Singapore

At 6:30 my alarm went off. I was a bit over-motivated and wanted to take a shower before breakfast started at 7 a.m. so I could tour the city as early as possible. But I didn't expect that the restless night would still be with me and so it took me a good hour to finally get out of bed. For breakfast, in addition to what can be seen in the photo, there was a fried egg, sausages, some kind of meat balls, beans and muesli. But the summer rolls for breakfast were definitely the highlight for me. After breakfast I took a closer look at the plan that Christoph created for me on the map.

I didn't need my own music to get ready because I could hear my roommate singing passionately to Taylor Swift in the shower through the ventilation. It started at 11:30 a.m. Wearing my dress paired with my thick black hiking boots, I then made my way to Marina Square. I bought a skirt in a small shop there and the saleswoman kept trying to sell me more things and brought me more and more things to try on. When I said I didn't have enough money, she gave in. Afterwards I got a bowl of kimchi on rice. What I have never seen before is that restaurants display their offerings in the form of plastic dishes in a display case in front of the restaurant. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any seating in the shopping center that didn't belong to another restaurant, so I sat on a bench outside in the heat.

In general, I found it fascinating and incredibly beautiful how architecture is combined with nature in Singapore. It is almost reminiscent of a post-apocalyptic atmosphere in which nature regains the upper hand over the city. (Of course, this rule doesn't apply to all buildings, but it has happened many times.)

At around 1 p.m. I made my way to Gardens by the Bay and Flower Dome. On the way over the bridge you had a very good view of the skyscraper landscape that loomed in the distance. I don't think I've ever seen buildings so tall. On the other hand, I cooled off briefly in a shopping center and bought some water, a strange tea and crackling soda. After getting lost for a bit, I finally made it to the garden. I then bought a ticket for the Flower Dome for around €15. I hesitated at first, but the argument that I would probably never have the chance again finally prevailed. I hope the photos speak for themselves.

At around 4:30 p.m. we continued to Chinatown. I also got lost for a while on the way. It's definitely a very colorful neighborhood and there feels like a temple every 200 meters. There are also vending machines for everything. I walked through Chinatown quite quickly; there wasn't much for me to look at. On the way to the train station I ran into wild chickens digging for food in the flowerbeds. I also got on the wrong train at first, but that was quickly remedied because the trains come very punctually every 5 minutes. Then I went back to my hotel and picked up the rest of my luggage and then finally went back to the airport. I passed the time there watching series and wanted to go to the airport's famous butterfly garden...but I didn't see a single one because they were inactive at the time.

After 26,462 steps I was finally able to get on the plane. I slept about 3 hours and will arrive in Melbourne in about 40 minutes, where I will then change trains to Auckland.