airport mishaps
I was traveling with an old friend of mine, Jasper. We got on our flight to Singapore from Manila and I was able to score a pretty good airplane seat right near the exit so it had all this leg space and with nobody else on my row to boot.
I was listening to some of my favorite kirtan tunes by Krishna Das and just giving thanks and praying for safety for this 3 month trip that I was about to embark on.
When we got to Changi Airport, we somehow got separated even though we did discuss on a meeting spot. I got off the plane but saw no sign of Jasper so I just booted it straight to immigration. It was seamless and I was on the other side at no time at all, still no sign of Jasper. I was able to reach him on my phone and told him to hurry up and soon I saw him heading down the escalator. Both of us just had our backpacks so we were ready to leave the airport as soon as we passed immigration.
We started to book for a Grab cab to take us to our capsule hostel in the Aljunied area and there were some misunderstandings about where to meet but we found it after a jog or two around the airport. It always felt good to be in another country again, though it must have already been my fourth time in Singapore.
searching for the photo op
We got to our hostel, CapsulePod@Aljunied, and dropped off our things as we still couldn’t check in and after getting our things ready for the day, we headed to the metro. Luckily, I was able to use my credit card to tap so I didn’t have to exchange any money and just go all credit since Jasper still owed me some cash from all the bookings that I did for us.
Our first stop was Fort Canning Park. I had wanted to get a particular shot here. The weather was hot and humid so I had my umbrella out most of the time which really helped as we had to walk a bit to get to the park. The park was surprisingly empty and I was able to give Jasper a photography crashcourse while showing him how to use his phone’s camera properly. I was able to get some shots in and we found the sign that pointed towards the Tree Tunnel.
Following the signs around the park and downwards led us to the famous photo spot. I directed Jasper on how to take the shot and I must say, I was very satisfied with how it came out.
From Fort Canning Park, we started the walk to another must-see landmark, the Merlion statue. Stopping by to buy some refreshments along the way as the day was getting hotter by the minute.
the temple trail
With those two locations checked off, it was time to do some temple-hopping. I had planned a pretty good walking route that took us to a lot of interesting temples from various religions from Taoism, Buddhism, and Hinduism.
Our first temple was Yueh Hai Ching Temple. It was pretty unique in that it had the Taoist gods up on the roof. There were tiger engravings on the wall and an actual live tortoise in one of the alcoves in the temple which was pretty random and not so good for the tortoise.
We were also supposed to visit Sri Mariamman Temple to get a taste of the Hindu culture but it was under construction and had everything covered up. Bummer.
We went to the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple next, which ended up being the best one. First and foremost because it had air-condition but also because it was extremely well-maintained. It had several floors. The ground floor had some monks doing some chanting so we took the elevator up to the top where the actual tooth relic was being kept. The architecture and interior design was definitely world-class. We walked around the sacred halls, taking off our shoes, and just absorbed the holy atmosphere. There were meditation corners and I took the time to meditate with the Dhyana Mudra. It was a very different experience from Yangon’s Tooth Relic Temple.
We took the stairs to the roof deck where it had a terrace garden and at the center was a gigantic red prayer wheel that people could help spin. This was also where the 10,000 Buddha Hall was and on each wall, there were hundreds of tiny golden Buddha statues. Taking the stairs down two more flights led us to the museum where a lot of ancient relics and statues were being displayed. The temple even had wi-fi which was another amazing plus.
After finishing our rounds, we headed back out into the fray.
We were getting a bit peckish so we decided to finish the last of the temples and to find late lunch at some food court. We passed by Siang Cho Keong Temple, another Taoist temple which was a bit smaller in scale and lastly Thian Hock Keng Temple, also a Taoist temple that was much bigger than Yueh Hai Ching. It had some scary looking figures that were not so kid-friendly I would say.
After the long temple run, we headed to a nearby food court and ordered some pretty good noodles. Jasper was in charge of the food and he did the research so I trusted his judgement and it was definitely pretty good and hopefully enough to last the day.
a city in a garden
We were supposed to go to Haw Par Villa, an off-the-beaten path outdoor museum about Hell in Buddhist mythology but turns out it was closed that day so we decided to walk all the way to Gardens by the Bay.
Boy, it wasn’t easy as we were pretty much out in the sun the whole day and it was another two kilometers worth of walking. We stopped by a bench to rest up while some girls doing some TikTok dancing at the side. In front of us was the river and all the way on the other side was the Merlion statue.
By the time we reached the Gardens, my legs were pretty tired and my body was uncomfortable with the heat and humidiy. Plus, the whole area itself was still a couple of hectares large. I really wanted to get my shot of this pond with both the Supergrove Trees and Marina Bay Sands in the background but I was having a lot of second thoughts and even suggested the idea of just going back to rest.
We somehow still pushed through and made it to the main site of the Supergrove Trees. We were also able to buy some fresh cold water at the nearby vendor which was a godsend as I was only able to refill my canister with warm water since that was pretty much all the hostel’s kitchen had.
We passed by a lot of interesting stuff along the way though such as some aquariums with arapaimas and a cactus garden. I actually didn’t know where the right pond was as there were several but I was just using a combination of my instincts, looking at the area’s map and cross-referencing it with Google Maps. Turns out, my hunch was right and against all odds, we made it to the photo spot I was hunting for (see the pic above). I would say it was all worth it and after taking a lot of shots, I was satisfied and ready to leave.
rain check
Jasper was planning to meet with his friend later and I was pretty drained so I was considering to pass. Jasper had wanted to take the Metro but I wasn’t having it as I was just too tired and it was too hot to walk another two kilometers, I managed to convince him to just book a Grab back to the hostel so it can come pick us up at the Gardens area. It was the right decision too, as we got on the cab, it started to rain hard. It poured all the way until we got back to our hostel and I rubbed in a lot of “I told you so’s” along the way.
We were finally able to check in and were showed to our room which was surprisingly super chic and better than expected. I was able to quickly settle-in and after resting for a bit, I decided to go with Jasper to meet his friend and have dinner since she was coming to our side of town. We met up with her and went to a Hawker Center to get another taste of Singaporean culture. The classic chicken on rice. She was an interesting person with a lot to say, we chatted around for a couple of hours and said our farewells.
Getting back to our hostel and taking a shower, I was so ready to get some sleep as we had to catch our flight to Cambodia next but it was eventually interrupted by the snoring of the other hostel mates. Such are the woes of a backpacker.
