You know the heart eye emoji? That (but three of them in a row, because I’m an exuberant texter) is how I felt about Singapore before we even got there. Why? Two words: Singapore. Airlines. If you find yourself heading to Singapore, it is absolutely imperative that you shell out the extra dough and flies there via this, the greatest airline in the world. There is no better introduction to Singapore. Every other airline is just a serviceable city bus chugging along across the skies, whereas Singapore Airlines is a chariot of the gods. The difference is PALPABLE, from the seat comfiness to the legroom to the sophisticated entertainment center to the delicious food to the hot towel that us peons in economy got before takeoff. The four hours we spent flying from Delhi to Singapore were not enough. I’ve never enjoyed a plane ride more. And yes, I watched Crazy Rich Asians on the plane. That movie is awesome, it’s fun, and so what if I’ve already seen it twice and read the entire trilogy? Honestly, we all know we came to Singapore in the first place because I read that book while I was bummed in Dubrovnik.
Sidenote: I also watched Seven Brides For Seven Brothers, which was one of at least a hundred available movies because, in case you didn’t know by now, this is the greatest airline in the world. Emeri and I performed in this during one of our annual high school l musicals. In this production, Emeri was in a leading role as one of the brides, due to her extraordinary dance talent, and I was a chorus member, because of my…enthusiasm? I think I played an old lady. I think we drew wrinkles on my head with eyeliner. High school drama: always flattering. Anyway, I rewatched the movie on the plane for old times sake, and I was SHOCKED at what an offensive, sexist movie it is (I’ll also admit is is unintentionally hilarious)! I cannot believe we performed this as high school kids! Women are kidnapped, objectified, made to cook and clean for douchebag bros (literally brothers, in this case), violence is glorified, the brides sing in their underwear about their greatest desire in life (marriage) and the whole thing ends with some gross pun about all of them pretending to get pregnant so they can marry their abductors.
Ben *really* enjoyed hearing my feminist critique of some silly musical, and with that, we landed in Singapore! The airport is heavenly, immaculate, and so quiet. Passport control was smooth, polite, and automated. An excellent introduction to this country! Then, we had the privilege of using the metro for the first time. It took me a few days to figure out what was so special about the Singaporean subway system, besides being so clean you could eat off the floor, the kicky mascots reminding passengers of the rules, the clearly marked lines for lining up and exiting the car, or the fact that trains run like clockwork every three minutes.
Who wouldn’t be grinning, riding the Singapore metro?!
It was the smell. Or rather, LACK of smell. We went everywhere on the Singapore underground, and never once did I smell anything. Subways ALWAYS smell, no matter where you are. And at this point, we’ve ridden a lot of subways! Prague, DC, Budapest, Rome, Lisbon, San Francisco, Boston…and we all know about the special aroma of the New York subway. But not in Singapore. Never. Not a whiff of stale air or funky scents.
The cleanliness was honestly laughable. We watched a worker sweep in vain for a solid 2-3 minutes before finding a tiny bit of leaf that someone probably tracked in on their shoes. There are also friendly workers everywhere to help you in perfect English, and not just one set of helpful signs: there were always at least 5, leading you to the exit or the mall or the ticket machine. When I grow up, I want to be the Singapore subway.
Move in Benny! Move into the center of the car so we call can fit! 
Give way Glenda! 
Stand up for Stacey! Give your seat up for the elderly, the pregnant, or people with small children. 
MY FAVORITE, Hush Hush Hannah!!!! 
Bag Down Benny! Put your bag on the floor!
I could go on, but I should probably write about things we actually did and ate, instead of just lavishing praise on a transit system.
Instead, I’ll lavish praise on our accommodations. Was it a hip boutique hotel with angular chairs in primary colors? Was it a lavish resort I scored an incredible deal on? Was it a jackpot Air BnB? No, better: it was a Holiday Inn Express.
We love mid-level hotel chains. On our last big adventure (two months driving up the West Coast in the summer of 2016), there was no greater feeling than ditching the tent for a night at a Hampton Inn or a Best Western. We love generic lobbies, good showers, and waffle makers. On this trip, we have bopped between cheap European Air BnBs, amazing riads in Morocco, value hotels that the tour arranged in India, the occasional hostel, and inexpensive guesthouses here in Southeast Asia. But in Singapore…something…drew me to this Holiday Inn. It got a great write-up in the Lonely Planet, it wasn’t too pricey compared to other places in Singapore (which, admittedly, is an expensive city), and it just seemed like after all of our adventures in India, we might like a bland, characterless, generic chain hotel. AND WE DID. This was a little hug from America on the other side of the world. Our room was so air-conditioned, there was a rooftop pool, a fitness center (I ran on the treadmill! I actually REALLY miss exercising. Never thought I’d type that sentence…), a laundry room, super-speed Wifi, and a great breakfast every morning. Honestly, if Singapore itself wasn’t so great and easy to get around, it would have been tough dragging ourselves out of that paradise every day.
Joy. 
Adoration.
