The final countdown

Days 85-88: Singapore (well, Kyung and Nate’s apartment)

Since Singapore is our last stop before going home, and since we already saw some of the city, we pretty much spent our last four days here doing absolutely nothing. Otherwise, we went to the grocery store to get some snacks a few times, and that was it. On Day 86, we did manage to make it out for a drink (after midnight, so technically Day 87, i.e. our one-year anniversary).

On Day 87, our one-year anniversary, we went with Kyung and Nate to Underwater World (definitely a tourist trap) and to Little India for a late lunch.

It was definitely nice to relax and recuperate before we head back home to reality. We packed our bags, and on Day 88, we took our midnight flight to London.

Thank you, Kyung and Nate, for being our hotel, our chef, our bartender, our travel companion, fellow tourists, but most of all, our friend.

Lazy bums

Day 59: Absolute nothingness

We all woke up this morning, planted our butt on the couch, and pretty much didn’t get up until evening. We were supposed to out to town to have some lunch but opted for ordering in… (cringe) McDonalds. It was really gross (of course this is an aftermath reaction).

Around 6pm, we finally decided to get up and get some groceries to make some dinner. So we went to the grocery store and almost just ordered take-out, but decided not to be that lazy. Rachna taught Kyung how to make some Thai red curry, and we ate dinner, and re-planted our butt on the couch for the rest of the night. Somewhere in there, we booked our flight for tomorrow afternoon! Phew!

Around town

Day 58: Biking

Since we’re only here for a short time, we decided to not be lazy bums today! We got up in the morning, rented bikes at a shop nearby, and jumped on for a bike tour of Singapore. Kyung and Nate led the way, and for a few hours, we had a leisurely ride through town, by the water, on city streets and sidewalks, and down to a huge park by the water, where we stopped for a well-deserved lunch and break. After refueling, we rode the few hours back home.

Singapore is so named because the founder of Singapore thought he saw a lion on the shore of the island (which was actually more likely a tiger) and thus named the town Singh (meaning lion in Sanskrit) Pur (meaning town) – and thus became Singapore. The city is amazing, with enormous skyscrapers, modern architecture, and an incredible sense of cleanliness. We could see ourselves in this city. We rode our bikes down the F1 track (on race days, the city streets close down and the track goes through the city!). The whole city was getting ready to celebrate their National Day and on the track, we had the chance to enjoy a drum group rehearsing for the big day.

For dinner, Kyung took us to a local restaurant, and afterwards, we went back to the city center to meet up with another friend of ours from New York (Sheetal), along with her husband. We had a drink together (the beer is extremely expensive in Singapore!) and tried to stay out as long as we could, and made it a little past 1am before we had to call it a night.

We were supposed to book our ticket out of Singapore for tomorrow, but that didn’t exactly happen, so we’ve decided to stay here another night! It feels like home with Kyung and Nate, and it’s hard to leave when you’re so comfortable!

 New casino in town

Skyscraper skyline

"Lion town" statue

Nate and Kyung

Slow start in Singapore

Day 57: Little India

We took it easy this morning after all the go-go-go of the last little while. Around lunchtime, we went with Kyung (Gaurav’s friend who we’re staying with) to Little India and had some much-missed Indian food. It was yummy, but not as good as mom’s home-cooked meals, of course! We walked around a bit in the area and grabbed some groceries, as Rachna was given the mission to teach Kyung how to cook masala chicken! The grocery store we went to was huge: it had multiple floors and long aisles with seemingly no end that were organized in a manner only a few insiders could probably understand.

We’ve decided to leave back our luggage in Singapore and travel the rest of our trip with only a small backpack each, so on our way back, we used our finely tuned bargaining skills and bought a small backpack for Rachna. We went back home and relaxed for the better part of the evening, and cooked dinner a little later. After our tasty meal, we opted to be couch potatoes for the rest of the night! Relaxing feels so good! 

 People drying their clothes on rods out of their windows

Goodbye, Indonesia

Day 56: Travel day

We woke up at our leisure this morning, with nothing left to do but catch a flight this afternoon. We had some lunch and then took a taxi through traffic (again!) back to the airport for our flight to Singapore. We’re not exactly sure why we came to Jakarta, but since we did it, I guess it’s just another city to cross off the list! Our flight was delayed so we just sat around at the airport until it was ready to go.

We arrived in Singapore at night and took a taxi to Gaurav’s friend’s place in the city. Singapore is a beautiful and noticeably clean city, and the architecture we saw on the drive was completely modern and just fantastic. We’re happy to be here. It’s also nice to meet up with friends and just be “home” again for a bit. 

Tomorrow, we plan our time here and our next steps (nothing of which we have booked yet)!