Final day in Singapore

Hello all for the final time from Singapore,

Last night after I wrote, we went for a swim and then met my friend Vijay at 7pm. Dad had to go and meet Vijay as one of the lifts malfunctioned and Mum and I got stuck in a lift when trying to get back to the room! The lights went off and it was pretty scary. Thankfully it somehow went to level one, and a kind lady helped us back to the pool level where we ran into Dad.

We had drinks with Vijay at a restaurant along Boat Quay. The view was once again lovely, with the full moon shining brightly. Vijay is such a lovely person. We again chatted away, learning more about him and Singapore. Mum thinks it’s funny that Vijay’s Mum had him when she was 17, which is nearly the same age gap between Mum and her brother Ian. Vijay said he will try to come to Melbourne in November as his cousin is moving there. Fingers crossed we can catch up!

After drinks, Mum, Dad and I had dinner at a restaurant called Dumpling Darlings. The dumplings were delicious and we also enjoyed some noodles and a pineapple rum cocktail each.

Today was our last day. The last day of a trip is always weird, particularly when flying later in the day as we are. I always find that we’ve already done the main things we wanted to do, and you end up sort of wandering around looking at your watch. Nonetheless, we made the best of our last day. Mum and I left for a walk at 7.30am and did a huge 8km loop along the river and around Marina Bay, past the Merlion and Marina Bay Sands and finally walking a little inside Fort Canning Park. Because it was so early the temperature was perfect. We saw lots of other people running, walking and riding, as well as some men in boats going around to collect what little rubbish was in the river.

We were both surprised that all the tables and chairs for the restaurants at Boat Quay are just left out at night, and many restaurants weren’t even secured by a door with a lock. No way could you do this at home. I’m extremely jealous of how respectful of each other and of authority people are here.

As we got to Marina Bay, some government officials were flying the biggest drone we had ever seen. We also saw a man riding a bike with his parrot sitting on the handlebars, and enjoyed some water lilies just outside the Art Science Museum.

Once we got back, the three of us caught the train to the Vivo City shopping mall. We had some yummy local food in the Food Republic food court. I had Bak Chor Mee, which was a Singaporean noodle dish. Mum and Dad had some chicken dishes. We each had a juice again, mine was mango mixed with Yakult. Singapore is the only country in the world to have apple, grape and orange flavoured Yakult. This had grape Yakult in it and was delicious!

Mum and I did some shopping but didn’t buy anything (Rob will be proud!), and then we walked across the boardwalk to Sentosa Island. Most things on Sentosa are only open Thursday - Sunday due to the current circumstances, so it was strange to see the entrance to Universal Studios so empty, and the globe not turning.

We headed back to the apartment for a final swim and then packed up. We’ve somehow managed to fit all the rapid tests we have bought for family into our two cases between the three of us, as well as everything else we already brought with us. Not sure how we did it, but glad we did!! We then caught the train from Raffles Place to the airport, where we enjoyed Shake Shack for dinner (my favourite fast food place from the USA) and the Jewel shopping centre and waterfall. As with most things here, the train to the airport and the airport itself were very empty.

Thanks for following us on our adventure for the last ten days. Travelling overseas during this time obviously comes with its challenges. We’ve done nine Covid tests (three PCR and six rapid) each for this trip. We’ve had to wear a mask whenever we weren’t in the apartment. I’m grateful I found a way to wear one without aggravating my TMD. And prior to coming, we played Covid roulette every time we left the house, in constant fear of catching Covid and having to cancel yet another holiday. But we’ve had an absolutely fantastic time, and as it turned out, felt much much safer over here the last week or so than we would have at home (1000 a day vs 20-30,000).

It’s hard to describe, but I have never felt a sense of dread about going home like I have on this trip. Usually I’m sad to go home, but also excited to see friends and family and get back to exercise etc. I’m still really happy I’ll get to see Rob and Nan and Pa in the coming days, but we’ve been watching in horror from afar at what has continued to happen to Australia whilst away. I’ve always felt really proud to say I’m Australian when I’m overseas. It’s usually met with a smile or a tale about how the person I’m speaking with has family or friends there, or a question about kangaroos or spiders. But on this trip we instead found ourselves trying to explain how we live in the city that had the longest lockdowns in the world, which is now also a city in a country completely letting Covid rip without any adequate supports in place to help people test themselves and help our healthcare workers.

I don’t want to end on a negative, but I guess I’m feeling pretty disillusioned about Australia at the moment. Seeing how right Singapore is getting it, how meticulously they check vax passports (you can’t even go to the supermarket here without one!), how widely available tests are, how quick the results come back, and above all how 99.9% of people here respect and follow the rules, has made me view home in the current situation as being pretty disappointing. I hope everything improves soon. I wish our politicians had learned to stop bickering along the way and would work together to make things better.

So to end on a positive (note, not result!) thank you again for reading. This trip has been soul restoring after what has been a really crap two years, as I’m sure it has been for everyone. I hope I’ve brought a bit of a distraction and somewhat normality to your day if you’re isolating, or if you’re just feeling a bit down about the state of everything at the moment. I’m crossing all my fingers and toes that everything improves soon and we all have lots to look forward to. In terms of the blog, everything is crossed for our trip to Japan in April, but I’m not holding my breath. We’ve been lucky to have all sunny weather here except for two quick showers, so let’s hope it’s a 2022 omen!

Love to all
Claire
Xoxox

PS: I've attached some photos of interesting signs from throughout our trip to this post too. Some of them are some very lame encouragements for behaviour on the train!