s1ngapore

Singapore was more than just another port in the itinerary. I’ve visited seven countries already. Every port brought an evolution of the lessons I was learning about myself and the world.  Our stop in Singapore happened to occur at the perfect moment for me to try something new, something I felt I was ready for based on my travel experience so far. It was an opportunity to challenge myself and take what I’d learned on this SAS voyage and apply it to a full day in Singapore… completely on my own. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to spend time with the amazing friends I’ve met over this journey. I actually would have preferred to do that. It was the safe thing to do, the familiar thing to do. I felt the need to sacrifice a day with friends for a day of personal growth. One day, that’s it. I can spend the rest of the ports surrounded by friends but I really wanted to test myself here in Singapore. It was probably one of the safest places we’d be visiting so it wasn’t insane to go out on my own.
        I’m happy to say I followed through with my plans of independent travel through Singapore and I did walk away with some new lessons learned. For one, I really need to ask for help when I need it. I often try so hard to figure things out on my own that I end up wasting a LOT of time. This lesson was best learned at the very start of the day when I was trying to purchase my EZ Transit card for the MRT, which is the metro system of Singapore. The total of 30 minutes I spent trying to put enough fare on the card to get me to Chinatown could have been sized down to 5 if I had just went up to the service desk and asked for help. I spent a lot of the day making use of the MRT, getting myself from Chinatown to Little India to the Bugis district to Raffles Place to the City Hall area. It was the simplest, most cost effective way to get around town and it was insanely clean. The entire city was in fact. So well manicured. It makes sense when the government is watching everything that you do. There’s a fine for littering, chewing gum, bringing this really smelly fruit called durian onto the MRT, bringing any type of food or drink onto the MRT, etc. It’s a very structured place but if it weren’t I may not have felt as comfortable going off on my own.
        The major things to do in Singapore are shop, eat, and visit the ethnic districts like Chinatown, Little India and the Malay area. I did it all. Without trying to, I ended up at three different shopping malls. Every MRT stop would drop you off at a mall. It was pretty much unavoidable. I began the day in Chinatown where I tried Kaya Buttered Toast, per my roommate’s instructions. Singapore is known for their kaya jam. It’s basically an egg and coconut concoction that tastes absolutely delicious on toast. I bought a jar to bring home.
        Next up was Little India. It was so strange being in a new country, yet seeing the same clothing and trinkets and smelling the same spicy food I had just left in India. There was one notable difference: I could stroll the shops without being hassled to purchase something by the employees.
        After Little India, I visited Bugis street which is a really cool marketplace sort of indoors but bursting with little shops selling really cheap goods from bags to clothes to $5 watches in bright neon colors and big shapes to juices in every fruit you can imagine. It was crazy how crowded it was!
        Then I visited Raffles Place to try and hunt down a phone card. I didn’t mention this before but I only intended to spend ¾ of the day on my own, then meet up with my friends for dinner and a drink later. The plan was to buy a phone card, call their cell phone and meet up. Finding a phone card was not as simple as I thought it would be. I finally tracked one down at a 7-Eleven. Then finding a payphone was another issue. I asked about 10 different people, consulted the mall map and spent about an hour going up and down the levels of the mall until I finally found one. Then the call wouldn’t connect. This failure along with my inability to connect to free wifi at three different cafes left me with the conclusion that maybe I’m not supposed to connect with anyone, rather I should continue doing things on my own.
        Glad I did because after the phone/computer debacle, I really started to enjoy myself. The rain that had been falling on and off throughout the afternoon had finally cleared and it appeared to be the perfect time to go visit the City Hall area. It was so peaceful wandering the streets just outside the heart of the city. The architecture of the buildings was so interesting. Every building had a life of its own. For the first time all day, I broke out my camera and snapped a ton of pictures. The sun was setting, there was a cricket team hitting some balls in the batting cage, the harbourfront was just off to my left and I had a gorgeous view of the Singapore skyline. A Japanese tourist offered to take my picture in front of it. It was the only picture with me in it that I have for the day.
        It was a wonderful day in Singapore that only got better as it progressed. I know that I will definitely try independent travel again but it probably won’t be on this Semester at Sea trip.