⚲ Singapore 

And suddenly, it was my last day in Singapore!

Once I was packed and checked out (with the help of a human this time), I put my luggage into storage so I could go off and explore Singapore one more time.

My first stop was the Marina Bay Sands Hotel to visit the observation deck right at the top of the building, with stunning panoramic views of the city – and as some of you will know, I love a panoramic view! It was also quite fun to have an aerial view of the cycle route we took the day before and see, in one go, just how much ground we covered. But I think my favourite thing was seeing the Supertrees at Gardens by the Bay from above. Being next to them, more at eye level, during the light show the night before made them feel so tall (they’re between 25-50 metres!), so being even higher than them felt like I was looking down at the miniature versions they had by their model Christmas train tracks!

After soaking in the city views and plenty of sunshine, I returned to Gardens by the Bay to do the treetop walk. This is where you walk along a sort of bridge walkway between two of the Supertrees. Although the views weren’t necessarily as panoramic as the ones I had seen earlier that morning, there were still impressive views of the gardens themselves. What I really loved was being at eye level with other trees of the same height. I also found it fascinating to see the base of the trees (or stem/bark) up close and how they were constructed and made up of all sorts of plants. The walk also offered a unique view of the Marina Bay Sands Hotel – and it was quite entertaining to think that I had just been up there looking down on where I was moments ago!

While I was up there, I got a message from my American pals from the day before saying they were heading to the Raffles Hotel Long Bar for a Singapore Sling and inviting me to join them. This felt like far too good an opportunity to pass up, as this was the birthplace of the original Singapore Sling.

When it was invented back in 1915, it was socially unacceptable for women to drink alcohol in public. Bartender Ngiam Tong Boon created the drink and disguised the gin with cherry liqueur and grenadine, making it look like a fruit juice and therefore giving women the gift of drinking in public without being caught. As many of you know, I love me some gin, and I also love me some feminism, so a cocktail combining the two was right up my alley!

As well as enjoying a delicious cocktail, it was really fun to see their iconic mechanical cocktail shaker in action. Made of cast iron and hand-cranked, it is designed to shake and make up to 18 cocktails of the “Sling” variety at a time. The drink itself was delicious and very refreshing on such a humid day and was garnished with a lovely slice of pineapple and a maraschino cherry.

I hadn’t got to the cherry before the waitress came to clear the glasses and, as she took mine, I asked to keep it. She held the glass out so I could take the cherry and, very unnecessarily, apologised! I told her not to worry and happily ate it without thinking much of it. Moments later, she returned with an entire glass filled with cherries. It was very unexpected, highly unnecessary, but so lovely and thoughtful – and a delightful little treat!

The other iconic part of the Raffles Hotel Long Bar experience is the peanuts! At your table, you get a bag of peanuts to snack on to accompany your beverages. However, you are not given a designated bowl or container to discard the shells. Instead, you are encouraged to fling them onto the floor.

At first, we felt odd doing so and made a neat pile on the table, only for a waiter to come and sweep them onto the floor for us! Eventually, we got into the spirit of it and joined in with the tradition. It dates back to the early 1900s, when the bar was a favourite hangout for plantation owners who treated the floor like the great outdoors. Today, guests are encouraged to toss their peanut shells straight onto the ground, creating a nostalgic, crunchy carpet that feels wonderfully out of place in such a high-end hotel. It’s a rare, cheeky nod to the bar’s rugged colonial roots – and honestly, there is something incredibly satisfying about making a mess in one of the world’s most famous luxury hotels! It is also the only place in Singapore where you are actively encouraged to make a mess and litter – do this anywhere else in the city and you could be met with a hefty fine!

Once we had had enough to drink and made enough of a mess, we headed over to Chinatown for lunch before I set off to the airport to head to New Zealand. My original plan had been to get to the airport super early and explore all the fun things to do there, as I had heard it was all part of the Singapore experience. However, I was having such a lovely time with my friends and decided that was better than spending hours in an airport by myself.

I did, however, still arrive with enough time to explore and got to see the indoor waterfall – the largest indoor waterfall in the world, with the second-largest being the one at Gardens by the Bay!

I couldn’t quite believe how quickly my time in Singapore had come to an end. Whilst it felt strange to be leaving so soon, I was incredibly excited for what was to come in my New Zealand adventure. I suppose there will be more on that soon…

Much Love, 
Sara💛

Song of the day: Gin House Blues, Nina Simone. I was originally thinking of doing the SOTD as a Britney hit, because I as loving the throwback and nostalgic feeling I got when walking by shops, but sitting in the Long Bar, sipping on a gin based cocktail had me thinking otherwise. All I could hear in my head was Nina’s voice saying “Somebody give me my gin!” And so, this song wins the day! ( I mean also, it’s Nina so she wins everything lets be honest!)