No rest in Katong

So what, I'll write another blog post. I'm just so excited and BESIDES we need to catch up. In other words, jet lag has won for the second time, apparently seven hours of walking can't compete against its power...

On the other hand, Singapore is such a turbulent and exciting city. After so many colorful impressions, I just feel the need to write everything down in an organized way. Just to make sense of it all.

So...

As planned, we embarked on a tour of our neighborhood 'Katong' today (hence the title...DO YOU UNDERSTAND???) guided by the great explorer Marco Polo (unfortunately probably smaller and rectangular than the original) personally. And he was a great help to us. Otherwise, we might not have discovered the dessert bar 'Awfully Chocolate'. But more on that later...

But first, we wanted to fuel up for the tour. Since it was already half past twelve and we were really getting hungry. Luckily, there is a seven-story mall with its own 'Food Court' right across the street from our hotel. So off we went...

We finally found what we were looking for at the fast-food café 'The Toast Box'. That's where I had my first 'Kopi' (basically just coffee Singapore-style, with lots of milk and lots of sugar). Strengthened and high on sugar, we left the 'Food Court' to explore a bit more. We saw both familiar places ('Esprit', 'KFC'...) and many unique shops and restaurants. We even made it up to the seventh floor, but unfortunately, we realized that the department store's selection dwindles towards the top, so we ended up in the parking garage.

While strolling around and observing, we noticed a few things. For example, Singaporeans seem to take good care of their health. They offered juices and other healthy stuff everywhere. You also hardly see any smokers (which is probably also due to the smoking ban in many establishments and strict enforcement of the law). The positive side effect is that you don't find cigarette butts lying around everywhere like we do. People here also seem to place a lot of value on their appearance. Whether they are ten or ninety years old, they all look well-groomed and wear great clothes. Even the school uniforms are hip and stylish. Oh, it makes my fashion heart beat faster...

And everything is spotlessly clean. The many bans and tough penalties seem to have an effect. On the other hand, the people's mentality probably also plays a decisive role.

When we had seen enough, we left the mall and headed towards East Coast Road to finally start our Katong tour, which Marco Polo himself specially tested for us!

This neighborhood in Singapore is teeming with small alleys, cafes, restaurants of all kinds and sizes, open art workshops, and so on. In short: a colorful multicultural mix.

Among other things, we saw the Sri Senpaga Vinayagar Temple (Hindu temple, built in 1875 by Indian Tamils), a typical Singaporean residential area, the facades of the Koon Seng Road houses (see pictures), a paper workshop, and a German restaurant ('Brotzeit', beer for 10 dollars).

But we couldn't resist a treat. So we ordered a piece of the 'Mille Crepe Chocolate' cake at the dessert bar 'Awfully Chocolate' for uh um cough 9 dollars...

But it was worth it! I mean: a tower of crepes (which could compete with the Burj Khalifa itself) combined with a creamy chocolate cream and rounded off with a cocoa layer...who could say no to that? Plus, they gave us free water on top (not on the cake!)...

Overjoyed, we left the tastefully furnished café and made our way to the old Botanic Garden. Unfortunately, when we looked at the map, we found out that it was practically on the other side of the city and we had no idea how to get there. So we asked around. We actually got very nice and helpful answers, so we eventually found a bus line that took us directly to our destination. After two bus rides in total, we are slowly starting to understand the mysterious bus system of the Singaporeans (the upcoming stations are not displayed anywhere on the bus, there is only a flyer listing all the stations...).

When we entered the garden, we were immediately captivated by a feeling of tranquility that no photo or video in the world could describe (we still took a few photos for you, so that we can at least CONVEY a hint of the beauty of this place). So we strolled through the garden, passing pavilions and small ponds, admiring exotic tropical trees, and taking a detour into the rainforest, always with the goal of visiting the world-famous Orchid Garden.

We arrived there exactly at 6:03 p.m. Too bad that although the garden is open until 7 p.m., the last tickets are sold at exactly 6 p.m. Tough luck for us. But we decided to definitely come back the next day...

So the hours passed. It started to get dark and the garden was beautifully illuminated by numerous light sources. Then a warm tropical rain set in. Perfect.

We also pondered what it would be like to study here and go to the garden every day for learning. Later we found out that the National University of Singapore is only one bus stop (400 m) away from the garden. It's worth considering studying here...

Finally, we decided to have some dinner and had already taken our seats in the restaurant of the Botanic Garden when we saw the prices on the menu and made a hasty exit with an apologetic thank-you-but-no-thank-you look...so it was snacks from the supermarket after all.

Well, that's it. Except that we're now in possession of a rechargeable bus and train card.

Tomorrow we'll visit Marina Bay, Orchard Road, and the Orchid Garden.

By the way: The revised versions of the first two entries are now in, please don't be mad at us if there are still a few mistakes hidden...

Wishing you a wonderful night,

Maggi and Richard

Singapore, Tue 25.10.2016, 03:33 am