It's so hot!!

Day 4

So at work they’re just letting me do my own thing really. They haven’t told me exactly what they want me to present to them at the end, so I’m just chilling with some sustainability research at the minute – different types of food digesters to recycle organic waste, different bike schemes, different products from recycled materials, etc. Interesting stuff J and there were some yummy snacks at work today, although it was slightly unlucky that my boss saw me hanging out (‘networking’) by the snacks and coffee machine several times (and it’s only my second day at work, oops!) I also had an incident with the soap machine today - I put my hands under the automatic soap machine in the toilets, and then it just wouldn’t stop!! So I ended up putting both my hands under the machine and trying to capture all the soap to put back in the machine. Oh technology! The lady who was waiting to use the toilet must have been very puzzled by what took me so long... After lunch I was introduced to a green surprise in the form of an avocado milkshake. I was a bit sceptical at first, but it was actually really great (for those who like avocados and milkshakes of course).

To celebrate the start of the weekend I decided to go on a mini adventure to the botanical gardens. They seemed endless, and I had so much fun wondering through the healing garden, the ginger garden, the orchid garden and so on... And the sounds of the flowing water and birds were very calming as the night approached. Suddenly I realised that it was super late and felt like I was Tarzan (in girl form) fighting my way through a jungle to find civilization (oh the things which you can convince yourself of when you’re alone!) I’ll definitely be going back there though! Once I’d reached ‘civilization’, I had a yummy Thai meal which featured five different coloured vegetables, each of which is considered lucky for various reasons (exactly my style!)

Day 5

The sun was blazing hot today as I headed into China Town. This China Town was different to any other China Town I’ve ever been to, because I could picture how the original Chinese immigrants who came here in the 19^th century lived. The Heritage Centre (museum) recreated their tiny rooms, opium dens, taylors and street vendors so well, and the various temples around the area were beautiful (you can’t go wrong with so many vibrant colours!) The vibes of the narrow bustling streets gave the area so much character, but it was also great to find some retreat in a tiny quiet restaurant in the home of an old Chinese man, who I had a great chat with.

I walked and walked through various neighbourhoods and parks, stopping occasionally for an air conditioning break (there are SO many fancy shopping centres here, and what seems like infinite munching opportunities.) Eventually I reached Clarke Quay, where I chatted to a friendly local about life in Singapore. I hadn’t realised but it turned out that today was a practice for National Day, which meant that there were concerts, celebrations, music, and more (including a long parade of army tanks which meant that I had to wait for ages to cross the road). So without planning to, I’d ended up at the spot which was definitely the place to be tonight, yay! There are so many modern and crazy shaped buildings in this area – I definitely felt like I was living in some futuristic technological paradise. I wondered through the crowds and crossed a long bridge to the other side of the harbour, where there was yet another huge designer shopping centre.

More excitingly, located here are the Gardens by the Bay, which are mostly an exhibit of  natural beauty (with some unexpected humongous man-made trees – photos will have to follow here, because these things were definitely beyond me!) Anyway, the views were stunning, especially as it got dark and the infamous Marina Bay Sands hotel and the whole area lit up. Mmm the summer evening air was ideal.

And the night got even better as I made some friends - they were so sweet and adopted me wholeheartedly, taking me to all the cool places in the area! We listened to some Malay music, saw the Merlion (the symbol of Singapore – a mermaid fused with a lion), strolled into the fancy Fullerton Hotel as if we belonged, chilled along the river... I got the last train home and congratulated my feet on such an exciting day of trekking through the city.

Day 6

I can’t believe that I’ve only been here for 6 days! Today I was lucky enough to explore Singapore through the eyes of a local, as a friend who I go to university with kindly took me around. It was so great to see some of the residential areas and to eat in the local food courts – such a delicious noodle soup (although almost impossible to eat gracefully!) We went to the National Art Gallery, where there were some very unique exhibits, most of which were modern and quite futuristic. I probably shouldn’t describe all my thoughts about them here, but some definitely stuck in my mind, either because of their message or because of their craziness (in one piece of art we had to sit down on a sofa attached to a wall and were spun round into a different room where we had to walk around in 3D glasses!) We wondered around some more and I was really enjoying not having to whip my map out every five minutes. Then I tried a drink which had green grass jelly (!?) in it, by which I wasn’t very convinced.

Then it was time for some more solo exploring, this time in the area of Tiong Bahru. This was a really cool area where the buildings were low rise and instead of big global brands, there were local craft shops, arty cafes and a really quirky independent bookstore (where I decided to support the local business J).

On the way home I stopped off to buy some fruit (which I washed reaaally well, don’t worry mum). As well as the usual apples, I bought a Vietnamese Dragon Fruit, which looked pretty insane, but tasted yummy. In the evening I decided that I wasn’t making enough use of the accommodation facilities and went exploring (in the hope of finding a TV to watch the Wimbledon final). Instead, I discovered some real tennis courts, an amphitheatre (!), two ponds, lots of cafes, and lots of young Chinese children screaming at a pantomime...