Long weekend in Singapore … Singapore

Coming from colourful, chaotic, smelly, dirty, noisy, magical India to the pristine perfection of Singapore was more than a bit of a shock to the system.  In a good way! Over one long weekend I fell in love with the city and its wonderful, organised efficient beauty. 

Day 35 Orchard Road  I arrived at 5.30am having had no sleep and feeling a little fraught. I then arrived at my hostel and was told that I wouldn’t have a bed until 2pm! I felt like crying but instead I brushed my teeth in the restaurant toilet, put some factor 50 on and went shopping! 

Orchard Road is a shoppers paradise and a tight yorkshiremans nightmare. It’s several KMs of high rise shiny malls with every designer label goody you can think of. Fortunately for my purse I got there early and nothing was open so I had walk up and down in the scorching heat and wait. When they opened at 11 I managed to restrain myself but I did buy a new jumpsuit that I can actually do up alone (unlike the other one I have here… Doh!)

Day 36 Marina Bay and Gardens by the Bay This place is a must see if you are in Singapore. I LOVED IT! The hotel is very ‘Vegas’; shiny and luxurious. I went to the Skywalk Viewing Platform where you get the most fabulous view of the city and gardens. It literally made me say “Wow!” Gardens by the Bay is gardening porn. The iconic Super trees are just the start! I spent all afternoon exploring the Cloud Forest, the Flower Dome and all of the stunning gardens whilst getting slightly weathered by the intense, humid heat. I have genuinely never seen anything like it and the pictures don’t even do it justice. 

I was absolutely gutted that Raffles was closed for refurbishment and my touristy dreams of having a Singapore Sling and throwing nuts on the floor of the Long Bar were dashed. Instead I went to the Fullerton Hotel and had an expensive glass of wine and watched the lightening over the humid city then ate at a traditional hawker market on the way home. 

Day 37 Sunday Lunch in Chinatown Gave myself a break and had a bit of a nothing morning before meeting my lovely friends Henry and Yang at a cool new English place called Oxwell and co. We had the most delicious ‘real’ pork scratchings followed by beautiful Wagyu roast beef with all the trimmings, even yorkshires! It was dreamy! 

Day 38 Singapore Botanical Gardens Singapore know how to do good gardens! It was as hot as hell but I lathered on the sunscreen and bug spray and spent all morning exploring the original Botanical Gardens. From the rainforest to the ginger garden to the wetlands it was just stunning but my favourite but was definitely the National Orchid Garden. The orchids are literally other-worldly! 

In the afternoon I visited Henry and Yangs new house in Holland Village and enjoyed wine and lamb chops. I think maybe I’ve missed red meat just a little bit whilst I’ve been in india! 

Day 39 Hong Kong I don’t think I could have stood the heat for a really long time but I was sad to leave Singapore. I can totally see why my friends have decided to live there. Anyway no time to get mushy as there’s a lot of Asia to cover before the year is out… On to HK!