go than to a Michelin Star Restaurant, Hawker Chan. It did not disappoint and as it was about 3pm by the time we got there we didn't have to queue! We had scrumptious Char Suey, Soy Chicken, Rice and Pak Choi and for only £6.85 and I'm not even joking! Super full and slightly sleepy from the swim, we wandered around China Town, picked up a 75p coffee and milo, Will tried his first salted double yolk moon cake, popped into Will's office for a quick hello and had a quick pint with Wing.

Before heading home we decided to wander back to China Town to see the festivities, which were actually a lot tamer than expected. Finally we went to Little India for the super tasty biryani before heading back to the flat to pack and clean the flat.Read more
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Shattered Already!

Imagine if we'd got up early?!

Parks, parks and more parks!

Mid-Autumn Moon Festivities