As a child, I remember seeing a travel brochure — or maybe it was an advert in the newspaper — about ‘a holiday in Singapore’. Only a couple of decades or so later, I had the chance to live the experience đ
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Day 0: To avoid dozing off after a 15-hour plane ride, I took a quick (and jet-lagged) stroll through Little India. Nearly Diwali time, the sights were worth it, and so was the daylight that kept me awake for a few more hours!
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India in Singapore felt eerily like India in India đ The vendors, the crowd, the colours, and most of all, the warm weather! Ah, I so didn’t miss the cold of California!
Day 1: “You’ll get the best currency exchange rates from vendors in Chinatown”, the concierge tells me while giving a double thumbs-up. To Chinatown then!
A titbit about myself: I can get lost despite having a map in my hand.
How do the people who work in shops here not know about the HOHO (hop-on hop-off) bus?? They must see it everyday, no? Anyway, after unsuccessfully trying to locate the stop, I decided to walk it out. My disability of reading maps and directions led me to a nice jaunt around town.
The first thing one notices about this city-state-country is the incredibly efficient use of available space. The roads, shopping malls, office & residential buildings, hotels, bridges, all sitting tidy in their places. The second thing is the general cleanliness here… heck, the eye doesn’t see a single stray piece of paper lying around!
Numerous sights- and sounds-filled Chinatown made me forget about lunch completely!

But wasn’t gonna set foot out of “Singapoor” without gorging on one of the specialities, right? So, what time was it? đ¤¤

What a lovely coincidence to find your friend/former roommate now living & working in the same country that you choose to frolic and have fun in! đ Meeting, greeting, chatting, getting nostalgic, eating, and of course, desserting… all happened at and around THE iconic, Merlion Park.


And thus, at 28,000 steps, I decided to call it a Day 1 đ
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Day 2:Â All freshened up from the night’s sleep and all warmed up to Singapore, my eyes were set on viewing the city all at once… and what better than a panorama from a viewing deck? I accidentally entered the Marina Bay Sands hotelâthrough an accidentally open doorâwhere the entry was restricted to guests only. I had to walk through the entire lobby to get to the ticketing office for the viewing deck. Wellll… what do you do? Just put your swag on <and pray that you don’t get caught>!
Oooh! Lovely views from up top!
I had read somewhere that on a clear day, one can see the neighboring countriesâMalaysia and Indonesiaâat a distance. Thus followed a fun (and futile) experiment by the geographically-challenged girl đ
And then some views from below…
The second thing planned for the day was Gardens by the Bay. Awe-just-inspiring!! Cloud Forest, where clouds appear three times a day đ, and Flower Dome sounded tempting enough.
Need I say more? đ
Moreover, ask me how was the walk to the Gardens? Well, it was another huge garden! Pretty impressive views! đ
And so wrapped up Day 2 with a warm and taaaangy Laksa, at nearly 47,000 steps.
Day 3: The day before my onward journey, I decided to take it slow. And since I’m that person who cannot get enough of flowers, the Botanic Gardens seemed like the perfect destination.
Alas, it was such a hot day that I had to cut my flower mania short and retreat. Stopped at a shopping mall on my way back, got hopelessly lost in that maze (again), had a bite, and came back to base camp. A quick drink of tea, and I discovered that the closest post-office would be open till 7 pm! Thus began another trek, to the post-office and back again. Yes, I did take the wrong roads and ended up walking more than I needed to đ Nowww the idea behind the title of this post is unfolding, eh?
An ice cream treat to compensate for the loss of calories concluded the day at nearly 61,000 steps.
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Day 4:Â All packed, checked-out, and luggage left with the lobby staff, exploring the little lanes and by-lanes seemed like a good relaxed activity to undertake. The HOHO dropped me right by Haji Lane, which is one of the recommended picturesque places to see. And it was!
What happened after that was pretty straightforwardâcollect luggage, go to the airport, wait, wait more, and board your plane.
Having splurged only on postcards, two fridge magnets, and a small maneki neko, and being left with only a few coins in change (hint: pretty good estimation of how much currency was needed to be converted đ), but a lot of lovely memories, I am quite happy to have undertaken this fun, seamless tripâgoing around in a beautiful country in 70,000 steps!
Rule #1 of travelingâ don’t even think of answering questions that contain the word “plan?”
Sanhita Baruah