Said to be “The cleanest city in the world,” Singapore is definitely a good contender for this title.

Landing in Singapore felt like a completely different world to the tiny Thai airport we’d just left. Everything was so BIG and so clean.

The first thing we did was grab a tourist MRT (underground/metro) card and a map and jumped on the tube to our hostel. The MRT tourist card is only $16 (Singapore Dollars) for two days.

After lugging our bags to our hostel, we quickly showered and headed out in search of something to eat. Claudia’s friend Rachael lives in Singapore so we met up with her and she took us to Newton Food Court to eat with the locals (and pay local prices!)

It was a lovely mix of Malaysian and Thai cuisine plus fresh sugarcane juice for $2!

Because we only had 2 nights in Singapore we wanted to make the most of them. Even though we were tired after a day travelling we headed down to the Gardens By The Bay to see them lit up in the dark, then all the way to the top floor of Marina Sands Bay for a 360 degree view of the Singapore sky line by night.

If you pay $20 to go to the bar on the top floor you can use your ticket in exchange for a drink – although we got vodka lime soda as everything else was more expensive than $20 (!!) and it tasted absolutely disgusting…we paid for the view though so what more can you ask for?! (Just don’t get a vodka lime soda in the bar on the top floor of Marina Sands Bay that’s all I’m telling you).

But check out the toilets they’re the nicest toilets I’ve ever been in and of course were cause for a selfie…

Actually all the public toilets we used in Singapore were amazingly clean, even in the parks and gardens! (This is a small victory for anyone who has experienced how bad a public toilet can get, more on this in a post about India to come…)

Waking up the next morning we were ready for a full day exploring the city, and ready to rinse our MRT cards by hopping on and off for a good 10 hours.

We began the morning with a trip back down to the Gardens By The Bay. This time we paid for a ticket into the domes and it was well worth the money. Spending a couple of hours walking around a tropical rainforest and learning about how renewable and sustainable the Gardens are was mind blowing, and a perfect starter to what Singapore has to offer (and how ahead of the game this city really is!)

The massive trees are filled with solar panels that store the suns energy, allowing them to light up by night. The waste produced is generated into energy and rainwater is captured to water all the plants and flowers that make up the Gardens in and out of the domes.

It’s so refreshing and hopeful to see such a green, forward thinking city – we could all learn a lot from Singapore!

Next we headed to the Botanical Gardens which were just as interesting, housing the National Orchid Garden and an Evolution walk through time (a winding path with a different environment along each section representing a different point in time).

Such a visual representation of what the flora and fauna would have been like thousands of years ago was so interesting (especially if you’re a secret biology geek like me).

The green space in this built up city is a dream after seeing so much concrete, no wonder people (and wildlife) living in Singapore seem so happy, nature is like medicine.

Speaking of medicine, we stopped for some overpriced (but tasty) juices and coffee before jumping back onto the MRT and walking the streets of Little India and ChinaTown (Singapore really does have a bit of everything!)

Little India was full of colourful houses and Indian street-food sellers but we preferred China Town and the fact there is a famous building dating back to 1939 called Potato Head (I still don’t know why)…

After trying a Chinese Bun and drinking a Japanese Matcha Latte we were about to head down to the harbour front but the skies opened and we witnessed a massive thunder and lightning storm!

I love a good tropical storm so that didn’t stop us from heading back to the food court for some noodles whilst watching the storm rage around us.

Dragging ourselves back to the hostel I think we accomplished a lot in just one day and even clocked up another 13 miles traipsing around a city in 30 degree heat…

Packing our bags for our early morning flight to India we were so sad to leave Singapore. This amazingly advanced city has something to offer to everyone and it will definitely take me a lot longer than 48 hours to get bored of Singapore.

(Little Red Dot Hostel)

If you can, save a little time and money on your travels to pass through Singapore, you won’t regret it!

I really hope I get to spend some time here again soon, there is still sooo much to see…is there anywhere else you’d recommend seeing in this city?!

E