But drag we did! We were actually really busy the whole time we were in Singapore. There is so much to do! Singapore has INCREDIBLE cultural centers: we hit the museums and zoos hard. Our first stop was the ArtScience Museum, which is housed in the famous harborside building.
The design is meant to evoke a lotus flower, and my mom will be pleased to know it was designed by Moshe Safdie, who is also the architect of another world marvel: the Salt Lake City Public Library! And, it must be noted, the graceful Yad Vashem (which is fitting, since he is Israeli). Like the SLCPL, and Yad Vashem, this place takes your breath away before you even set foot in the building. It also has a lotus pond and gorgeous views of that Singapore skyline.
There are rotating exhibits in the museum, and we did the most popular one first: Future World! The gist of this exhibit is five themes: Nature, Town, Park, Sanctuary, and Space. Each theme has a gallery devoted to digital, interactive art and activities that are meant to make us think about how our actions as Homo Sapiens impact the wider world. Besides the lofty stated goal, it has to also be said that experiencing these installations is a whole lot of fun, and both kids and adults were having a blast.
The first room, Nature, was the most thought-provoking, with straight-out-of-Star Wars digital art that moved and twisted based on touch, or standing in one spot. A projected waterfall streamed over our shoulders, flowers “bloomed” at my feet, and I watched so many little kids chase butterflies around. Of course, the butterflies “died” on contact, which was supposed to be the thought-provoking part, but try telling that to these enthusiastic little bug chasers. Many, many digital butterflies died that day.
This branch actually spun around and showed the seasons and it was just so pretty. 
These sprouted around my feet 
See the “water” flowing around Ben’s feet?
We also designed houses that were integrated into “town”, SimCity style, and walked through a very, very cool light show in the Space exhibit. As with everything, museum workers had to constantly tell people to keep moving, because the ever present selfies and general picture taking were holding up the lines. I have nothing but admiration for those who have to wrangle iPhone carrying crowds in a photogenic spot! But nothing could take away from the magic we experienced in this museum. I’ve never seen anything like FutureWorld. It is unique, and so Singaporean.
The sign says “Please leave me alone. I am charging.” I could use one of those! 
Space 
I designed that house!
The next day, we went back to the ArtScience museum to go to the exhibit “Minimalism”, which is…self-explanatory. Beautiful art, and I do love the idea of minimalism (After all, I did get rid of 90% of my classroom stuff when we packed up our lives in Denver…which may or may not cause me to lose sleep at night now? What will I do without my bins?). So this whole aesthetic appealed to both of us quite a bit. Ben says this was his favorite exhibit, and I thought it was peaceful and powerful, but I definitely liked FutureWorld more.
This was a really cool walk-through art piece that layered translucent sheets of color on top of each other. 
This is actually a giant sandraker that moved in soothing circles. Raking the sand, smoothing the sand, and repeat. 
Besides the two museum exhibits, we went to two zoos. Singapore has a world-class zoo system, and we could have actually gone to FOUR zoos, but I restrained myself. The first one we went to was the Night Safari. The claim to fame here is that you visit at night, and see all of these nocturnal animals prowling about and active who would normally be sleeping during the day. That’s the theory, anyway. In reality, it’s a lot of staring into dark enclosures and saying “is that a tail? I think…are those eyes, or just a reflection of the light? Is that a branch or….” Actually seeing a lot of animals was hit or miss. Personally, I LOVED this and was really excited whenever we did actually spot an animal (I found a panther and a golden cat!!!). Ben doesn’t love zoos as much as I do, yet was very gracious to go along with me while I squealed over a whole gang of porcupines which is called…wait for it….a prickle of porcupines! Yes! A prickle!
I couldn’t get enough, so I went to the Singapore Zoo during the day time by myself while Ben did cooler things. You can have a very special breakfast there (for a price, of course), and I have to say that the orangutan breakfast was worth every penny. These are magnificent, deeply human-like creatures, and to see them up close was a “pinch-me” moment. It also satisfied the trip criteria of “can I do this anywhere else? Or WOULD I?” I don’t see myself brunching with great apes in my real life, so being able to sit back and just watch them eat, squabble, snuggle, and stare back at me was surreal.
Holding Mom’s hair 
Hi! 
Of course, the humans behaved far worse than the apes: breaking rules left and right, forcing the deeply polite staff to shoo them away when they inevitably tried to take pictures exactly where they were told not to. I’ve noticed that people all over the world feel like if they are taking a picture (and let’s be real, with the rise of camera phones, we are all taking pictures ALL. THE. TIME.), guidelines and rules about stepping somewhere, touching something, stopping in place, or taking a picture at all are blatantly ignored. Again, my hat is off to the staff members who have to keep enforcing sensible rules over and over again. Us tourists tend to be a naughty bunch.
