It's Always Sunny in Singapore

In the spirit of keeping New year's resolutions alive, I'm finishing and posting this blog about a couple different weekends spent in Singapore; First in the 'Fall', and the second this last weekend. Apologies for the wacky timelines and irrelevancy ....

Oct-ish, 2014: With Tyler heading off to Spain for 10 days, a perfect combination of heightened jealousy, and a fabulous friend's school being on term break resulted in a quick trip to Singapore. I boarded the bus at midnight and was off for my first (although relatively minor) solo traveling venture. Having worked all day, I was in dreamland for the majority of the trip, only to be awoken at 4:30am by a Bahasa yelling bus driver telling me to jump off the slowly moving bus (I can only assume that was the message).  As the bus is not allowed to physically take passengers across the international boarder, we were all dumped on one side, herded through immigration and scurried to meet the still-moving bus on the other side (as they are also not allowed to park anywhere along the boarder). As there were about 100 blue buses blaring their horns and slowly creeping through the pickup area, I feel pretty lucky to have found my chariot on the other side! Still pretty dazed and confused, 10 minutes later, we were all told to again get off the bus. Totally disoriented, I tried to play it cool, and just stay on the heels of a woman I recognized from our bus.That strategy seemed to be working until we reached the lines separating Malaysians and 'Others'. I knew I was on my own if I didn't act fast. Tapping her on the shoulder I vaguely asked "What are we doing?" Puzzled, she looked at me and replied, "uhhh immigration...?" After a total Oprah 'Ah-ha' moment, I realized we were IN Singapore. Duh!
So classically, in the MaryTyler duo, I don't do my research. My dear ol' Ty does an amazing job filling in the blanks (quasi-importants such as visas, hotels, currency exchange, etc). After my foyer into 'doing it on my own' I learned two things; A simple Google search can provide a great heads-up, and when in doubt and if things don't make sense, just ask a stranger (or five)...just be wary of any grown-man still rocking the rat-tail.

After catching a few more winks at Amanda's and waking up to a beauty of a breakfast, we were prepped for a day at Universal Studios. So a little tidbit about Tyler and I's relationship; We were never taken by our respective families to Disney World, Universal Studios, etc. in Florida. A tragedy that is not lost on us, although time has continued to heal. Generally speaking, it's pretty common for Canadian families to make the trek down south at some point during the darkness of winter, however our families did not...or they went before our existence. Just one of the many ties that bind us ..until now. I would have felt badly about going without Tyler bbuutttt he was in Europe, so meh! Our day at the park was as expected; long-ish lines, over-the-top themed roller coasters and of course carnival food at its finest. Getting the impression from Amanda that the Singapore Universal Studios, although entertaining, is  perhaps not all a large-scale theme park could be, I'm still looking forward to catching my 'white whale' in terms of theme parks...with Tyler of course ;)

Being the fine host she is, Amanda was happy to accommodate any sight-seeing request after leaving Sentosa. I asked to head to 'The Gardens by the Bay' as Ty and I had not previously ventured that way. To my amusement, Amanda's effortless knack for stumbling upon ideal situations took the cake for an amazing night out! We walked along the river checking out the Chinese lantern festival, crossing over to enjoy the light show in 'The Gardens'. The Gardens are a series of tree-like frames made to look like the Umbrella Acacia tree (or a bunch of alien spaceships coming in for landing). Growing out of each of the frames are plants with awesome amounts of twinkly  lights creating the overall affect of a magical 'Midsummer's Night Dream-esque garden. We walked around for a long time, and headed up to the canopy walk for the light/music show. The cherry on top was the great vantage point we had when the fireworks started popping off! Closing out the night with some great butter chicken, Amanda sure knows how to treat a gal!

Fast forward 3 months: This past weekend I headed back to Singapore to attend a training course. Luckily (for my bank account) Amanda generously offered half of her double bed pro-bono. It was a real bonus to know that I was meeting Amanda each evening, who had great spots in mind for happy hour drinks and tasty food, making the most of the working-weekend. And in true Amanda form, we effortlessly stumbled upon Singapore's 50th birthday party; a giant street party down one of the city's main drags, Orchard Road. As always, I really enjoyed my time spent in Singapore. Although people often comment that Singapore is too organized, lacks culture and comes across as sterile, I can say with confidence that now again, I enjoy a little order, and good clean fun in my life (although the state of my closet would suggest otherwise).

If you find yourself there, check out the butterfly garden in Changi Airport!

