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Sarah and I were planning on spending three days in Singapore before flying off to Bali, however Sarah got sick which meant she ended up spending eight days in hospital and us missing our flights. (Thanks Sarah…SELFISH!!)
At the airport in Phuket, Sarah was having real trouble walking as her leg and foot had swollen up. When we arrived in Singapore the airport staff were incredibly helpful. They gave us a wheelchair and showed us the way to the airport medic. The doctor referred Sarah, and so first stop in Singapore was Raffles hospital.
Sarah was told she would have to stay in hospital, and so when I wasn’t visiting, it was just me….fancy free in an exciting new city!
On the first evening I met up with the guys we had met in Laos who said I could stay with them. After a hectic day, they decided to take me out for the evening. We head down to Clarke Quay which is popular for a night out on the tiles. We also went to the business district to a rooftop bar called Altitude One which was great as I got to see a brilliant view of the city, this was
followed by a cab journey to Sentosa to Tanjong beach where there was some sort of beach-slash pool party going on, it was all very exciting…I felt like I had just stumbled on to the set of 90210.
The following day I spent with Sarah in hospital trying to entertain and keep spirits high, and in the evening I grabbed a cab and head over to my friend Georgia’s house. Georgia and I used to work together in London before she moved to Singapore with her husband Ollie. That evening, Georgia and Ollie (or G&O as I will now refer to them as) prepared an amazing barbeque with some of their friends and I, and showed me to my room. Their house was beautiful, very modern and so tasteful, I felt totally at home. My room had a giant double bed, a balcony and an en suite bathroom….ahhhh heaven! This was no £2 grubby little hostel at Laos that smelt like mould…it was just what I needed after a hard few days.
I stayed there for the rest of my time in Singapore. During the days, I visited Sarah in hospital and explored the city…getting lost a number of times.
It was so clean, and the people were so friendly and helpful. I can totally understand why people would want to live there.
One day I went to Universal studios (I am such a tourist!!) If being alone ever had benefits, this was one of them. You see, in Universal Studios Singapore, if you are alone, you go straight to the front of the queue passing all those poor sods who have been waiting for hours….awww! Really, did I feel bad? Hell no! Not after the week I was having, I felt rather smug in fact….they must have hated me even more when I went back for seconds and they were still there waiting, boiling in the blistering sun!
When visiting Singapore, it is impossible to miss Marina Bay Sands. This is the three tall buildings with a boat plonked on top…yes you read that correctly. It was totally insane! G&O took me to the top one evening which was great fun. The view is fantastic, you can see all the way to Malaysia!!
Hmmm….what else did I do? I visited the zoo which was good too. I opted for the tram pass, which meant I could get a zebra
painted open bus around the zoo and check out the animals….and then I felt really lazy, and bad doing it so I walked around so that I could take photos. If you are going anytime soon, there is a baby Orang-utan which I stood and watched for about half an hour…..I love them!!
One evening when I was alone, I ventured in to China town. Now, I live in London, and I don’t go to China town all the time, but I think when I go back I will…. The China town in Singapore was OK, but I think the one in London is better. If you don’t get the chance to get there, then don’t worry, you aren’t missing out too much (although, each to their own) I am just gutted I didn’t get to go to little India as it is supposed to be incredible….next time hey!
So Sarah was finally let out of hospital…yippppeeee!! The insurance company had organised flights for the two of us to fly out to Bali due to the flights we had missed, the doctor had given her a million types of antibiotics she should be taking, and we were heading off to
Raffles hotel. After the 8 days Sarah had, I was so pleased that she got to enjoy this. When Sarah left her job at home, a very generous client of hers had arranged for the two of us to stay at Raffles hotel for the night, along with high tea. The hotel was incredible, pure luxury! The staff we amazing (we even had our own butler), high tea was exquisite, and of course the Singapore Gin Slings were delicious….this really was the best way to forget about the past eight days and look forward to the good times ahead.
I will leave it on this happy note, and take this opportunity to say a great big THANK YOU to Mum, Dad and Caroline who busted their balls dealing with the insurance and generally did all they could to make this SHIT TIME a lot easier. Secondly to Mark, who bought our night at Raffles, it was absolutely amazing, and I can’t tell you how grateful we both were. Two giant smiles were worn the whole time we were there….finally to G&O the generosity and kindness was more than anyone could ever have expected or hoped for. Thank you for saving
my ass, and showing me how great Singapore really is.
I am currently reading a book called The Kindness of Strangers, which is a number of short stories about travellers who have been helped along the way by complete strangers. Now I know none of the people I have just thanked are complete strangers, but I won’t ever forget the kindness every one of them showed.
PS. Sarah is on the mend so no need to worry….
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