After Chiang Mai, Clare, Gabby and I decided to extend our vacation to include a trip to Singapore and then a week working our way through Malaysia. Arriving at the Singapore Changi Airport, it was already incredibly obvious we were not in the “Southeast Asia” we had gotten to know over the last few weeks. Everything was pristine; everything was perfect; everything was modern; everything was fancy; everything was efficient. I mean, just for example, not only did I have a modern toilet in the airport bathroom (not uncommon to encounter squatters throughout Asia), I also had toilet paper in the stall, hand soap next to the sink, and even a digital touchpad on the wall that allowed me to “Rate my toilet experience.” (click the link for a funny blog post I found from someone else regarding this.)
Taking a Grab (like Uber) to our hostel for the night, we got our first view of the city skyline. It was rainy and dark, but I was amazed by the colorful supertrees, giant Ferris wheel, magnificent skyscrapers with greenhouses on the roofs and all the modern architecture that greeted us. I actually laughed out loud when I realized how far my jaw had dropped. I felt like I was traveling straight into a video game.
PS: This photo is not mine, I didn’t try to take one but this is what the Singapore skyline looks like at night.
The streets all the way from the airport to our hostel were lined with beautiful foliage, had plenty of room, and were clean — no trash in sight. I started playing a game to TRY to find a crappy looking car driving the street, and I lost to myself — I couldn’t even spot one beat up taxi.
We only had one full day in Singapore, so we had come up with a very detailed plan to see as much of the city as possible with our time. In the morning, we decided to take the subway to the Botanic Gardens. Of course, the subway was clean, quiet, fast and efficient; I was already beginning to understand I should never expect less from Singapore. The gardens were beautiful, and we ended up walking for hours just looking at all the diverse sections and enjoying the perfection of the grounds/landscaping.
After, we took the subway to Little India, which Lonely Planet had described as the “frantic, messy and gritty.” Maybe in Singapore terms, but whoever wrote that needs to take a trip to the heart of Bangkok to find frantic and messy. Little India was beautiful and colorful, with street art and amazing smells on every corner. We ended up paying $5.00 SGD to get henna.
With a specific location in mind, we hopped back on the subway to Chinatown for lunch. Gabby has read about this place in one of the Hawker food courts here where you could get the world’s cheapest Michelin-star meal ($3 SGD). It was a place called Hawker Chan, and basically, the menu was Soya Chicken, which was chicken with a soy sauce that tasted sweeter than usual. We all agreed it was super tasty, but none of us could figure out what made it Michelin-star worthy. When we walked past again after eating, the entire booth was sold out – so I guess we were lucky to get any at all!
After lunch, we wandered down to Gardens by the Bay and Marina Bay. I found a recommendation on Lonely Planet (can you tell what my go-to for travel guides is yet?) to have a beer at a bar nearby called LeVel 33. It was a small microbrewery and so we decided to go up, rest our feet, enjoy the view, and cool off for a bit. We ended up ordering a stout, lager, and IPA and made them last about 1.5 hours so we wouldn’t have to give up our table or spend any more money.
Unfortunately, due to a risk of storms, the walkways were closed on the Supertrees at Gardens by the Bay once we got there. But this did save us a good $20 SGD, so we enjoyed the view of them from below instead. We had already walked almost 17 miles today, so we were exhausted and hungry anyway and decided to head into the Marina Bay Sands Mall for some cheap dinner while we waited for the sun to go down (we wanted to see the light shows from both the Supertrees and along the bay that happens every night after dusk.)
Throughout the afternoon, we had figured out the only plausible explanation to Singapore’s unattainable perfection: Singapore must have a “Game Master,” similar to the Hunger Games, who designs and controls the entire city to be flawless. The people in the city never struggle and are all born beautiful and wealthy. The citizens might not even be fully human, there’s a good chance they are engineered to be without imperfections. If you don’t believe our theory, take a trip to Singapore — the evidence is right in front of your eyes. No, but seriously, I guess being the 3rd richest country in the world really allows you the liberty to make your entire city/country beautiful. It was incredible to see, I couldn’t get over it.
When the sun went down we walked back to see the Supertrees all lit up and then watched the light/water show along the bay. Just as Singapore’s way of showing off a little more, they do a light show every night… because they can.
Walking back to our hostel, I had to notice how safe everything felt, even walking in the dark. I know I’ve been going on and on about Singapore’s perfection, but sometimes that’s not always what’s most desirable. In the next legs of our adventures, we met two people who had spent 2-3 weeks in Singapore and couldn’t wait to leave — they were bored! Sometimes, people really need some tuk-tuk’s whizzing by, questionable street food, and ladyboy shows in dark clubs to make life a little more interesting; boredom is definitely not something I’ve had an issue with yet in Bangkok.
Mckenzie Lena Halling 
Singapore is a great place for tourists and to have fun together with your family and friends!
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