My trip to Singapore

Singapore is also known as the "Lion City" and is  one of only three surviving city-states in the world as they don’t have a capital. Who would have thought that one day I will get to visit Singapore? Well, not even me! It was like a dream that I would possibly not dream of.  

Landing at the Changi Airport was not less than a fantasy having come from the DMK (Don Mueang) airport of Thailand. Everything here was systematic and too good to be true-the place, the lighting, the ambiance, so cool and calm. Even the floor was carpeted beautifully. Since 1987, Singapore’s Changi Airport has consistently won the award for “Best Airport in Asia” from The Asian Freight and Supply Chain Awards 2014 consecutively for 28 years (source: Google). Not only in Asia, it has also been voted the "World's Best Airport" by the air travelers at the 2017 World Airport Awards for fifth year in a row (source:Google).

Changi Airport

Lost by the glitter and glimmer of this beautiful place, we finally spot our host, friend and companion, Rima. Relieved and happy, we then took a bus ride to Punggol, North East region of Singapore which was going to be our shelter for the rest of the stay. Guess what we had for dinner? "kewa datsi"(a traditional Bhutanese dish made of potato and cheese). Having not had potato for the past three months, that was a real treat from our dear host.

First day

Singapore looks even better in the daylight, so clean, so green just like a model city on the table, that was yet to be executed. We took MRT (Mass Rapid Transit) to our first place of visit which was the Royal Thai Embassy, Singapore located at the Orchard road. Unlike other places, since Singapore is a multi-racial country with ethnic Chinese, Indians and indigenous Malays, the announcements made in MRT are in these four languages i.e., English, Chinese (Mandarin), Tamil and Malay . In fact, wherever you go, everything will be written and spoken in these four languages. They also speak Singaporean English known as Singlish and trust me, Bhutanese would love to hear it (as out of many, they use certain word like 'la' at the end of a sentence or phrase, which is normally used in Bhutanese language as a mark of respect).

Next, we passed by Bugis, one of the biggest place to come shopping in the whole of Singapore. Took a double-decker bus to reach there. Honestly it was my first time riding a double-decker bus. The view from top of the bus was spectacular.

Double-decker bus ride

Our first visit to a traditional Chinese temple Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho temple where it is believed to bring worshippers good luck after praying to Kuan Yin or Avalokiteśvara or Chenrézik, the Bodhisattva associated with compassion. After feeling blessed, we went to a nearby place to bless out tummy as well with a light snack. We had these delicious local food/snack known as youtiao and the butterfly or hutie. Butterfly is sweet in nature and youtiao on the other hand, is lightly salted, crispy and it just melts in the mouth.

With the delicious youtiao and hutie

Continuing our walk, we stopped at the Sultan Mosque in the Kampong Glam district. It reminded me of Princess Jasmine's palace from the animation ''Aladdin'. Wow! it was seriously very beautiful. Even the houses in the vicinity were not more than two storey and their designs were unique too. I felt like I was in some Arab place (from what I have seen in the  movies).

Sultan Mosque

Beautiful building near the Mosque

Time to eat again. We had sumptuous lunch at the HJH Maimunah restaurant and catering. It is said that this place is always crowded, but we were lucky enough to find a table and gosh! it was really good. Our tummy was getting fuller and the legs heavier. But who cared, when you had so much to see around. It was a feast to the eyes.

Lunch at the mentioned restaurant

With our mouth watering meal.

Moving on, we went to the 'Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum' in Chinatown. We paid our respect and prayers for the well being of all sentient beings. There was this special place, where people could meditate. We too, took some time to meditate and also it was a good chance to give our feet some nice rest. Not to forget, this temple also had a rooftop garden (who would have thought of having a garden on their rooftop? ). I mean I have never seen one in my entire life. So natural, so peaceful and it had a variety of flora (beautiful flowers including a giant fern), I could never get tired of admiring it's beauty.

The Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum

After coming out from the peaceful world, we entered into a busy place, Chinatown. Everywhere and most of the things were Red in color as I was told that Chinese new year was on its way. Red color is believed to bring good luck in Chinese. This is the place where you could find variety of souvenirs. We strolled along the shops and bought few things from those places which offered the best price.

China Town

China Town walk.

You guys wont believe it, we stopped by to eat again! Its was dessert time then. Though I felt like my tummy couldn't accept anything more but Rima said that we  had to try this. And yes she was right. Chendol Shaved Ice Dessert from Mei Heong Yuan. Wow! It looked so unreal, my instant reaction was that it looked like a snow volcano with brown lava (gula melaka syrup) oozing out. It is made of shaved ice, red beans, glass jelly, coconut milk and some other ingredients and the combination was perfect. Both the looks and the taste were worth every penny.

Chendol Shaved Ice Dessert (doesn't it look like a mini snow volcano?)

Our day was never coming to an end and we didn't wanted to end it either. Moreover, since the weather was in our favor, we walked to Clark Quay and Boat Quay. Clarke Quay is famous for its stunning waterside restaurants and exciting collection of bars and clubs apart from its nightlife. People can also take a boat ride in the Singapore river that lies in the heart of Clark Quay and enjoy the scenic views from a different angle.

Similarly Boat Quay also serves as one of the most popular places for a waterside drink. Boat Quay actually formed part of the busiest port in Singapore, managing the supply of imports and exports that enabled Singapore become a developed nation (source: Google). Again we were lucky enough to pass through the luxury five star hotel, Fullerton hotel (I mean come on, who gets to go to a five star hotel?-once in a blue moon ) which was once the General Post office. 

Clark Quay

Moving towards the south, there is the Majestic Marina Bay Sands, an integrated resort fronting the Marina Bay. Finally I get to see it live. The resort includes a 2,561-room hotel, a 120,000-square-metre  convention-exhibition centre, the 74,000 m²(800,000 sq. ft) The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands mall, a museum, two large theatres, 'celebrity chef' restaurants, two floating Crystal Pavilions, a skating rink, and the world's largest atrium casino with 500 tables and 1,600 slot machines (source: Google). I personally was more interested on the overall looks. It was just 'WOW'. Keeping our eye on it, we move forward just to find another beauty, the Merlion,  a mythical creature with a lion's head and a body of a fish. I was just overwhelmed with so many gorgeous things to take in at once. So, there we took some time to relax sitting by the river watching the beautiful city.

Yes that's me directly drinking from Merlion's mouth.

With the spectacular view of Marina Bay Sands.

After spending a good amount of time there, we moved again and passed by Esplanade-Theatres on the Bay, also known as the Esplanade Theatre or simply The Esplanade. It looks like a durian (a tropical fruit- liked and hated by many at the same time) and is known to the locals as 'the big durians'. Then we have the ArtScience museum, Singapore's premier destination for major international touring exhibitions. Here we saw some marvelous architectures, one looking like a durian or the eye of a fly and the other, that of a lotus flower.

Esplanadae

The ArtScience museum

                                                                                                                                                 

Finally and unfortunately here comes our last stop, the 'Gardens by the Bay' which is a nature park spanning 101 hectares of reclaimed land. This place was not less than a wonderland too. You will find giant steel-framed "tree" plantation which is covered by over 200 different species of plants and flowers. And we were just in time for the gardens' light and music show (usually played at 19:45 and 20:45 hours). Many people especially the tourists gathered at these time to enjoy the light show. I was truly amazed by the lights and music-all I want for Christmas, is youuuu.. (as much as I can remember of the song played) and was completely transported into the Land of Dreams.

So this was a very amazing one day of my life in Singapore.

Steel framed tree plantation

Steel framed tree plantation