singapore
JOURNAL:
Singapore was initially supposed to be a quick overnight stay for us on our way to Thailand. But we ended up being there for 5 nights. And I’m so glad!
It was so completely different that what we had been doing. It’s a gorgeous city. It’s incredibly diverse and people are very kind. It’s like an Asian cross of NYC and Vegas. Except really, really clean.
We stayed at the Mandarin Orchard. It was a beautiful hotel right on Orchard Road where there is incredible food and shopping.
My friend Lauren used to live there and she gave us great advice for activities and food.
Speaking of food… IF you ever end up in Singapore, you MUST go to Din Tai Fung. And then send me an email and say thank you for the recommendation afterwards!
Our first night we went to a night zoo! Singapore is known to have some of the best zoos in the world. And the Night Zoo didn’t disappoint. Usually when you go to zoos during the day, all the animals are sleeping. But at the Night Zoo, everything was out and about. It was awesome. We went to a night show and then took a tram tour around the zoo where the animals just roamed. It was a late night for us and we thought it would help force us to to stay up late to adjust to the time change. We were exhausted… but it worked!
Singapore recently completed Gardens by the Bay. It’s acres and acres of various types of gardens. There is a great kids park that our children loved that’s free. One evening we went and checked out the conservatories that were incredible. I spent hours wandering around the flower dome and cloud forest looking at all the unique flowers and plants.
The diversity was so fun and refreshing. We learned that Singapore is comprised of about 70% Chinese, 13% Malasian, 9% Indian and 3% other races. (P.S. our stats were WRONG in the video!) Anyway, I was so very impressed at the level of respect and kindness everyone had for eachother. Although the population was so diverse, we learned that everyone celebrated ALL holidays… we had forgotten it was Christmas time until Singapore reminded us with their beautiful decorations. And even though most people in Singapore have different ethnicities, they all are proud to call themselves Singaporeans. I learned a lot from the mentality in Singapore. It’s something I think every nation should strive for.
Singapore is one destination that I’m really, really happy that we went to. I’d recommend it to everyone. You probably don’t need to spend a long time there, but if you are touring Asia, for sure consider making it a stop.