Singapore

Day 12

The hostel had free breakfast from 9-10:30am each morning, so while we didn't like waking up, food is always an incentive. For breakfast, we had toast with jam and pan to cook our two eggs. It was a simple, delicious start to the day.

We took the MTR (subway) to meet up with friends of my Moms for... breakfast (didn't realize we were doing it until after we had eaten). We meet on Orchard street which is THE place to go if you like buying EXPENSIVE stuff. In the few blocks of shops, I think I saw 4 Pradas... Our second breakfast(brunch) was just as delicious as our first. We had freshly squeezed juice and a scone. Gretchen and her daughter Kristin lived in singapore and told us about all the places we should go to before we left. Kristin had grown up in Singapore but had just graduated from Bowdoin. Gretchen grew up in Minnesota but moved to Singapore 35 years ago.

After brunch we walked down orchard street looking at all of the huge shopping malls. We headed back to the hostel for... a nap. I am telling you, walking in the heat is exhausting.

That night we took a bus north to the Night Safari which simply put was AMAZING.

Our luck was with us as we adventured through Night Safari. As we started our walk through the park (similar to a zoo with more open enclosures and at night), a guide asked if she could walk with us through the park. She, in theory, was in training, but she was excellent. She walked with us for an hour as we explored all of the paths in the park. We then went to the animal show. We were able to get a seat in the front row and, of course, when they needed a strong man to go on stage they called on Garrett. He went up on stage and had to flex for the audience before holding a huge python. After the show, we were lucky again and got the first tram ride around the park. The tram took you through the park again but showing different animals than the path did. When we were finished we grabbed Ben and Jerry's on our way out. But before leaving I tried the fish spa. It feels like a ton of little animals are tickling your feet. (Well, that is sort of exactly what is going on. Haha). We left the park exhilarated by the excellent evening! It was definitely the best thing we had done yet.

Day 13

After grabbing the morning breakfast from the hostel, we headed to the river to both see a new part of the city and to try and meet up with a friend of mine from home that had just arrived in singapore to visit family. Boat Quay was a tiny street filled with restaurants on both sides along the river. The restaurants were filled with business men and women grabbing lunch. We found a good place to try the highly recommended chili crab. The crab was delicious and with one crab we were both surprisingly full. We walked north to Chinatown and poked around in shops before heading back to little india for... you guessed it... our afternoon nap.

For dinner we went to the Banana leaf restaurant, a highly recommended indian restaurant close to the hostel. After dinner, we walked around little india before calling it a night.

Day 14

We had to leave the hostel before breakfast had started which we were disappointed about, but made it to the airport with PLENTY of time to grab a unique breakfast of soft boiled eggs and toast with kaya butter(coconut and egg). We arrived to our gate 2 hours early to find they didn't open the gate until an hour beforehand. In the airport, the security check actually takes place at each gate rather than at the beginning.

After a 2 1/2 hour flight, we arrived in Bali. A friend of my family, who I had never met, arranged a driver for us while we were in Indonesia. We quickly learned how crucial that was. Bali has no public transportation and is a huge Island. Bali was the first place we were truly shocked by. The roads were small and overflowed with cars and there were expensive shops and stores next to poverty. We were staying in Kuta, which is the most touristy spot on Bali about 20 minutes from the airport. Our driver's english was okay. And he basically just drove us to where he thought tourists from America would want to go. We ended up on a beautiful beach as the sun was setting... with about 1000 other people. Tables filled the beach and the restaurants sold expensive fish BBQ. As much as the tourist scene upset me, it was beautiful and the food was yummy.