Singapore . A Perfect Weekend Getaway . September 19-21, 2014

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Singapore is old news for most folks around here…it’s the place we go to for VISA processing. Typically people have a stop over there before arriving to Jakarta for the first time. I didn’t have to as I had my paperwork all in order before I came, but after hearing about how amazingly clean and orderly the country is, my curiosity couldn’t be contained any longer! I had a friend from University who came to visit me for ten days. Indonesia was her first stop before continuing onto Australia and Fiji. Singapore was hosting the Grand Prix Racing Event the same weekend we wanted to visit. Initially we debated if it was smart to go on the same weekend the Grand Prix since we were not overly interested nor had tickets to this event. In the end we decided to go since the following weekend Helena would be in Australia.


I left work as soon as I could on the Friday afternoon and came home briefly before catching a taxi to the airport. We arrived in Singapore, took the train to our hostel and went out for drinks. Saturday morning we trained to Promenade and wanted to walk the 5km walking path they have around the city but half of it was blocked because of the racing events. We hopped back on the train and took it to Bayfront where we spent time exploring Marina Bay. My friend and I weren’t too interested in many of the city’s attractions except for the Marina Bay Sands Hotel. This building has become one of Singapore’s more recognizable buildings. It has an infinity pool at on the roof top overlooking Singapore. You must be a hotel guest to swim in the pool, however anyone can enjoy food and drinks at the restaurant and see the views from there – so that’s what we did. We booked a lunch reservation and enjoyed our time at the top in the breeze. From the deck we could see part of the F1 route throughout the city which was neat. We had debated about coming up for dinner and seeing the race from a bird’s eye view, but we were more interested in seeing the city views in daylight. After lunch we trained to the main shopping district on Orchard road and walked around for an hour or so before training it to Clarke Quay where we enjoyed some ice cream on the river and relaxed in the sun. By early evening we went back to the hostel, had dinner and relaxed.

We woke up early Sunday morning, headed to Chinatown and walked around a little before hitting the beaches on Sentosa Island. Sentosa Island is Singapore’s most southern point. We grabbed lunch at one of the beach front restaurants before picking up our things at the hostel and going back to the airport. Singapore’s airport is arguably one of the nicest airports in the world….they have a water park, butterfly exhibit , movie theatre etc. for travelers to use and enjoy. I have co-workers who have deliberately spent a long layover in Singapore so they could use all of the facilities.

We were glad to have gone and had a wonderful time together. Singapore was awesome – clean air, they speak English, efficient transport , clean city, orderly….huge change from Jakarta - a small taste of home = a perfect getaway.

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