Just over a week ago on the 14th, I arrived home after spending a month in Singapore. It was actually the longest amount of time I’ve ever spent away from England, let alone it being my first time in Asia.
Considering I’ve never been to a country that didn’t have white people as the majority, the culture shock wasn’t very… shocking. My family tend to choose European countries for holidays for the convenience of the EU’s lack of visa, apart from when they took me along with them to New York City. This was my first time not being easily thrown into the background, instead with people seeming to be extremely interested in seeing a white person in real life, so much so that despite you making it clear that you are aware of their relentless gaze, they will. Not. Stop. Staring. Despite being a person who despises attention, I actually didn’t mind this. I felt less as though I had something on my face, instead more accepting of their surprise at seeing an ‘angmoh’.
Other than feeling very naked at certain times, Singapore is a beautiful country. It is so green that it felt as though they had built in between the trees rather than the Western way of building over them. It’s a bustling, lively city, yet there is an element to it that feels natural and peaceful. I long to be back just thinking about it.
For a month I lived with a Chinese family. We quite often kept to ourselves and I was glad for the time to recharge that an introvert so often needs, yet I was never given a chance to feel homesick with the mother’s hospitality. I do adapt easily to my surroundings though, and I’m lucky to have the ability to be happy where I am without often thinking of elsewhere. So, sleeping on the floor was not something I was shocked by, and the tap next to the toilet for washing your arse is actually something I wish we had at home, but I was endlessly amazed by the garbage chute. A small little door in which to rid your rubbish and listen to it bounce, bounce, bounce down the seven floors to the bin at the bottom. I loved it.
I do have some photos of my trip though, I’m not all talk. Bear in mind I cannot post all of them (a total of 1,113 to be exact), but I will talk about some of my favourites and the days that accompanied them.
On the first Sunday, we met up with some friends from Ngee Ann Polytechnic and went to a place called Playnation. You basically pay the equivalent of 7GBP and play board games all day with refillable lemon and mango juice, which has got to be the chillest Sunday I’ve ever spent.
Haw Par Villa is a theme park (though not the roller coaster kind) and is an open space filled with statues depicting scenes of Chinese mythology, folklore, legends, and history. It also includes a neat little tunnel to take your kids and scare them into behaving well by teaching them about the different parts of Hell and what actions will lead you there.
On the 26th, we went to the ArtScience Museum! The ArtScience museum is the Singaporean’s favourite place, or that may just be me assuming since you can actually spot the ArtScience Museum featured in the majority of a Singaporean’s instagram photos. The epitome of instagram aesthetic, but it actually has a lot more than meets the eye (or the instagram tag). I went through a Cyborg exhibit with what seems to be the AI humanoid version of Siri, which can frighteningly respond while looking you in the eye and wave goodbye when you leave, but it’s really cool.
Okay I admit this is a slightly more boastful photo and not persuasive of how great Singapore is, it’s actually me just enthusing over the fact that I saw Symphony of the Goddesses later the same day. Surprisingly for the first time on another continent, and their first visit by them ever! The timing was too right, and it was the best. (If you’re a big Zelda fan and you haven’t seen it, you’re missing out. Look at their tour dates!).
Out of all the places in Singapore, the place I wanted to revisit on the last day was Marina Bay Sands (pictured: the most expensive hotel in Singapore, shaped like a boat. I was persuaded that this was Singapore’s version of Noah’s Ark in preparation for the next flood, but I am certain I’ve been fooled.), Singapore’s most infamous building. Marina Bay Sands features an indoor river in the Shopping Centre for people to take sampan rides on (I went into tourist mode and had to do it.), but the real beauty of it is what surrounds it. Just outside is Gardens by the Bay, three waterfront gardens which are themed by season and often revamped for tourists and locals alike to wonder at in new ways each time. I visited just two weeks ago, nearing the Autumn Solstice so there were pumpkins everywhere, a Halloween enthusiasts dream.
I love watching Nightmare before Christmas, so I was right at home in the Flower Dome. Pumpkins for miles, and you couldn’t get sick of them. The effort and thought that went into the displays were obvious, and they’re well received.
We visited the Cloud Forest after, a huge greenhouse of flowers which contained a beautiful indoor waterfall. By the end, we were met with a sense of urgency with the displays emphasizing the importance of nature and aiming to spread awareness of climate change so that we can help our world while we can. These are facts that I feel Singapore does not take lightly, after witnessing how efficient their country is, and it is something I came home thinking we all need to make a bit more effort of ourselves. Sure, we recycle, but is that enough? It isn’t.
I also visited Singapore Zoo, the River & Night Safari, and Jurong Bird Park (bearing strikingly similar feelings of Jurassic Park, but truly the most lovely place I’ve ever been), and so many more places that I don’t have enough time to write about.
There are a lack of stalls selling ornamental Buddhas, so tell your aunt to stop nagging you and that her colleague is mistaking it for somewhere else. Although, the smell coming from the durian stalls may haunt you enough that you can smell them before you see them, but don’t let that worry you too much. Singapore just really, really loves durians.
After four weeks, slightly poorer and undeniably grateful, I returned to England. Eight days of being under the familiar grey skies, which I do admittedly love, and I cannot help but miss Singapore unbearably and think back on it with fond feelings and admiration. It has made a place in my heart like no other city has.
I hope you take the time to see it.
to live with ease 