Here’s how I spent my final backpacking weekend in Singapore…

We arrived in Singapore at 8.50am, tired but raring to go for our last weekend backpacking before we head back to the UK. We hadn’t heard much about Singapore, just that it was very expensive… in comparison to Thailand and Indonesia anyway. I guess we were prepared for it to be expensive and so had budgeted to allow for it.

We arrived at the airport, and made our way down the escalators to the MRT, to which you can draw a parallel to the London Underground. I felt like I was back home already! London really should invest in some of the floor arrows for getting on/off the tube, and the carriages are also much more spacious and new. What’s more, the route line is electronic so it lights up according to which station you are at/approaching. Take that London.

We had heard also about the cleanliness of Singapore due to the high fines for littering.

Where did we stay for our weekend in Singapore?

We had been paying no more than £6 a night for accommodation throughout our whole trip and for what we had got in the rest of Asia, here would cost about £60. So, putting our trust once again in Google, we headed to a hostel called City Backpackers Singapore.

It was THE most basic accommodation we had stayed in, but it was more than adequate to sleep in, which is all we intended to do in this space. We paid 65 dollars for the night between us which was about £16 each. It took us a while to actually accept the room and the price, as we were not used to paying this much for a room. I know that back home that would be silly cheap for city accommodation, so after snapping out of our £5 a night mindset, we walked up to the top floor to our room. No lift. About 200 steps. After 9 weeks without the gym, we felt it.

My weekend in Singapore in photos…

A memory: ERP: Singapore’s electronic road pricing system.

Now this isn’t usually something I would know about, however this time last year I was studying this in preparation for my A2 Economics exam. I can remember sitting in front of pages and pages of notes/text books with a blank page in front of me, trying to think how to start the essay.
When I look back then and look at where I am now, I feel so lucky. My life has changed so much in a year; now I’m on the other side of the world, I can look at it for 5 minutes and then continue with the rest of my carefree day…

A memory: Where’s Leanne?

Applying tiger balm… again!

Spot the difference…

After a day sightseeing, admiring the view from the Marina Bay Sands rooftop pool, and refusing to spend our pennies on Singapore transport we got back to our little room and had a little lie down, restoring energy to experience Singapore’s nightlife later that evening. But again drinks are not quite the prices we were used to, so like the travellers we are we headed to the supermarket to purchase our goodies.

Where did we go out in Singapore?

The hostel receptionist was minding his own business having a YouTube session. In I went and promoted my covers… standard procedure.

Then we headed to London Bar, Boat Quay.

Our last night in Singapore and of our 9-week adventure… the time had come.

We had both packed one nice dress and had it quite literally shoved at the bottom of our backpacks before we left the UK, and there it had stayed until tonight.

From saving our pennies and living life in Singapore like university students, we had enough left to go somewhere nice for a drink and see off our travels in style. We hadn’t had access to hair dryers/straighteners/perfume/make up/heels, any of your typical girly stuff since we had been in the UK, and we still had to make do without. But even so, wearing a dress and generally an outfit that hadn’t been worn 100 times over, made us feel a million dollars. Even if we didn’t quite look it, we felt it.

There are 3 popular rooftop bars in Singapore that we were told about: Kudeta, Level 33 and 1 Altitude (which is where we ventured to).

It stands at 282 metres making it the highest rooftop bar in the world and also boasts a 360° view.

On a Sunday it costs 25 dollars to go up there, which included a drink from a selected menu. Usually this means one of the less popular less yummy drinks. But we couldn’t have been more wrong. This mojito was honestly the yummiest, freshest one I have ever experienced. And yes it was an experience.

After a mojito, a glass of rosé and a cosmopolitan, the elegance and maturity were extremely hard to keep up. It would seem we experienced one last high altitude moment. Funny that; the bar is called Altitude.

We thought we were high when we were at the top of Marina Bay Sands, but you can see it all the way down there (3 consecutive building blocks with a bit boat sat on top).

As our weekend in Singapore came to an end, we sat looking over this breath taking view and reminisced over the past 9 weeks. I honestly cannot put into words the adventures we have been on and the experiences we have had. But the memories alone are enough to last me a lifetime.

All I can say is, if you haven’t travelled, travel. I am a really ‘homey’ person and this has been the best decision I have ever made.

..as the doors closed in on our time in South East Asia, we headed to McDonald’s and finished our backpacking adventure in true traveller style. We sat on the steps on the harbour front and admired the twilight view of Singapore from ground level, before heading home for a good night’s sleep to make the most of the last day before take off the following evening.

Time to say goodbye…

After the most beautiful last day in Singapore, the sun began to set and it was time to make my way back home. Leanne was staying an extra night and so we said our farewells at the MRT station.

Back home Leanne lives in Newcastle and I’m down south, so we can’t live in each other’s pockets like we have done the last 9 weeks, even if we wanted to.

It kind of felt surreal that we were going home. It feels like this is my life now.

A lot of people say ‘back to reality’ but the truth is, this is a reality. You could easily live out here and make money to be comfortable if that’s the life you wanted to have.

The idea is very tempting and this is most definitely only the start of my travels. But for now, I love my life at home and I have dreams to get home to pursue. Luckily time is on my side and I have the rest of my life to cure my wanderlust.

Anyway, we have just had the best 9 weeks of our lives, what on earth have we got to be sad about? (Apart from saying goodbye to each other.)

That really does officially draw the line under our South East Asia adventure. But my oh my, there are many more adventures to come…

Where were your favourite places in Singapore? I’d love to know!

Love as always and happy adventuring,