LittleChinaBay

It's evening. We're sitting in 'Garden By The Bay' and enjoying the huge artificial trees that brightly shine above us. Suddenly, the lights go out. Power outage? A woman's voice is heard: 'Ladies and Gentlemen (...)'.

Suddenly, the first notes of a calm melody sound and wave-like showers of light pour over the trees in sync with the music. The music becomes more dynamic and eventually turns into a lively musical medley, accompanied by the alternating flashing and blinking of the trees.

Dancing trees. Something like this probably only exists in Singapore...

Okay, now it's official. Singapore has been officially declared the new favorite city of Richard and me. Of course, as inexperienced youngsters, we haven't seen as much in our lives so far as, let's say, our world-experienced friend Marco Polo, but...HELLO? Where else in the world can you find a place that is crazy, colorful, and metropolitan, but at the same time incredibly elegant, pleasant, and lovable? I hardly believe that there are many places of this kind.

Right now, Singapore simply seems to us like some cool dream-future-city that possibly only exists in our heads (although this theory has some flaws...). It's simply too beautiful to be real.

Especially after yesterday's day, we are just amazed. We started our tour in the incense-filled streets of 'Little India' and ended it with the light show in the futuristic 'Garden By The Bay'.

When you step out of the MRT station 'Little India' and then turn left into Seragoon Road, you find yourself in a completely different world. Women in colorful saris walk around, Indian pop music comes from the open shop doors, and the typical smell of incense sticks hangs in the air. We had no idea where to look first, as we were showered with impressions! Here you really have everything your heart desires: from precious jewelry and beautiful clothes (oh, these wonderful fabrics!) to cheap electrical goods, everything was represented. Sometimes the sellers were just sitting on the street with their sewing machines, happily sewing away. Why not.

Finally, we ended up in a department store and I bought a typical Indian tunic for a whopping $18 (which is maybe around €11). It was really cheap there. Oh, I should have bought my prom dress here...

Richard, also known as Indian-Swag-Lord (see pictures), also tried on some things a few times, but then he lost his trust in the Indian fashion traders. When he indicated to the saleswoman that he didn't want to buy her product after all, the little woman suddenly started talking to him energetically, which actually scared us and we quickly left the department store, hoping she wouldn't follow us. (It got a bit creepy when we later encountered her again at the bus stop.)

So, on to Chinatown. Here, everything is full of narrow alleys, markets, and Buddhist temples in traditional Chinese style, of course in the midst of skyscrapers. Crazy, this Singapore! You can also have wonderful new culinary experiences here. So we bought something called 'popcorn-squids' at a small snack stand, which didn't taste as bad as it might sound at first. We also had an outrageously good 'duck rice' for a mere $3 at a hawker center (as we have now learned).

And then (dramatic pause), then (another dramatic pause), THEN we finally entered it: The (dramatic pause) Marina Bay!

Oh, it was beautiful there! In the light of the setting sun, we walked along the promenade and watched as the Singapore skyline slowly turned into a sea of little lights. We saw all the famous landmarks: The concert hall complex 'Esplanades' (shaped like the stink fruit 'Durian'), the 'Art Science Museum' (shaped like a lotus blossom), the 'Singapore Flyer' (shaped like, um, a ferris wheel), the 'Marina Bay Sands' (no idea what THAT is supposed to represent, but it's definitely a huge complex of casino, shopping mall, and hotel), and and and. We also took the typical tourist photo with the 'Merlion' (a fish-lion spouting water) and the banking district in the background. The guy who took the photo was actually German, but we didn't know that when we asked him (I swear!). There you have it, the German travel instinct.

We then ended the evening in 'Garden By The Bay' with the aforementioned light show. That's what I call being in the right place at the right time!

Well, now I'm running out of words slowly but surely. It's best if you just look at the pictures.

Tomorrow we already have to leave our beloved Singapore (sob).

Richard & Maggi, Singapore 28.10.2016, 00:10 o'clock