Singapore
15:38
I've never thought I'd experience the madness that is Bangla Road twice in one year.
After a few days of circumnavigating the madness that is Patong and practically living at the Jungceylon mall myself and my friend were quite ready to leave Phuket, we caught an early morning flight and touched down in the blaring sunshine of Singapore. This was a most welcome change after four days of near constant monsoon downpours in Thailand.
I'd been so looking forward to visiting, my mum had visited years prior and had told me it was of her favourite places she'd been back in the day. We were staying at a hostel in the Little India district of the city (which I'd highly recommend a visit to) We were informed from beautiful decor surrounding us that it was the week leading up Diwali - The Hindu festival of light. So we took an evening stroll around to see the lights and check out the neighbourhood.
After doing a lot of cultural activities myself and Gemma wanted a day to have some fun so of course that meant a trip to Universal Studios. After the morning furore of my card being blocked and spending 30 minutes in a dodgy IT shop on an international line trying to get through to the bank, we were finally off.
I'd highly recommend a trip to Universal the MRT is cheap, clean and easy to navigate making the journey over to Sentosa where the park is located relatively quick.
If like me you are an adrenaline junkie when it comes to anything fast Battlestar Galactica: Human Vs. Cylon is the one for you. The rollercoaster also just happens to be the set of tallest duelling-coasters in the world.
So...
Game. On.
We ended up riding both the Cylon and Human coasters, Cylon being the more terrifying one with more drops, twists and near fear of being thrown off (Awesome) So a grand total of 7 hours, 11 rides and 1 simulator later it was safe to say that we'd had our adrenaline hit.
The themed areas of the park are all interconnected and well designed, the Egyptian section was my personal fave. However, I have to say walking through Far, Far Away with Funky Town blaring on loop from hidden speakers might have just been one of the more surreal moments of my life.
The following day the hostel was offering a a free scooter tour to explore the city more, so I hopped on and a group of us sped off into the evening. First taking in the sights of Chinatown and the Arab Quarter and then heading down to the waterfront. The waterfront area is absolutely huge and filled with loads of cool stuff to see. I also got a chance to get a proper look at the Marina Bay Sands hotel, aka the closet thing on earth to a spaceship.
A first time trip to Singapore wouldn't be complete without a visit to Raffles. The most famous hotel in the city graced by many a movie star, novelist and composer. I took a detour through the courtyard and stopped at the Long Bar for a Singapore Sling. If there were ever a more apt moment to feel like Elizabeth Taylor during the trip this was it..If only the rooms didn't come with such a high price tag.
Later, after a bite to eat, scootering through the largest mall I've ever seen in my life and a visit to the Singapore Formula 1 track we made our way down to Gardens By The Bay to see a musical light show.
This is was one of the highlights of my trip, lying down in the park with hundreds of others watching the lights twinkling above. As any traveller will tell you the experience you have when you go to these new places is magical, but can it be highly stressful and strenuous at times but it's moments like this that make you remember why you did it in the first place.
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