LittleSandyBeach

We had two very relaxed days in Johor Bahru in a lovely apartment that looked over the river towards Singapore. We were very happy we got to cook a couple meals.

The apartment came with access to a large outdoor swimming pool, gym, sauna, games room and a link bridge to a shopping mall. Around the pool within the courtyard was also a jogging track which we made use of.

On Friday, we said goodbye to Malaysia and hopped on the shuttle from Johor Bahru to Singapore. It only took 5 minutes to cross and cost 5RM each (90p)!

We are staying in our very first shared dormitory room in a cube like hostel. It’s a bit of a squeeze as we have to sleep with our big backpacks on the bed even though it’s the most expensive place we’ve stayed it was a bargain at £20 each a night.

We immediately noticed how extremely clean Singapore is. The streets were spotless and even the odd leaf on the pavement looked out of place. It is illegal to have chewing gum in the country which definitely seems to help keep it clean. We tried our best to spot one piece of graffiti but failed! How refreshing!

We first ventured out to Fort Canning Park which is known as the forbidden hill. It first started off being a seat of ancient Malay royalty and was transformed into a British colonial fortress. Today it is a recreational park open to the public.

There were many different areas of the park including a visitor centre, herb garden, and tree tunnel. The tree tunnel seemed to be an Instagrammers paradise and we quickly left after seeing how long the queue was to take a photo.

We then stumbled across Chijmes which began as a catholic convent and has been converted into an upmarket dining and entertainment area. It was very charming and definitely unique, something we’ve not seen anywhere else.

Every evening we have been eating at the famous Lau Pa Sat Market. It was first built in 1824 as a fish market on the waterfront. It was then relocated to its present location in 1894 and currently houses over 80 food and drink stalls. It’s completely surrounded by modern skyscrapers so you can’t miss it!

On Saturday, it was cocktail time! At 11am we went to the iconic Raffles Hotel, specifically to Long Bar where the Singapore Sling cocktail was invented by a bartender in 1915.

Tasha opted for the classic Singapore Sling and I had the traditional Half Yard Tiger Beer. Included with your drinks was a bag of monkey nuts and as tradition it was encouraged to throw the shells on the floor.

Later that day, we went to see Marina Bay Sands Hotel. When it opened in 2010 it was the most expensive stand alone casino property at 8 billion SGD (£4.6bn). It’s also known as having one of the world’s longest elevated pools at 150m long.

At the base of the building is a huge shopping mall called The Shoppes with every designer brand you can think of. It even has the world’s first floating Apple Store and the world’s first Louis Vuitton Island Maison.

We had heard good things about the casino so headed inside for a little look around. With over 600 table games and 3,000 electronic game machines spread over four floors it was slightly overwhelming. However, when in Singapore! We headed to roulette machine and five minutes later we left with a smile on our faces!

Every evening on the marina is the Spectra Light & Water Show which is inspired by Singapore’s history, culture and future ambitions. It was truly spectacular.

On Sunday, we had a massive day out at Mandai Wildlife Reserve going to all five of the largest parks. We will be doing a separate blog in a few days covering everything we saw and did. It was very wild! Stay tuned…

Yesterday morning we went downtown to CapitaSpring which is a 280m skyscraper completed in 2021. Tasha found out online that you could book a time slot to visit the sky garden free of charge.

The main sky garden is on the roof of the 51st floor with panoramic views of the city. The view looking over Marina Bay was very pretty. It is home to the world’s highest food forest with over 150 varieties of plants for its restaurants.

You can also visit floors 17-20 which features an outside garden called Green Oasis.

As previously mentioned 9 months ago we wanted to visit the Jewel in Changi Airport as it’s the world’s tallest indoor waterfall. It’s supposed to operate everyday 10am-10pm however it was our unlucky day as it’s currently under cleaning maintenance. Maybe next time! However we were still able to explore the shopping centre which we weren’t able to last time as we were airside. It was nice to see the indoor greenery and designs.

On our last night we visited Garden Rhapsody at Gardens by the Bay. We stood directly under the Supertree Grove which is made up of tree like gardens that are up to 50m tall. Every night they change the theme of the show and we saw the ‘Garden Waltz’.

This morning we are up early to head over to our sixth country – Indonesia! We are sad to say goodbye to Singapore but we’re very excited for our own space again and giving our feet a well deserved rest.