My First Trip to Singapore

Backdated:14th June 2010

Before my first trip to visit my Dad and his family in Singapore, I had rarely travelled out of the UK - and the few times I had gone further, I was too young to remember. So nervous doesn’t begin to sum up how I felt about the flight. My boyfriend at the time may have thought I was panicking over nothing, but I bought myself a tiny blue notebook and wrote every single detail I may have needed in it. Having a desperate need to have every detail organised, I had also gone through online check-in on the Qatar Airways site. As we were waiting for the only check in man to finish sorting all the non-online-check-iners to come and swap our online check-in passes, we realised we would probably have been quicker just showing up. Anyway let’s not go into boring detail about flights.. Qatar were brilliant, great service, great food and great entertainment. I’d recommend them to anyone! 

Merlion

Singapore Flyer

My very first impression of Singapore was on the plane when we were handed a leaflet that stated in huge red letters that drug trafficking was punishable by death. Strict eh! When we arrived in Singapore, initially, I was disappointed by the lack of culture shock. As an inexperienced traveller/holiday-maker, I had done absolutely no research and had no idea what to expect when I got out. The only thing I had ever heard about Singapore how clean it was, and I must say it definitely lived up to the hype. 

Breakfast with Orangutans in Singapore Zoo

My highlights of Singapore were the Zoo. The most gorgeous zoo I have ever visited. I must admit I don’t think I’ll ever feel the urge to visit a different zoo again. It is famous for being very open plan, using few cages, opting for moats and barriers instead. It makes for a completely different experience to any Zoo in the UK. Having watched YouTube videos of tiger attacks, I wasn’t 100% sure that the moat was exactly big enough, so walked past that area rather quickly. We had breakfast with the orang-utans, a bit over priced if you ask me and the only real benefit is a photo opportunity in front of some totally disinterested monkeys. My sister and I fed the elephants after watching them wash and the giraffes. My dad and boyfriend wouldn’t let me live down the moment when I got scared of the male giraffe who was leaning over right in my face and sniffing me. I highly recommend any animal fan passing through Singapore to visit the zoo! 

As far as shopping is concerned, we couldn’t afford to even look in half the shops of Orchard Road, but for younger generations I highly recommend Bugis Village. My absolute favourite. It’s definitely the place I’ll revisit when we go this year. Also we got completely lost in the underground connections of the malls (which naturally was Stephen’s fault.. not mine!) but stopped trying to find our way out as soon as we found a McDonalds (our first of the holiday) and discovered that unlike the UK who took the salt out of everything in an attempt to force us into good health, Singapore nuggets still taste FAB with all the salt left in! 

If there’s one thing I could bring home from Singapore and implement here in the UK its the food courts! I love them. Such a variety of different foods. I love the idea that I could eat Chinese food while Stephen ate English food, and both sit together to enjoy it - not have to compromise!