Day 18: Sentosa and the Marina Bay Sands

We started our second morning in Singapore packing again. This time we needed only our swimsuits and our pajamas because we were going to spend the night in the Marina Bay Sands complex. A room in the world´s most expensive standalone casino property was waiting for us and so were the views from its rooftop infinity pool.

To start the day properly Huang took us to have a typical Singaporean breakfast. I had two delicious Kaya toasts, bread with coconut custard jam and butter, (worth to give it a try) accompanied with some eggs that, supposedly, had to be cooked in a jar with hot water. Of course, when I cracked them they were no cooked at all and I couldn't avoid putting a funny face causing Huang to burst into laughs. I think he will never forget me because of that. Adam had some Japanese Noodle soup with Milo (typical Singaporean drink that is basically milk and chocolate powder).



With our bellies full of food, we headed to Sentosa. In this other post Adam explains what you can find there. Of course, we updated the pictures on the tip of the famous palm tree and we had a sandwich in one of the bars next to the beach.



After the beach, it was time to go and check our hotel room at the MBS. We had booked the room three months before and we were really disappointed when they wanted to give us a room on the second floor of one of the towers and without bay view. Luckily, Adam started complaining and we quickly got upgraded, still no bay view but we would be staying in a room on the 19th floor of the middle tower that happened to be a Junior Suite. It was incredible! The room was bigger than our flat in Munich. We had our own soundproofed TV-room, a big bathtub, a huge bed, a living room with an American kitchen and two small balconies. We didn't have bay view but we could admire the incredible Gardens that, contrary to what Adam wrote in his old post, had been recently built behind the complex.



A quick shower and some pictures later, we went to have dinner with two friends of Adam: Karyn and Mable. We had a pizza in a restaurant with live music but, since we couldn't hear each other and since we had two extra passes for the infinity pool, we decided to head back to the hotel and spent the rest of the night there. We enjoyed the swimming pool, its views, the cool water and the chats with the girls. Good night Singapore, see you tomorrow!

Day 17: Singapore, the Lion city

A fluffy, small and white thing called Yakao (toothpaste in English), that happened to be Huang´s dog, welcomed us to start our first day in Singapore. After some indications from our host, we headed to the Sim Lim Store, a “must visit” place for everybody who, like us, loves technology and gadgets. We spent there the whole morning checking phones, computers and tablets and had lunch in the food court in the basement. Some pig organ soup was on the menu but we chose to eat something less… how to say… peculiar? :P



After lunch it was time for some real sightseeing. We walked around Little India, Chinatown and Clarke Quay, getting lost among the restaurants, shops and bars. I couldn't stop admiring the incredible buildings, the cleanliness of the streets, the glamour of the local girls and the politeness that flows from every citizen. It is true that Singapore is full of rules, fines and laws that seem strange to us but, sincerely, without all these rules, the city wouldn't be what it is today.

       

Next to Chinatown there is a little food market where we finally found some Durians already sliced up to little portions. Adam already talked about them and their strong smell in his former post, but this time… we tasted them. It has a soft consistency; it is sweet but at the same time tasteless and, after eating, your breath smells exactly like the fruit: basically, you smell like fart... Huang told us that you have to try it at least 5 times to like it, well, what can I say? I had enough with one bite.



After sunset, we went to the Marina Bay Sands hotel for the incredible light, music and laser show. We stayed around until late waiting for Ankitt and Arendt, two friends of Adam he had met in his last visit to the city with Paul. While waiting, we discovered a restaurant called Catalunya, named after the part of Spain where I come from, and we saw the emblem of the city: the head of a Lion. Why is a head of a Lion the symbol of Singapore? Let me tell you. In the 13th-century, a prince from Indonesia was shipwrecked and washed ashore to an island. There, he thought he saw a lion so he named the island "Singa Pura" which in Malay means “Lion City”. From that, the name “Singapore” was derived.

          

Day 16: Three countries in a day

Our objective for the day: wake up in Hong Kong, spend the day in Macau and sleep in Singapore.  We knew we had a tough day ahead, but, at the same time, we were excited about the idea of being in three different countries in only 24 hours.

Hong Kong: we woke up quite early since we had a lot to do. We stuffed all we needed for the next four days in our day backpack and we headed to the Mui Wo Ferry station to get to Hong Kong city center. Once there, we had some breakfast, took a ride on the “Double Deckers” and had a walk around the Western Market and some shopping streets. When we got to the IFC Mall, a very popular commercial center, we were surprised to find groups of Filipino women sitting on the floor sharing laughs and having picnic. We found out later that since it was Sunday, and most of them are domestic workers, this is the only way they can come together and enjoy their day off. After that, we headed to the Ferry Terminal to take the first available boat to Macau.



Macau: with a new stamp in our passports and some Patacas (Macau currency), we took a bus to the city center. The former Portuguese colony is the most densely populated city in the world and has a shopping street full of Jerky beef and cookies/sweets shops. It also has some Casinos and, luckily, it still has some European style buildings like the Sao Paulo Cathedral and the Penha Church.




The tiles on the floor of the main streets make you feel as if you would be walking around Lisbon and, although there are almost no Macanese that can speak Portuguese, the names of nearly all streets, squares, parks, bus stops and some shops are written in Portuguese as well as Chinese.




Adam´s target in Macau was to eat a pastel de nata. Well, looking at his face and taking into account that I had no opportunity to taste any, I guess that they were really good.



In the afternoon, we headed back to Hong Kong to reach our flight to the next destination.

Singapore: A Tigerair flight took us to Singapore. We arrived late and tired. Huang, our third CS host was waiting for us at the airport and, very kindly, drove us to his place. After a short chat with him we went to sleep to get ready for our three days in the city.