Sunday, December 20, 2015

My first day in Singapore

Well I have made it to my first destination for this Christmas vacation, with a few minor bumps along the way.

I learned that while Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat , and Google do not work with the wifi in Pudong International Airport  (as expected), surprisingly Pinterest and my good ol' Kakao Talk work well. A couple of other Canadians also told me that WhatsApp worked. Now you know you can Pin messages to your loved ones from China. Ha.

Vibrant colours decorated many
of the buildings in Little India.
I also learned that it is not the end of the world if you lose your boarding pass. Which I somehow did within the 2 minutes it took me to walk to the washroom right before boarding. My heart's pounding preventing oxygen from my lungs, I was sure, but the stewardesses all told me it would be fine. And it was. I was allowed to board the plane.  And then when I landed in Singapore this morning, I found my boarding pass stuck to my bag somehow. I have no idea what happened, especially as I was flailing my bag all over the place and it had not been there when I double checked the washroom. One of life's mysteries...

Singapore has been lovely, hot and humid so far. Some sections are really jazzed up for Christmas. Crazy awesome decor. (Oops, forgot to include the pictures here.  Might edit them in later.  Maybe not.)  My only complaint is that I couldn't find any coffee shop other than Starbucks this morning. While I walked from Somerset MRT Station (I might have chosen it purely for its name) to the Botanic Gardens.

I met a fellow couchsurfer at the park and we spent the day walking around the city. After the gardens we went to Little India for lunch. The houses were really colourful and there were lots of cool fabrics and clothes to look at. I kinda really want some funky pants, but I don't want to over spend yet... and I got some henna instead.
Some snapshots from lunch.  We went to this small restaurant and had rice with and chicken (buried within the rice) along with some roti-prata and this special milk tea (I forgot its  name).
Chloe took a picture of the lady doing my henna.
We then dropped my stuff off at my hostel and went in search of ice cream in Chinatown. In Singapore, you can get legit ice cream sandwiches on the street. They cut a slice of ice cream and wrap it between bread. I did not do this. ㅎㅎㅎ.

The day concluded down near the river's mouth as we relaxed on a bench looking out over the skyscrapers. I am now utterly exhausted after such a busy day and little sleep on the plane as well as with the time change.

Chloe and I in front of the Marina Bay Sands.  It's a really fancy hotel, if you can't tell. 
Singapore skyline with countless balls of wishes floating in the river.
So with that said and done, good night my lovely people.

Love and hugs.
Some of my wishes for the new year, soon to float in the river's mouth along with the others.

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