westcoastprairiegirl

Armando and I went on our first ever Asian trip together this past November…Singapore, Myanmar and Thailand.  We fit so much in our 2 and a half weeks and although we took ten flights during that short time and spent hours in airports, we still saw and experienced so much.  I thought I’d share with you some of the highlights.

Armando wanted to visit this commercial capital and I wanted to experience the safest country in the world…first stop:  Singapore.

Singapore is known as the shopping mecca of Asia.  Malls, designer stores, escalators to more malls and stores.  A shoppers dream.  From luxury shopping on Orchard St and deals in Chinatown to everything under one roof at Mustafa’s Centre – I have never seen a store so large in my life!  They say it’s a shopping mall but it feels like one big department store….at 400,000 sq. ft.!!

Funny little moment was when we were in Chinatown, I was going on about how cheap everything was just as Armando overheard two girls talking about how expensive everything was compared to China.  Guess I need to visit China next!

We were happy to get out of the shopping district that surrounded our hotel and found an unexpected surprise at the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple.  As we walked through the temple we both felt a sense of happiness.  It seemed joyous and welcoming.  We both agreed that it was a stark contrast to the many Catholic churches that we’ve seen around the world that although magnificent, were dark and intimidating.   It was an unexpected surprise for a place to give us such good vibes.

So before our trip, my job was to research Singapore and come up with an itinerary plan.  I spent hours researching, colour-coding a map with routes and jotting down addresses.  To my dismay, when we arrived in Singapore I realized that I left all my research papers and maps on our coffee table at home.  Why-oh-why do I still do things old school?  We spent a good chunk of time searching the streets for the LOVE sculpture that I wanted to get a picture of.  With a bit of Team Elias effort, we found it:

Singapore has some really unique areas.  From Chinatown to Little India, Arab St. and Orchard Rd.  As you get off the Rapid Transit train, you feel like you are entering a new country with the change in sights, sounds, smells and people at each stop.  We loved touring the different areas of Singapore.

Next post is solely dedicated to foods of Singapore…my mouth is watering just thinking about it!