Singapore, Day One

Singapore- a city of cultural explosion of sights, smells and people. From one corner you have Little India, with sari shops and loud music, to Chinatown with tiny street stalls and mobile wok carts, to the metropolitan downtown financial area, to the futuristic Marine Park, to the glitz and glamor of Orchard Rd to...well, you get the point. You can travel just a short way to find yourself lost in a whole new world.

Originally, my time in Singapore was going to be limited to only a short 13 hours, from touchdown to take off of the planes. With a short schedule switch, we made the decision to spend three nights, a precious two full days, in this sprawling city.

Oddly, our first stop on day one was MacRitchie Reservoir, a large park just minutes from a metro stop, that was so close, but felt so removed from the city. Singapore is on a quest to be one of the greenest cities in the world, and they take pride in their parks, keeping the paths clean and offering outdoor activities like running clubs, kayaking and rowing.





While it was pretty, it was almost too warm to just walk, plus with improper footwear, it seemed inappropriate to do an 11 km treetop canopy walk with these fellas roaming around





So we headed back downtown, to where Singapore is most famous for-their shopping district, Orchard Road. The road itself is not very big in length, but makes up for it in depth and height. Shopping mall after shopping mall, you can get lost in a maze of consumer wonder-world of gadgets, clothing, and expensive designer goods



Mazes of levels underground led us deeper and deeper...



Till we found my favorite part of the mall, the food court. Situated a causal four levels under ground it was full of Asian specialties from all over and it took us about a half hour to narrow down which area we were going to get food from.

There was the dumpling maker



Hong Kong Rotisserie


And a oyster omelette bar



And heaps more. We decided to get beef noodles



And DIY soup



I must say, it was the best food I have ever eaten in a food court. The soup was fresh and simple, flavors delicate with spice. The noodles were what you would expect noodles to be, but just simply better then your average chinese food on your neighborhood corner.

After lunch, we traversed our way back to ground level, to find ourselves stuck in out first monsoon, without any proper umbrella or rain jacket.



We waited out the storm inside and as soon as it lifted, tried to make it back to the hostel without getting completely soaked, successful under all the mall overhangs and causal pit stops in familiar stores along the way. Being in Singapore is torture on a backpackers budget and space restrictions, especially since the stores are in the middle of their massive summer sales. But I made it through without a single purchase, promising to return when I win the lottery....a girl can only dream.