Our two days in Singapore were HOT. It was around 32 degrees both days, and so humid so we were both struggling a little. Yesterday we started the day quite late, leaving the house around 11.30ish. Our first stop of the day was Maxwell’s Food Centre where we headed to find the Tian Tian Chicken and Rice that we had been recommended by our host. It was bizarre for us to eat such a heavy, savoury breakfast, but the other stalls were offering fish head broth and beef noodles, so it was really the most moderate option. And also, it was delicious.
From the food court, we crossed the road to the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple, which was exquisite. The temple is on the edge of Chinatown, and so there were a lot of worshippers stopping to bow before the Future Buddha as we were looking around.
From there, we took the metro to Little India, and wandered around the charming streets and the open markets full of fresh food and meat. Saf was finding the heat too much to handle, so we moved on to the Bugis Junction shopping centre, which, like a lot of Singapore, was fully air conditioned.
A little later, we headed out for drinks with some friends of Saf’s. Around the corner from where we were is a food court, famous for satay, which is where we ended up for dinner. We ordered beef, mutton, chicken and prawn skewers which arrived with spicy peanut satay sauce – it was messy and amazing.
Today we had a flight to Sydney scheduled to leave at 8pm, so we had the day ahead of us. We planned to make the most of this, but in the event, the heat and humidity put a bit of a brake on this plan. We found our way to the beautiful Gardens By The Bay, and spotted the giant super trees, but after wandering through the gardens for about 10 minutes, both of us were sweating profusely and neither really enjoying ourselves. Instead, we went to find lunch in a food court nearby.
After wandering through the Marina Bay shopping plaza, we returned to Chinatown, as I was in search of a good magnet (I’ve decided to collect magnets from all the countries we visit). Weirdly, it was less baking hot and stuffy there, so Saf was more willing to wander the streets and peruse the stalls there. Having found a magnet, we popped into a bakery across the road (another recommendation) for egg tarts (plus bonus pastries bought with all of our various loose change – hurrah!).
Eventually we left for the airport to take the red eye to Sydney. Although the humidity has limited what we’ve been able to do in Singapore, I’ve absolutely loved it! The city is so beautiful, the slick, modern skyscrapers making a striking backdrop to the charming rustic buildings in more residential areas. Singapore obviously has a reputation for being strictly clean, but it’s also super friendly. There is such a variety of people living and working there, so it feels both exotic and extremely homely.
Skipping continents tomorrow, so hopefully we can sleep on tonight’s flight before we land at 6am.
Byeeee.
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Claudia Bow 