We flew from Istanbul to Singapore with a four hour layover in New Delhi, India. Thanks to some Google flight alert tracking and flexibility, we were able to score these flight tickets for $297 each, including all extras, which is still one of our proudest budget moments to-date (maybe tied with our awesome storage unit deal). While at the New Delhi airport, we had to go back through security again for our connection, and anyone that bought alcohol from duty free or other large liquids in Istanbul had to give them up. Luckily we just had to get rid of a couple of water bottles, but other people were pretty pissed off that their booze was confiscated. We thought the the New Delhi airport would be pretty fancy given that it's India's capital city, but the terminal we were in at least was pretty plain compared to IST. At least they had a lounge! After a few hours, we flew to Singapore on another long flight, but fortunately we were able to get some sleep. We also had a really cool view of the Himalayas peaking out above the clouds as we passed near Nepal. We're not totally sure, but we think we may have even seen Mt. Everest! We landed in Singapore in the late afternoon, and the views coming into the city of the harbor and the city's massive skyline were very impressive.
When we landed in Singapore, it was immediately clear we were in a rich, high-tech city. Their customs included a passport check that was all done via computer - it took pictures of our faces, scanned our passports, and didn't involve any people. It was super fast and easy and we were through in less than five minutes. From the airport, we took the subway train system to a stop near our hotel on the outskirts of Little India. The train had tap-to-pay kiosks, and they were clean, smooth, efficient, and easy to figure out (reminded us a lot of Japan!). After the last few months in the Balkans, it was a breath of fresh air. We arrived at our hotel, which was in reality more like a rental apartment in a nice complex that included a rooftop, a gym, and a fancy lobby. We unpacked and decided we weren't hungry enough to go out, so we just passed out to try and wake up the next morning without jetlag.
Feeling well rested, we woke up the next morning ready to explore. Right outside our hotel, we walked past some vending machines that again reminded us of Japan. One of the vending machines was for fresh squeezed orange juice for one dollar; we scanned our credit card and watched the machine literally squeeze the fresh oranges in front of our eyes and then seal the cup. Needless to say, this would become a part of our daily routine here (and not just because Mel had come down with the cold Carson had in Turkey). Right across the street from our hotel was a large mall that had a post office, and this was our first stop of the day to mail in our absentee ballots for the 2024 election. It was incredibly straightforward to vote from abroad, and knowing how important this election is, there was no way we were going to skip it. As we walked through the mall after voting, Carson noticed a store that we had visited a lot in Japan called Don Quijote. Don Quijote in Japan was a crazy store that had everything you could think of and a LOT of weird stuff (if you've seen the picture of Mel wearing the boob hat, you know what we're talking about), but this Singapore version was a little more low-key and mostly just had food and drinks imported from Japan. We were still excited for that, so we grabbed our favorite immune booster drink C.C. Lemon. Feeling boosted, we took the train to Chinatown, one of Singapore's lively and distinct neighborhoods.
In Chinatown, we made our way to one of Singapore's famous Hawker markets; these are found throughout the city and are basically large indoor or open-air food courts with lots of street food stalls selling great food for cheap (if you've seen Crazy Rich Asians, they visit one of these Hawker markets in one of the early scenes). We ordered a famous Singaporean noodle dish called char kway teow and Melissa ordered her first of many Singaporean coffees (kopi), which is a strong coffee served with sweetened condensed milk (yes, it's as good as it sounds). As she was looking at the menu of the coffee stand, an older man in line assured her it was good and told her how to order. She took him up on his word, and we got to chatting with him for about 30 minutes over coffee. His name was Son, and he was from Singapore, but had lived in many different places including England for his work in telecommunications. He told us about the city, the food, and his life. He asked us about our travels, and as has become common when talking to people abroad, we discussed the chaos that is American politics. After some great conversation, we said goodbye, and walked to a nearby store to pick up Carson's camera that was finally getting a sensor cleaning.
On our way to the camera store, we stopped at a Hindu temple that we passed that seemed to be having a spiritual event. We went inside and watched as some of the younger men decorated what appeared to be a large headdress with colorful stands of flowers, while older men and women looked on. After a while, Carson left to pickup his camera, and Melissa stayed to see what would happen when they finished decorating. Good thing she stayed, because once they finished, people took up instruments, and began playing loud music. One of the young men put the flower decoration on his head, and began dancing around the temple with it and a large crowd following. Luckily, Carson got back in time to witness some of this as well. It was really lively and upbeat, and everyone seemed to be having a great time. As we were leaving, Melissa stopped to ask people at the front of the temple what the celebration was for, and they explained that it was a pre-event ceremony for the annual Theemithi (Fire Walking) Festival that would be taking place at this temple later in the month. We looked it up later and learned that the temple we visited, Sri Mariamman Temple, is Singapore's oldest Hindu temple and the fire walking festival is an important religious event and has been a part of Hindu life in Singapore for over 150 years. We were bummed we wouldn't be in the city for the fire walking festival itself, but were glad we stumbled upon one of the lead up festivities!