Singapore Slingin'

Some are of the opinion that Valentine's Day is a pointless and consumer-driven holiday...although that point can be made, just as any other holiday, there is no obligation to participate. However, don't hate on a day that is based around passing on positive and loving vibes. Isn't that what the world needs more of? Instead, let's not over-analyze and put a dark cloud on the day, scorning people who acknowledge it. Yes, we should strive to let the people we love know it throughout the entire year, but why hate on a holiday that is an excuse to lay it on a little thicker than usual? Who knows? Maybe spreading love and cheer would become more of a habit if we had a few more 'arbitrary love holidays' throughout the year. Am I saying Valentine's Day is the key to world peace? No. But just imagine if Kim Jung Un sent Obama this little gem....

Anyway... the day of love gave Tyler and I the excuse to get out of town check out the city-state of Singapore, just a four hour drive south of Kuala Lumpur. Modernly, Singapore is a country founded by people who decided they didn't like the way things were going for them in Malaysia (and historically, colonized by the British..of course). Knowing this, we assumed that there wouldn't be much difference between Singapore and Malaysia. However, simply put, when comparing the two, the term 'You get what you pay for' comes to mind. Similar to Kuala Lumpur, Singapore's tourist highlights include (although not limited to) Little India, Chinatown, interesting towers and a major world food scene...but with a twist; Everything is so clean, everything is three times the price, and because of insane laws and punishments, it feels safe. Singapore has some of the craziest laws coupled with pretty severe punishments. Most famously in Western culture, we know about the prohibition of chewing gum, however other laws we found a bit over the top were; failure to flush toilet resulting in a fine or public canning, littering on the street three times resulting in having to wear a “I am a litter lout” sign, hugging without permission and connecting to an unsecure wifi hotspot both coming with big fines or jail time.

 So I'm sure you are all thinking..."But what did you do if you couldn't cuddle while while coyly sitting outside Starbucks checking Facebook and chomping down on a big piece of Hubba Bubba?!" Well, as we only had two days in this non-Halal country (in fact even chatting about religion is..as you guessed it, illegal), we ate bacon, drank Singapore Slings and hit the sights...with a few detours along the way.

As you can see..
not a morning person!

 First, to anyone who has spent as little as an evening with Tyler and I, you will know it is quite shocking that there hasn't been entire posts dedicated to the foods of our travels (and their cost effective nature). I will however say that the breakfast buffet we had at our hotel was phenomenal. It was actually one of those breakfasts that makes you excited to wake up, and for me who is not a particularly chipper morning person and one that usually needs to be coaxed into eating a yogurt cup, this is a big statement. Unlimited crispy bacon, french toast, fresh fruit, curry and chapati, baked beans, potato, omlettes, cheeses, pastries! As mundane as it sounds, I can easily say that the complimentary breakfast was the highlight meal(s) of our weekend. (Note: The buffet did not include rice, fish, nor seaweed soup).

Once our bellies were full we headed out to solve a murder mystery. If you've ever played a 'hidden object' computer game, this was the spot for you. After an hour of figuring out riddles and finding clues, we broke out of the room having found out who killed brother 'Brook'. From there we had a wander around town which led us to Chinatown. Although quite similar to KL's Chinatown I found myself repeatedly asking "Where are all the people?" and loving the beauty (and cleanliness) of the Chinese decor mixed with the colonial architecture. Later we spent the heat of the day lounging by the pool and sipping on a few cocktails that share the country's namesake.

That night we had tickets to a production of Romeo and Juliet. It was a modern (and Asian) take on the play and a perfect way to kickoff the evening! From the theatre we wandered around the the harbour where we enjoyed the impressive cityscape, indecisively looked at menus, and even caught the Russia/U.S hockey game (possibly live?..It has proved to be exhausting trying to follow the Olympics in a country that doesn't even have a winter team).

 The next day we had no real plans, so we jumped on an hour-long bus tour to get a brief overview of the city, and an idea of an area or two that we'd like to check out. We ended up wandering around the harbour, checking out the Marina Bay Sands Hotel, the iconic 'Merlion' and returning to Chinatown to grab a few souvenirs.

 Although just scratching the surface of Singapore, I am a big fan and can't wait to head back (once our credit cards have had a break)! As it is a change of scenery, and quite a bit more Western, I believe that Singapore will be to Kuala Lumpur, which Seoul was to Busan when we lived there. An expensive weekend retreat where things feel different and vaguely the same.
...And even though it's not Valentine's Day for another year... much love to you friends! You are never far from our thoughts :) xo