Weekend in Singapore

Our German friends who got hitched in Spain last summer live a quick and easy 8 hour flight away in Singapore.  Finally I got off my duff and visited after living near each other for far too long!

Sadly Martin was not in attendance since I was en route to a work trip.  However!  James, the "priest" from our wedding flew in from Vietnam, so we had a decent little reunion.  Martin and I had been to Singapore briefly on our pre-grad school SE Asia tour 8.5 years ago (day 1 and day 2 chronicled here) so don't feel too bad for him.  Somebody has to stay home and take care of Matilda!

I arrived Friday afternoon, which naturally means Germans have hours upon hours of work left for the week.  Note the irony that the Americans - off work by 4, enjoying an early happy hour - were the ones who won two world wars, and not Das Germans.  Ahhh, sweet victory.

We enjoyed a fine happy hour at their apartment in their absence until it was time for the axis and the allies to reunite for dinner and our planned nightly activity of wandering around town and drinking in public, which is shockingly not illegal in a country where everything is illegal.

My favorite thing was gawking at all the wacky Asian products to be seen.

Along with various sights.

And spectacular views!

Nothing too wild as we had a big Saturday planned.  My onward departure to work was stupid early Sunday morning, so we had to make the most of our one full day together.

Starting with champagne brunch!

Singapore is a pricey place so whenever you can stay home and make your own food and/or drink your own [duty free] booze, you do.  This isn't Crazy Rich Asians, after all, it's Middle Class Expats!

It's also a warm place.  Warmer than Australia, even, as it's almost on the equator.  What better way to beat the heat than this?

Philipp and Lara's building has a kick ass pool, where we lounged for many hours swimming, catching up and gossiping about everybody we know, because that's how we do.

We then took our day drinking out in public to enjoy some beautiful Singaporean (I assume colonial) architecture.

With ample stops for more drinks, of course.

This was at Potato Head, which I'd been to in Bali (pro tip: don't go there).  I didn't realize there were more of them throughout Asia.  This one was so much better because of the lack of Australian bogans and beggars and hookers.  I bet all those people are illegal in Singapore.

We continued wandering around and swung through Chinatown in search of more pre-dinner drinks.

Before stopping for best damn dumplings I have ever had in my life!

At Maxwell Hawker Centre we had a whole table full of various Chinese dishes to share, which in retrospect was incredibly foolish.  We should have each gotten two plates, one fried dumpling and one steamed dumpling, and eaten nothing but that.  Next time I'm not sharing those dumplings with anybody!  Holy man were they good, and most dishes cost no more than $5.

And now for the main event!

Gardens by the Bay

These tree-like structures are called "supertrees" and there are several of them ranging in height from 82 to 160 feet (25 to 50 meters).  They're vertical gardens several stories high with exteriors covered in real plants.

I don't think it's a widely known fact based on the lack of crowds, but you can go up one (for a fee, of course) for THE best view in town.

There's a rooftop bar that looks right onto Marina Bay Sands!

I think the top of Marina Bay Sands is only available to hotel guests but even if it did open to the public this is a much better vantage point so you can see it.  It is a sight to behold!

After enjoying the view and our $20 drink we then took a stroll and got more great views, this time of the Singapore Flyer.

We even walked through the ground level of Marina Bay Sands.

This building is crazy thin!  It took one minute, maybe not even, to walk from one end to the other.  It looks so big and imposing that I never grasped the fact that the land footprint is surprisingly small.

We were heading in the direction of home when we came across a random carnival.

It gave me brief flashbacks of the North Dakota State Fair, but alas it was missing my favorite parts (farm animals and deep fried foods).  I don't care for rides in my old age, but two of the four of us were very keen to ride some rides.

Twenty years ago I would've been down for such thrill seeking shenanigans, but no more!

Here ends my 36-hour whirlwind trip to Singapore.

My onward flight was at 8:15 a.m. Sunday so I had to get up and ready by 6 to get to the airport.  Far from ideal, but it was my only option to get where I was going on time.  This being a work trip I was fortunate to squeeze any leisure time at all!

Stay tuned for my final destination, arguably the most exotic place this small town girl has ever been!