Forced to separate again, I decided to add an entirely new country to our intended list of travels. When researching the safest and easiest place for women to travel alone, Singapore was ranked number one. Conveniently, it was only a short 3 hour flight away from our current location in Vietnam. That said, I booked my flight and after many goodbye tears at the airport (on my part), I was off to explore this new magical destination. After watching the new season of Girls, Chris and I joked that I would have the same experience with Singapore, as one of the main characters had with Japan. I would quickly find myself in a city out of my own imagination. You can say Singapore was close to being just that, the perfect getaway and truly an exceptionally easy destination for myself to travel alone. With the amazing transit system, I was reminded of my years spent in Vancouver. Having the freedom to swipe my transit card and go anywhere I desired was perfect. Easy transportation is seriously key to convenient traveling. Not to mention, mostly everyone spoke English, making the language barrier very minimal. The less slip-ups with my Vegetarian meal orders the better, thankfully Singapore succeeded with that. Except for one day that is, when I made my way to China Town after reading amazing reviews about a restaurants unforgettable Vegetarian dumplings, a must try. Unfortunately, the reviews failed to mention they were only available on weekends. Nonetheless, I still enjoyed my meal and left smiling.
Although the city was very easy to travel in alone, I couldn’t help but miss my favorite travel buddy the entire time. After traveling together for 3 months, you get used to someones company 24 hours of the day, and it is hard to enjoy yourself (as much) alone. Before our journey began, we received mixed messages of how our travels would go together. We were told we could possibly need a break from each other and choose to travel alone for a bit, and that traveling is the true test of relationships. I will speak for myself when I say a break or even an hour of alone time is not ideal, coming from someone who has never been an alone person. Nonetheless, I guess that means we passed the test, right? All of the amazing experiences I had in Singapore, the delicious food I ate, and the atmospheres I enjoyed, I always wished I was sharing them with Chris, and looked forward to a future trip to Singapore to share these experiences together.
I had always imagined Singapore to be a lively place, but not nearly to the extent that it turned out to be. Once the sun goes down, the atmosphere is indescribable. Many of my nights were spent walking around the Bay, alongside hundreds of tourists and locals. There are street bars and food trucks lined up on the waterfront, live music on every corner, light and water shows, and even glow in the dark yoga. The city provides such a positive atmosphere for people to enjoy, free, everyday of the week. The entire Bay surrounds itself with this memorable atmosphere, and the Marina Bay Sands Hotel has become an iconic building for Singapore. Now known in many guide books and travel sites as having the worlds most amazing infinity pool. Unfortunately, I was unable to spend a day soaking up the views from this pool, as you had to be a hotel guest and rooms were $500 a night, $485 more expensive than my hostel. That said, Chris and I added it to our bucket list and will one day enjoy an extravagant day at this luscious hotel. The advertisement for my hostel emphasized on the fact that breakfast was included. To minimize my time eating out this week, I went for it. Arriving at the dining area my first morning, I laughed at the jar of peanut butter and self serve sliced bread, and opted out for some cute local cafes the following days instead. I guess I shouldn’t have expected much from a $15 hostel. After the incredible service we have been receiving in our $40 Vietnamese hotel, I think my standards have gone far up.
Overall, Singapore was everything I hoped it would be. The atmosphere is so invigorating and because of it, I know I will return again in the future. The city lights and beautiful gardens are what I will remember most about this amazing destination, until I return again with some company. I personally believe that traveling is so much more rewarding when you can share it with someone you love. Not only does it make a foreign location more comfortable, but you are able to share things with each other that perhaps go unnoticed by another. That said, the stresses while abroad are also quite different from home. When Chris was overloaded with things to complete for the Fire Department after his orientation, he choose to extend his stay at home to ensure it was compete prior to his departure. As I was counting down the days until his arrival all week, I was crushed that I wouldn’t see him for another few days. While I am far from home, spending my first Easter weekend alone, I took it a lot harder than I probably should have. I have the opportunity to explore a new country, an experience of a lifetime. But like I said, with a different environment comes different things to stress over. With that, I treated myself to some retail therapy my final day in Singapore, at Asia’s best shopping street. Followed by a spa day upon arrival back in Vietnam, consisting of a 90 minute massage and 45 minute facial, the perfect stress relief. The quality of the spas here in Vietnam are incredible, you feel just at home, at an extremely decreased priced. My 3 hours at the spa only cost me $40. As if this hadn’t relaxed me enough, and helped me fully enjoy my last couple of days to myself, the spa offered me 40% off a massage if I returned the following day. Those that know my obsession with massages, known I obviously could not turn that down. I will be back in the morning for one last pamper before I pick Chris up from the airport tomorrow night! While this trip home for Chris was for great news and to acquire his future career, I am really hoping this blog entry will not have Part III, and that we can fully enjoy our final two months traveling, together.
