Location: Singapore

Today didn’t start as planned, since I fell asleep with my face directly downward and forgot to set an alarm. We clearly needed a long sleep after such a massive day yesterday, since the ten other people in our dorm had already gotten up and left and none of that ruckus was enough to rouse either of us. We found a coffee shop near the waterfront that served a different version of kaya toast, and hunkered down to get some work done. I sat with my back to the warm sun and did a whole bunch of blogging and research, while Max finished some work.

Before we knew it we’d been there almost three hours, and we had adventuring to do! Nearby was Merlion Park, yes merlion as in mermaid + lion.

WAIT JUST LET ME EXPLAIN.

All I know is that the merlion is the city’s mascot and it has something to do with once being a fishing village and also being known as the lion city. Put them together. Logical leap. Somehow it’s still confusing… okay I can’t really explain this one it turns out. It looks awesome though and it’s likeness is everywhere! We walked to the water where the famous statue sits and laughed about why for awhile.

Do other countries do this? Has someone claimed the unicorn as their mascot yet?!

We trained all the way to the far west side of the city to see the botanical gardens, which were recently named a world UNESCO heritage site. This city is beyond greener than any I’ve been to, but wow do they ever know how to plant a garden. Old lamp posts lined walkways covered with dozens of types of creeper vines. Flowers were artfully arranged all around and there was even a symphony orchestra stage in the middle of a pond, where viewers would sit on a grassy knoll instead of bleachers. We found an orchid garden that was impressive just with the sheer amount of orchids inside. Does anyone know how hard it is to keep orchids alive?! There was a section of hybrid orchids where each kind had been bred specifically after a political dignitary visited the garden. The all white ones for Princess Diana were my favourite.

We walked for ages through the gardens and eventually finally made it to Orchard Street, the famous shopping area in Singapore (us and our Nike’s did not belong here). At ground level there were amazing and artistic storefronts for every high end brand name you can think of, all of which we window shopped as I explained as much as I could to Max about them. “Why would someone wear that? Or pay money for that?” Valid questions that I don’t know the answers to.

We had to go down an underpass to cross the street and it turns out all the shops we can afford and are used to seeing are underground! Ahhhhh I get it. Expensive stuff at eye level! We still only browsed but it was fun overall to get a taste of the fanciness of Singapore that we’ve been hearing so much about. It’s true that a lot of locals look like they work in an office, even if they don’t.

Shops started closing so we made our way back home and towards Haji Street, as we wanted to listen to some of the live music we’d heard the first night. On the way we stopped to grab Max another masala chai, which he ordered to-go but instead of being given a regular paper to-go cup he was given it… wait for it…

In a plastic bag.

A plastic bag. Filled with iced chai.

How is this remotely convenient?! I could laugh for years about the image of Max drinking chai out of a plastic baggie.

We sat outside the Blu Jazz Cafe listening to a duo perform covers while we drank the cheapest beer on the menu (regular beers here cost like $15!). All the walls were covered with the glow in the dark paint, and painted mannequins stuck out all over the roof (which would have been creepy if they weren’t sort of artsy under the lighting instead).

Live music, warm night, cheap beer? It was a great way to end the day.

Sav