Singapore Celebrations
What better way to celebrate your 21st birthday than to jet off to Singapore with your best friend?! We'd saved up and decided to have a complete blow out in the beautiful South Asian city stopping back in Dubai on the way home.
Our travels started extremely well. Before I get into the actual holiday, I should mention that we do all our long haul travel through the amazing Pure Destinations. Michelle is amazing and has planned most of our big holidays to utter perfection. We were even sent a care package before travelling which included all our travel documents along with a selfie stick, chocolates, luggage tags and more. It was such a lovely touch that we felt completely confident that this holiday was going to be amazing!
We arrived at Gatwick airport pretty early for our Emirates flight to Singapore, via Dubai. We were standing in the queue waiting to drop our luggage off ready to go on the hunt for a hearty breakfast when we were suddenly guided into another queue. We expected that this was because it had got quite busy and they wanted to ease the wait. We were ushered to the business and first class line where a few of the staff were doing little nods to each other and smiles. Anyway, we handed our documents over and put our luggage on the conveyor belt only to be told that we were being upgraded to business class as the plane was over booked!
At this point, my life couldn't be any better! My eyes were filling with tears at how kind they were that they chose us! What an absolutely amazing start to our holiday.
A little tip: We were told by the lovely lady behind the desk that it does actually matter how you dress when at an airport as this is what sets you apart from others when they are looking to upgrade people! I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Please don't think I'm a designer dresser either! I wish I was but my budget doesn't allow so I was wearing a pair of Levi Jeans, rolled up at the ankle. Baby pink and black Dune espadrilles (at the time, they were really good high street versions of the Chanel pairs) and a Phase Eight, super soft striped jumper. Admittedly, I was holding a Mulberry at the time.
My husband always looks beyond smart though. He had a shirt and dark jean on with a pair of his favourite grey brogues. He thinks these are super comfy to travel in which baffles me but hey. I'm sure he was the reason they upgraded us, not me!
We were staying in the iconic Marina Bay Sands (the one that looks like the bottom of a fork!). Our Singapore stay was for 5 days and we couldn't have been more in awe of the beautiful city. It is SO clean. Fun fact: Chewing gum is actually banned from Singapore which I think is a pretty good idea.
It's has a really safe vibe to it too. If you are looking for a safe, entry city to Asia - Singapore is your city. It does have a distinctly Westernised vibe to it but again, it's a good place to dip your toe into the Asian culture and food. Food was a big reason we chose Singapore. Food and the fact, some of Mr B's family live there.
We arrived at Marina Bay with our jaws on the floor due to the mammoth scale of the hotel. I say hotel, it's actually a hotel/shopping centre and home to a ridiculous amount of high end restaurants. In all honesty, the hotel was a little too corporate and big for us. After doing some travelling, we've decided we prefer something slightly smaller and more boutiquey - personal. It was an experience though. The room was big and had a fantastic view of Marina Bay Gardens flowing into the sea.
Every night the gardens come alive to music and they display a fantastic light show - this is seriously worth a visit.
Beyond the gardens, the ocean awaits. The sea amazed me in Singapore - not so much the sea actually but the vast amount of ships that dock on the coast. You will quickly realise that the coast is completely littered with huge ships that buy stock from the smaller boats jetting back and forth. It's quite the spectacle and worth just sitting on the balcony watching.
We want to visit Singapore again as we didn't have enough time to do everything we wanted to do even though the country is really small. We ventured through the shopping centre (much to Mr B's dislike) and couldn't get over the shear wealth that existed below our hotel. Every designer you could imagine had a store in the shopping centre, if you love shopping - you can get some really good deals in Singapore.
As I mentioned before, food is pretty important to the both of us. We made sure we booked a table at "Cut by Wolfgang Puck". It was quite intimidating walking into this restaurant as everyone was really dressed up and quite clearly, wealthy. We did our best to try and blend in - working our way through the wine menu (which is really good!). We both ordered the cheapest steak we could find on the menu (which is still expensive!) with the most amazing little "peewee potatoes" as a side dish - make sure you try these. They are patatas bravas style potatoes with bacon and garlic aioli - AMAZING!
If you like steak and good wine, Cut is definitely worth a visit but you may need to break the bank to visit it.
We didn't just dine at high end restaurants whilst in Singapore though. We met up with Mr B's family and asked them (after a good few Moets/Whiskies in endless rooftop bars) to take us to a traditional Singaporean restaurant. We caught a taxi and sped through the busy streets to this amazing little terrace on the side of the road. There was no diners sat at the restaurant other than some locals and the people working there who were peeling huge amounts of green beans. At the entrance of the restaurant were tens of huge water tanks full of seafood. We'd had been told that we HAD to try the Chili Crab, famous to Singapore. This came with tiny brioche buns, garlic pak choi and sweet and sour chicken. Honestly, it's one of the best meals we'd ever had. I had always avoided crab through life as it didn't seem that it was something I'd like but I chose to dive into this Chili crab with both hands. It was unbelievable and half of the sauce ended up over my new trousers. AH
The whole meal cost the four of us around £16. £4 each!!! It's well worth finding these places as you can dine like a King for no cost at all - saves money to go buy that Chanel bag!
We headed back to the hotel, well stumbled back. About an hour after getting back to the hotel, I found Mr B kneeling on the balcony with a ring! Honestly, the best night of my life. That night was the start of an amazing journey for us. It was just the kind of proposal I'd have wanted. Private and beautiful, with the most amazing backdrop. We spent the next morning lying in and Face- timing our families to let them know I'd said yes!
We found that the open top bus tours was a great way to get around the city. Pack your sunnies, jump on the bus and get off where ever you fancy. We tend to find one of these where ever we go. It saves bothering with public transport and stops at really good locations. We ventured through China Town's markets (bought loads of chopsticks) and then took a stroll through Little India. We also ventured through the old Red Light district of Singapore which now has lovely restaurants.
Most evenings we'd retire to the rooftop, infinity pool which had the best view in Singapore. The cocktail bar next to the pool was also seriously good and we started most nights there. It's a really chic city with a contemporary feel. It's full of ex pats and has a really modern vibe. It's a beautiful city and one we will definitely be returning to. On our list next time will be Sentosa Island, we've been told that it's a great place to paddle board, relax or even visit the Universal Studios!
Check out Vaga Brothers video above for more awesome things to do in Singapore - which we will be getting involved with next time we visit!
For now, on to Dubai!
L xxx
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