Spendy Singapore

Whoops. Quite a lot has happened since Gav’s post so we have a lot to catch up on. It’s been quite a lot of drama, but let’s rewind to a more simple time, our final few days of our spring vacation.

After we left the national park we were driven (at much safer speeds!) back to KL for the night. We found a place to eat on the street food street and luckily managed to nab a table under cover as quite soon there was a major downpour. This caused everyone to scramble for new seats. The rain soon let up and the street filled with people again.

The next morning we flew to Singapore. It was my first time, although Gav had been many years before. In a spectacularly un-Lindsey like move I didn’t really look into what you needed to do to enter Singapore I just figured no visa needed, no problem. We were quite at the back of the airplane so when we were disembarking I made Gav speed walk past everyone so that we would be in the front of the immigration queue. It was all going so well until we passed a sign saying “do not go further if you did not fill out your e-landing card.” What? There was a bank of iPads along the wall for all the idiots who did not fill this thing out, so I stomped over to them while everyone else in our plane went through immigration. Of course they weren’t actually working so we ended up filling them out on our phones then heading through immigration which actually was totally fine and not at all backed up because about 95% of people just have to scan their passports and walk through a gate. If you are going to Singapore, fill that thing out before you land!

We found a cash point to get some money (top tip #2 is don’t bother. No place wants actual cash, including the night markets. Save your energy and resign yourself to just tapping your debit card everywhere.) and got a Grab to our hotel. You are struck right away with how modern the city feels, so different to the rest of South East Asia. You can’t take all of SE Asia out of Singapore though, the first thing we did once we checked in was go to a street food center to get some lunch and there, ambling about under the (very neatly organized) tray return rack was a giant rat! No one paid him any mind.

Very quickly it became apparent that we were going to drop some serious cash on these few days. While the rest of SE Asia is a bargain-hunter’s dream, Singapore is not. After lunch and a browse through the National Gallery we scouted out where would be a nice location for some pre-dinner drinks. We found a nice location on the Quay and proceeded to order beers that were approximately 20 times the cost of the exact same beer in Yangon. Yikes. Good thing we could just tap tap away and try not to think about it! To help keep costs down we ate at the hawker markets which was very delicious and served everything from satay to bbq-ed stingray. Sorry stingrays, you are beautiful but you are also delicious.

Our top priority while visiting was to go to the Singapore Zoo and the Night Safari. Gav had been to both many years ago and has always raved out them so it was exciting to have the chance to re-visit it with him. It did not disappoint. The highlights for me had to be the Orangutangs (which were in a space with howler monkeys and otters!) and the “Fragile Forest” exhibit. Normally when you see Orangutangs in a zoo they look depressed and just sit in a heap staring off somewhere. These guys were having a ball and climbing all around, including all around some very clever “vines” that connect the exhibit to a few other nearby places. We saw them again at lunch when they climbed over to the outdoor seating area to hang out. This was all designed so that they actually could not get down to the level of the visitors but they could swing around about your head. There were “free roaming orangutang” signs all around!

But probably the best part for me was the Forest biodome. We did totally luck out in that we happened to come in just at feeding time. Inside this exhibit were some small deer, birds, lemurs, and BATS! Feeding time meant everything was just hanging out waiting to get fed right where you could get a very close-up look. Like, super close up.

It was just the best and we hung out for ages watching the bats eat and totally NOT petting our lemur friends because that is probably against the rules and you shouldn’t do that. I had to give myself a stern talking to about not attempting to pet the bats (that’s how close they were ) because if I got bit I would have to admit I tried to stroke a bat and that would be very embarrassing.

The rest of the zoo is also amazing and very well designed. We stayed there 8 very sweaty hours and had such a great time. The next evening we went to the Night Safari which is a different whole zoo thing dedicated to nocturnal animals. Obviously you go in the dark so no real photos but that is also an amazing experience. You can take a train through all of the exhibits, or you can walk some trails or do both. The run-away highlight for us though was when we stopped by the rhino enclosure. The handlers were feeding one of the rhinos and we stopped to chat with her for quite a bit. After a while she asked us if we wanted to feed the rhino (um, YES) and then she said we could stroke him! So we both got a pat of his (surprisingly soft) nose. Life goal I didn’t know I had-accomplished!

Another highlight was the National Orchid Garden. We weren’t sure at first because you have to pay to get in (tap tap!) but it was astounding and 100% worth visiting. There is also an air-conditioned zone for those orchids that grow in cold climates and sweaty tourists. The variety of plants is astonishing and it’s impossible to pick a favourite.

You can’t visit Singapore and not visit the Gardens By The Bay, the sort of futuristic park that has recently opened. There are bits you can wander around for free and some things you pay to get into. At this point we were a bit gardened out and feeling very sweaty and a bit poor so we opted to just do a walk around to gawp for free. It is beautiful and very well designed but I think I hit my limit of Singapore weather.

We also did quite a lot of just wandering around, taking in the sights. It is a beautiful city and very well maintained with loads of green space and parks and things. There is even a resident family of otters that apparently wander all over the city-you will sometimes see “Otter Crossing” signs. We were lucky enough to see them fishing in one of the parks, just munching away on some giant goldfish! On our last morning we were out for a walk and all of a sudden heard “GAVIN???” It was an old colleague of Gav’s, out for her daily jog! They used to share a snack drawer and managed to stumble upon each other years and years later. It really is a small world.

Singapore, I don’t think you are a city I ever want to live in but you were interesting to visit and I appreciate your orderliness and your efficiency. We landed in Yangon and words from a friend of ours did ring a bit true. Coming back from the Christmas holiday in January he said “after being away, coming back to Yangon always seems a bit like landing in North Korea.” Maybe, but I sure do appreciate sense of “realness” (and the price of things)!

Stay tuned for the next instalment-Gav and Linz try to make a graceful exit. Also known as maybe the most stressful 2 months of our lives…..coming soon.