While in Singapore, we also inexplicably went to a trampoline center (Ben calls it a bounce house), and we had THE BEST TIME. Don’t ask me why I wanted to do this so badly, but I think it was that “only in Singapore!” mentality. This experience also made us realize we are now thirty. This means that when the adolescent staff tried to teach us tricks, we had to just laugh. I managed to bounce into a seated position and then back to my feet, and that’s about it. It meant that when we thought we were bouncing high, we were nothing compared to the 12 year olds who were shooting ten feet into the air and doing flips. It meant that a somersault (instead of a Simone Biles-esque triple twist) onto the giant inflatable thing was an accomplishment. And it meant that when I was able to complete three out of twelve of the obstacles in the X-Park, I was proud of myself! With some scrapes, aching knees, and cricked necks, we hobbled out of the place, but we had so much fun.
We were so sweaty after! 
I’m leaping! 
Wooo! 
We had to buy silly socks:) 
No pain no gain!
Of course, we ate a lot. This is going to be shocking, but I wasn’t BLOWN AWAY by the food in Singapore. Not for lack of trying: I did a lot of research on good eats before we got there. But I wasn’t AMAZED. Merely very happy.
We went to hawker centers three times, and also ate at some other great casual cafes as well as a hot pot place and two dim sum restaurants. Everything was GOOD, but nothing made my eyes bug out and expletives to come out of my mouth (“Holy s***, this is the best thing I’ve ever eaten!”). I’ll fully admit that our favorite part of every day was the incredible free breakfast at our beloved Holiday Inn Express. Much like Budapest, I think we just didn’t get as “food lucky” here, which is okay! Lord knows I’ve stuffed my face enough on this trip, and plan to continue heartily. I want to come back to Singapore someday, and this is a place where I would shell out for a food tour to really maximize the noshing. Again, the food was really good. It just didn’t give me stars in my eyes like in India, Italy, Sarajevo, or my current pho-loving location of Vietnam.
This bubble tea was actually my favorite thing I had in Singapore. DELICIOUS. 
Just walking around Singapore with a camera is a big part of the fun, especially if you are, like us, dabbling in trying to take better photos. This place is PRETTY. The buildings are as tall as the streets are clean, and due to the newness of the skyscrapers, very few of them are ugly brown boxes. Rather, there are sleek, silver towers and tons of green walls and atriums, coupled with sculpture, bridges, and views. Ben took a walking tour, and I also spent a lot of time playing with the camera. Singapore, much like the Taj Mahal, is so photogenic that it begs to be shot, and we obliged.
No visit to Singapore would be complete without going to Gardens By The Bay, and this megastar did NOT disappoint. This may be the coolest place I’ve ever been. There are three main attractions: the Cloud Forest, the Flower Dome, and the Giant Glowing Trees (officially called the Supertree Grove). I can’t pick a favorite because they are all stunning, otherworldly, Avatar-esque marvels.
The Flower Dome is a blessedly air-conditioned space exploding with color. The flowers are incredibly beautiful.
However, my favorite part of exploring the Dome was watching all of the families, and thinking about how camera phones have changed how we experience everything. I wandered in there for a solid forty minutes, and I did not once see a person who was not clutching a phone (and I, of course, was clutching a camera). Little kids, grandparents, entire families. I don’t know if this phenomenon is good, bad, or in-between, but almost six months of traveling has taught me experiencing new things will never be the same now that we have these devices. It did make me want to put away the iphone and just sit and watch for a while, and I loved it.
The Cloud Forest is a massive mountain of pure beauty, covered in ferns and vines and flowers and topped off with a cascading waterfall. It’s also so big. An elevator took us to the top, and then we wandered down cantilevered walkways drinking it all in. This is a place that has to be seen to be believed, and honestly I just spent the whole time scooping my jaw off the (pristinely clean, as always) floor.
Hi friends! 
Finally, those Giant Glowing Trees. This is the most beautiful man-made sight I’ve ever been privileged to see. The trunks are covered in real plants, and then the branches spread out into the sky. During the day they are beautiful, but at night they are stunning. I love them because they are beautiful, and they are free to the public, and they were built to purely to delight. The grove is also quiet (a rarity in a place popular with tourists), and we found a bench and laid back and just looked up at the turquoise blue branches spreading into the sky and felt very, very lucky.
I don’t know if I’m ready to call Singapore my favorite destination: honestly, I’ve loved EVERY place we’ve gone, with the sole exception of Dubrovnik. However, my connection (yes, I’m using Bachelor parlance, which is fitting because I hear the current season was IN Singapore! Those lucky, blonde twentysomethings) with Singapore was immediate and I never stopped crushing on it. Every little thing about this city delighted me. I wondered to a few friends what my adoration of Singapore says about me, but I think it’s pretty obvious: I love order, rules, tidiness, well-designed spaces, clever and colorful signage, and snacks.
SO MANY rules about using the escalator! 
So many bathroom rules! 
Hehe. 
With pictures!
Check, check, and check. Singapore is what I want my classroom to be like (and no, I AM NOT TALKING ABOUT THE CANING. I’m talking about the efficiency and the urgency and the beauty and the fact that Singapore has one of the best education system in the world!). We often remarked that this city-state is a utopia, and if we as a civilization manage to turn our urban landscapes into beautiful, green paradises like this one, we may just survive. Singapore: my soul city. I already want to go back!
