Round the World in 150 days!: Days 73 to 76

We are back at it! No more rest and relaxation for us (goodbye Maldives!), it was time to venture on and see more of the world. We made our next stop southeast Asia, having chosen Singapore to be our “base” city that we’d use to fly in and out of the area. Upon landing in a bustling city, we decided to spend a few days in Singapore to get settled, re-orient ourselves, and plan our adventure. Spoiler alert, this blog post talks a lot about food.

We love Singapore! Singapore is a great modern city and to put it bluntly, we were extremely impressed. It may be that we hadn’t been in a sizable city of any sort in over a month, but we both really think Singapore seems to have city living figured out. We had heard from other travelers and the “world-wide web” that Singapore’s rules for order can be quite strict (huge fines amounting to thousands of dollars for each infraction of spitting, smoking, or littering in public). What it translates to in everyday life is the cleanest city that we’ve ever encountered. Thankfully, we subscribe to a life of no spitting, littering, or smoking (well other than Korey’s occasional cigar) and so we enjoyed this pristine city to our hearts content!

Our first stop upon arriving brought us to the neighborhood of Clarke Quay, full with international travelers and food choices. We wandered across the Singapore River bridge and filled our bellies with what else? Phenomenal Scottish food! This food choice selected for their beverage listing that included an IPA adult beverage. After dinner we walked around the area and learned that public drinking is common in Singapore, as people socialize along the river’s edge after dinner, lounging around with friends and sharing dessert.

We also discovered what will likely be our favorite locals bar thus far, Sticky Fingers, where we finished the evening amongst local “Singaporeans”, tucked into a corner table underneath a 90’s Mariah Carey poster, a game of chutes and ladders (ok, several games as Korey kept winning and Ines became completely consumed with competition), and American rock-n-roll music playing in the background.

The next morning included a walking trip over to Singapore’s Chinatown a hawkers food market, where hundreds of street food vendors fill Smith Street, displaying every southeast asian food type imaginable. Needless to say, Ines was in her food heaven and Korey was, well, cautiously optimistic. We settled into the 90 degree weather under a street food vendor’s shade umbrella and feasted on the culinary delights. Ines would like to point out that at no point during our exploration of Singapore street food did we get sick and that public sinks with soap or moist toilettes to wash our hands were conveniently located throughout the city where food was served, further supporting the cleanliness mindset of this city. This was not so true of our other worldly attempts at eating local culinary treats, hence Korey’s cautious optimism.

Another day in Singapore brought us to the Marina Bay area. Our first stop was the Gardens by the Bay. Towering hundreds of feet above the ground are man-made trees that create one of the most unique parks imaginable. We ventured out onto the walkway suspended 75 feet above ground and between the trees for views of both the city of Singapore and its surrounding international waters for another semi-stomach churning experience (okay, it wasn’t that high, but it did sway with all the people that were on it…). We walked along the boardwalk and into the “Clouds” exhibit at the Gardens. Basically an indoor rainforest, we got our fill of beautiful orchids and man-made waterfalls. We couldn’t help but feel like it was some sort of experiment into the future, testing the theory that life can be sustained indoors indefinitely after consuming all of the earth’s natural environment. In addition to feeling like we were 1000 years into the future, we really enjoyed the natural air conditioning! We ended the day by riding the to the 57th floor on top of the Marina Bay Sands resort. Yet another futuristic building that provided a breathtaking 360 degree view of the city and bay. We chatted up a fun adventurous Australian couple and after a tasty champagne spritzer, we left even more impressed with Singapore!

Also, we couldn’t miss visiting the Sentosa area during our stay. Sentosa is an island that houses Universal Studios and tourist attractions galore, but we went there for something completely different, the Trick Eye Museum! It’s a museum full of images designed so that when you take a picture, it gives an optical illusion for the camera. Eight million pictures and some laughs later, we also hit the Casino on the island. Korey played a bit of blackjack, winning us dinner money! Just in time too, as we were lucky enough to meet up with another friend for dinner that night. Korey’s former coworker lives in Hong Kong, and was traveling through Singapore for work. We enjoyed some famous spicy chili crab and received plenty of advice from Blake about what to do on our adventures throughout southeast Asia. Big thanks to Blake!

We are so excited to return to Singapore on our way out to Australia, we liked this city that much. We also received some great recommendations for Singapore (thanks Martha and Michael and Chia-Ti!) that we can’t wait to share once we return in a few weeks.

Things we have learned: 1) we are both city people. The bustle, the food choices, the city infrastructure and history, all appeal to us both. Grand Rapids, here we come! 2) our stomachs are getting stronger and even Korey’s willingness to try new and somewhat indeterminable food ingredients is expanding! Ines would like to include the statement made my Korey during this adventure (purely to use against him later) that he will no longer require at least an hour’s notice before proposing “foreign or exotic” foods for eating out, and 3) we would like this opportunity to congratulate the city design and order of Singapore, including their fantastic SMRT train system, allowing us to travel around Singapore in comfort and always placing us within a few blocks walk from our destination! Go Singapore!