First full day in Singapore

First full day in Singapore

Singapore, Singapore, Asia

Today was my first full day in Asia, and I loved it! Singapore is such a beautiful city, and very easy to get around. I was out of the dorm at about 9:30am and grabbed some breakfast at the little cafe next to the hostel called Old Days Kopitiam. I had a good “American Breakfast” of eggs, toast and a hot dog, brilliant! I left their and hopped on a train at Pasir Ris station and took it into the city center at City Hall.

I got off there and began wandering the streets aimlessly. There aren’t many things in Singapore that I knew I wanted to see, so I just walked around to see if anything struck my fancy. It was a great way to see the city because instead of being concerned with trying to find a specific place and only looking at upcoming street signs, I was able to look all around and take in everything. The first stop I made was at the beautiful St Andrews Cathedral, it’s a beautiful old white church that looks completely out of place in the middle of the CBD. I then passed by the famous (although I’d never heard of it) Singapore Cricket Club and made my way over to the Esplanade. From there I got to see the stunning Esplanade Theatres, also known as the Durians, and the Singapore skyline.

I hung out by the river for about an hour and grabbed a peppermint chocolate chip ice cream for $1! That would have been at least $5 in Melbourne, I’m loving this place already! I went for a walk inside the Esplanade Theatres where there are some restaurants, shops and a library. It really is a stunning building, but again, totally out of place. From there I walked toward Orchard Road, which is the main shopping street in all of Singapore. I stopped along the way at a food court to get some traditional food. I didn’t try anything too daring on my first day and just went with the chicken fried rice. I figure there will be some days when an easy choice like that won’t be available, and that’s when I’ll have to be more adventurous. It was very good and gave me the energy I needed to keep moving on.

Orchard Road really lives up to its reputation; there are a lot of shops! I went into a few just to check the prices and while it’s a little cheaper than Australia, it’s not the huge price drop you think for Asia. I came across a huge mall that I knew would be air conditioned, so I thought I would take a walk through. It’s about 95*F and relatively humid outside, so the A/C is excellent when you can find it. This was a seven story mall with a cinema at the top, and every floor was busy. This definitely seemed like the place to be on a Tuesday afternoon, so I went with it. I decided to avoid the heat for a couple hours and went to see Green Lantern at the cinema. It was a pretty good movie, and the $7 was money well spent for two hours of A/C!

After the movie I wandered further up Orchard Road until I’d seen enough and turned around and walked back to City Hall to get a train back to the hostel. I got back around 6:30pm and jumped in a much needed shower. I went to a little restaurant near the hostel called The Basil Inn and had some excellent pad see ew. I’ll definitely be going back there before I leave! Now I’m back in the hostel, it’s 10pm and I’m knackered! All the walking around in the heat has really gotten to me. I’m going to call it a night good and early and get back out there tomorrow. Great first day!

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