The first stop on my quick 3 week around the world trip was in Singapore and the first thing I noticed as soon as I stepped foot off the plane was the heat and humidity. It is still winter in Australia so I was not prepared for the summertime weather that greeted me.
I stayed in Sleepy Sam’s Backpacker Hostel (near Little India/Arab Street) for the 2 nights I had in Singapore – I highly recommend it if anyone is going there anytime soon. The day and a half I had in this on this island/country/city-state was not nearly enough to time to explore everything I wanted to see, so I started with the basics. I went to the National Orchid Garden in the Singapore Botanic Gardens. With over 1,000 species and 2,000 hybrids found in the National Orchid Garden offers the largest display of orchids in the world. I went shopping on the Orchard Road and in Chinatown, where I also saw the Sri Mariamman Temple and Chinatown Lantern Carnival. I went on a bumboat ride on the Singaporee river from Boat Quay to Clarke Quay to see the Merlion statue. The Merlion is a statue with the head of a lion and the body. The fish tail of the Merlion symbolizes the ancient city of Temasek (meaning “sea” in Javanese) by which Singapore was known before the Prince named it “Singapura” (meaning “lion” (singa) “city” (pura) in Sanskrit), and represents Singapore’s humble beginnings as a fishing village.
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