After the temple, we headed to Singapore's famous Gardens by the Bay for the light show they host every evening at the Supertree Grove. We laid on the pavement with hundreds of other people and enjoyed the impressive 15 minute light and music show that made the electric forest dance to different movie songs, including tracks from The Little Mermaid and Star Wars. We then took the train back to our neighborhood to grab a quick dinner at an Indian restaurant and then headed off to bed.
The next day, following a stop at our local orange juice machine, we went back to the same hawker market in Chinatown, but this time, we ate at the Liao Fan Hong Kong Soya Sauce Chicken Rice & Noodle Stall - one of the first hawker stalls to be awarded a Michelin star in 2016. While it lost its star in 2021, it still attracts a big crowd, and the plate of soya sauce chicken rice we shared for less than $2 was very tasty. We walked around the hawker market looking for another snack, and another local told us to try the baked bread with kaya and butter which did not disappoint. Kaya is a greenish coconut jam and would become a breakfast staple for the remainder of our time in Singapore.
Feeling full, we headed back to the Gardens by the Bay to explore the area during the day and go inside the two massive domes. While exploring the area we saw a Monitor Dragon (smaller than a Komodo) and a White-throated Kingfisher (Melissa saw it first, and Carson went crazy!). After dragging Carson away from the bird ponds, we stopped by a drink stall and purchased Bandung- a beautifully bright pink and delicious rose syrup iced drink. Next, we purchased our tickets for the domes and started with the Flower Dome first. The Flower Dome is held at a constant Mediterranean-like climate, but the plants were from all over the world with the USA being represented by plants from Southern California. The flowers, cacti, and trees were stunning and made us want to start a garden. The glass-paneled dome itself is also just very impressive and you can see views of the city skyline and the Marina Bay Sands Hotel from inside as well. After the Flower Dome we visited the Cloud Forest. This was an indoor rainforest with many types of tropical plants and waterfalls. We took an elevator to the top of the forest and walked down looking at all the stunning views inside and outside the dome. Both domes were beautiful, but our personal favorite was the cloud forest due to all of the amazing greenery and lush plants. After a long day, we ventured to a new, much more local hawker market near our hotel where we had duck rice and fried eggs with oysters. Both were delicious, and another local man recommended the duck rice, so we knew that would be good. At this point, our plan was to just walk around hawker markets looking unsure about what to eat and let locals guide us to the best spots since we were 3/3 with this method!
The next day was going to be another big one so we got up early to grab breakfast and make our way to the Singapore Zoo. For breakfast, we went across the street to the mall and had a traditional Singapore breakfast of kaya toast, soft boiled eggs, and a cup of kopi. We then caught the train to the zoo, which is a little outside the main city center. The zoo is a large complex that is broken into 4 different sections (Zoo, River Wonders, Night Safari, Bird Paradise) and we elected to just do the Singapore Zoo since each would take a long day to explore and we didn't want to rush (especially in the high heat and humidity). The park had a lot of endangered animals but our favorites were the pygmy hippo (sadly not Moo Dang), cotton-top tamarin (super small funny monkey), proboscis monkey (large nose), the tiger, and the orangutans. The orangutan exhibit was an open exhibit where the orangutans could climb trees and ropes outside of the the typical enclosure. It was fun watching them play and swing around. We stopped for lunch at the main cafeteria which had some of the best food we had in Singapore. Carson ordered dumpling soup and Melissa got Singaporean Laksa. It was large portioned and the perfect filling meal to eat during the afternoon rain shower. We couldn't stop commenting on how incredible the zoo food was here compared to what we're used to in the states. After lunch, we continued our walk around the rest of the zoo. There were unique animal exhibits where you could go in and be up close with lemurs, birds, and butterflies. The zoo was a long day but we were able to see it all and had a great time. Next time we go back, we will have to try a different zoo complex!
On our final day, Carson went out for a hike in north Singapore called Dairy Farm (seemed fitting for him) to find some birds while Melissa relaxed at the hotel and tried to kick the end of the cold she still had. Carson had an interesting adventure seeing a lot of macaques and two snakes (Wagler’s Pit Viper and a Reticulated Python), but he didn't really see many birds. Not exactly what he was hoping for...We met up for lunch at another famous hawker stall - Hill Street Tai Hwa Pork Noodle, which also has a Michelin star. We got two different pork noodles after talking with locals. The noodle bowls had great flavor and were filled with unique ingredients like fish scales. We went back home to escape the heat and walked around our favorite mall next door before stopping for dinner at a local nasi lemak place.
We were flying to Indonesia the next morning, and we got to the airport early to go see the Jewel which is a mall attached to the airport with the world's tallest indoor waterfall. It was a beautiful architectural site to see, however when we were there the water was turned down. Apparently they have certain times when the waterfall is flowing more and we were too early, but we still enjoyed the view!
We really enjoyed our short stay in Singapore. We loved seeing how the city has incorporated it's architecture with nature and we enjoyed experiencing all of the different cultures that make Singapore a huge melting pot. On top of that, the food was great (and cheap!), the locals were friendly and welcoming, and in case you didn't catch it the first few times we mentioned it- they have freshly squeezed orange juice vending machines!!!
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