Hello everyone! As you may know, travel is my other biggest obsession after art, so I’m beginning a new series here on the blog about the vast topic. Many months ago I posted an infographic with a little checklist for international flights, so don’t forget to check that one out before taking your next big flight! ☺️
So this week’s topic is SINGAPORE! I just had the privilege of spending a day there (I know, a day isn’t enough time but I’m still so happy to have done it!!) and I’d love to share the details of what we did. So first things first — I was traveling with my partner, his brother, and his brother’s partner, and we stopped there as a layover on our way from Los Angeles to Perth, Western Australia. We landed at around eight in the morning and our next flight didn’t leave until around 6:30 that night, so we set out to make the most of it. Luckily our bags were checked all the way through to Perth, so we just had to worry about carryons. Singapore Changi Airport has baggage storage in every terminal, so you can leave heavy carryons (or checked bags) wherever your next flight will depart. Although leaving our tablets and laptops made me a little nervous, it was worth it to explore the city light as a bird!
Once we had only the essentials with us, we hopped on the train from the airport to Bugis. We had barely crossed the street and were already in a market full of clothing vendors and food stalls. We ate local fare for about $2 USD each, and it was easily one of my favorite meals of the past year. My dish had thin glass noodles, delicious boiled and seasoned potatoes, amazingly flavorful tofu, and cabbage. I accidentally ordered two plates of it due to the Mandarin-English language barrier, so I did my best to eat both. 😋
From there we walked around the area, enjoying reading our Chinese Zodiac predictions and smelling the flowers near the many temples. Since our time was limited, we caught a taxi (very easy to do) and zoomed over to Marina Bay Sands, where I had promised a rooftop view and drinks to my travel companions. The view DID NOT disappoint! Yes you have to pay, but that’s the case with all viewing towers I’ve encountered.
Whether you have a short layover or a full vacation in Singapore, I would recommend going out of your way for this experience. For one, you get an incredible 360° view of the sprawling city with its incredibly unique architecture and the limitless sea. And for the accommodation geeks out there like me, you get to check out the world famous Marina Bay Sands hotel, which is one of the largest hotels in the world AND boasts the highest swimming pool in the world. After that, we strolled over to Gardens By the Bay. This was ridiculously cool and I would also highly recommend to anyone. You can stroll and enjoy a lot of it for free, or you can pay to visit the Supertree Grove Skyway and the two domes: the Cloud Forest and the Flower Dome. We elected to pay and see the two domes, and it was so worth it! The Cloud Forest has one of the world’s tallest indoor waterfalls — it was the tallest when we visited, but I believe the Singapore airport is taking that title in the near future — and is an overall epic indoor botanical garden experience. The Flower Dome, too, was amazing and well worth the price.
Overall we had a fantastic and very special layover in Singapore; we got to visit two must-see areas, enjoy amazing food and drinks, take in the views, and still make it back to the airport without rushing. We had all watched Crazy Rich Asians on the flight over together, which made seeing the landmarks in person extra exciting. If you have any tips for things to do on the next trip to Singapore, I’d love to hear them! ☺️
