I thought I’d write all of my days in Singapore in one big blog post!
I’d already written what I did on my first day but the second day was much more exciting!
Just kidding, it wasn’t at all.
I know alot of people are going to say I didn’t experience Singapore enough (Ecspecially people who read this that live there)
And I’ll give it to you, I really didn’t at all.
I even lied to the lady who did my nails and said that I went to the botanical gardens just so it seemed like I ventured outside a mall and experienced what Singapore had to offer.
I’m sorry nail technician, I lied to you.
My second, third and fourth day was spent all in the confines of an air conditioned mall.
Not the same one however, on my third day I mixed it up a bit and took the MRT to Orchard Road where they have like 4 malls and lots of fancy shops lining the street. Think Gucci, Chanel, Burberry etc… I didn’t tempt myself by going inside though. The security gaurd at the door knows I can’t afford it and so does ANZ.
My second afternoon in Singapore (I say afternoon coz we all know I slept in till like 12pm, I’m just trying not to confuse my body too much with these time zones.) Well that was spent at Bugis Junction again.
I even got pizza for dinner there and went to the grocery store. Did you know they have the same egg brands we have? And also they have watties frozen vegetable ‘fresh from New Zealand’
I could already feel that I was closer to home. 😌
I bought enough stuff to fill my bags right up. So much so that I couldn’t even zip them up anymore.
On my last day, I even went back to Orchard Road and went on the hunt for a bag from Forever 21. They usually always have a lovely selection of bags but when I went I wasn’t fond of anything!
I went to Victoria Secrets and was so close to buying a $140 bag but ended up dragging myself away and got an $80 one from Collette instead. I quite like it and it’s a bit bigger than my other ones so will be perfect for sleepovers! 😄
My last night was spent getting my nails done and getting my henna tattoo redone from these lovely girls on Bali Lane.
My arm looks scary pale in that photo haha. That’s what happens when you don’t fake tan in a week!
I also got pizza hut for dinner and sat by myself in the kitchen and ate it at my hostel.
I guess I wasn’t technically alone as there was others around but I did eat by myself 😐
My days in Singapore were relaxed. I did all the shopping I needed to do, slept in for how long I wanted and just chilled out watching Friends on the hostel TV.
I didn’t go to Universal Studios because I couldn’t stand the thought of waiting in the humidity in line (Ecspecially as I hadn’t met anyone to go with)
I didn’t see any gardens because as pretty as flowers are, I’d rather them be given to me then travel ages to go and look at a bunch of them.
There was lots of fog while I was in singapore so I didn’t really see the point of going on the flier if I couldn’t really see much anyways.
That’s my excuses for being a boring Singapore Tourist.
I think Singapore is a lovely place, I just would have enjoyed it more if I was with someone (as no one at my hostel seemed to speak English it was hard to make friends)
Plus I was at the end of my trip where I think I just stopped caring about doing anything. Is that bad to say?
I was never lonely, I actually quite like my own company and I seem to be very independent. I just couldn’t be bothered making plans with people or to make the effort to go out drinking at night.
This blog isn’t to say Singapore is lame, maybe it just wasn’t for me. But I’ve read online about many people who love it!
I’m just one little blogger in the sea of thousands 😄
I actually did something other than shopping today in Dubai!
Well that’s a lie, I went shopping around lunch time and bought some long skirts but I did go out in the afternoon haha.
I’d organised a Desert Safari Tour through desertsafaridubai.com
It cost me 205 AED which is $83 NZD so it wasn’t too bad in terms of price.
At 3.30pm I was picked up from my hotel by the tour leader in his 4WD.
I sat in the front seat (best views) and then we went to pick up 4 more people from the mall who was also on our tour.
The other people were 4 American guys who worked together on a boat that was currently in Dubai. They had some free time so booked the tour too!
We were driven about an hour out from central Dubai when we then stopped at a small convince store so our tour driver could deflate some air in the cars tyres. They do this so the 4WD’s tyres footprints increase and the 4WD doesn’t sink in as deep into the sand. There’s a lesser chance of getting stuck this way.
The rest of us grabbed a drink and some of the guys got a photo taken with this random bird thing someone was charging people for.
We had another 15 minute drive along Al Awir Road where we then pulled off to do some Dune Bashing. My Dad always did 4 wheel driving as I was growing up so it wasn’t super new to me but it was still fun. I’d never driven through desert hills before!
One of the guys in the car was not loving the bumpiness of the ride and proceeded to throw up half way through. 😵😷
Thankfully he got it in a bag and so we pulled over to let him have some fresh air. It was good timing though anyways as the sun was setting we got some good photos done.
Of course I had my selfie stick anyways and proceeded to take a million selfies in the the hopes that at least one would be good.
Once we’d taken all our snaps, we drove to the campsite where they had camels to ride and smaller quad bikes to ride around the sand.
The campsite was all set up with tables with a stage in the middle and food was being prepared for our dinner.
While we waited for our dinner, we lined up for the camel rides. To be honest, I wouldn’t have really called it a ride. More of a, hop on the camel, walk 4 meters, get your picture taken and then come back and jump off.
I’d ridden a camel when I was younger in Australia but I forgot how bloody tall they are. As soon as i hopped onto my camel he stood straight up when he wasn’t meant to (he was attached to 2 other camels by a long rope) so I nearly fell off him haha.
Like I’ve previously mentioned before, my phone is terrible at taking picture in the dark so I didn’t really get any. Apart from one below where I’m not even looking haha.
Once our short little camel ride was over, I got changed into something other than my Active Wear for dinner and sat down with a yummy plate of rice, curries and potatoes. It was a buffet style dinner and to be honest I don’t even know what I got given. I just accepted whatever the person at the buffet was offering onto my plate haha. It was quiet dark when we sat down to eat so I couldn’t even really see what I was eating 😦
We had a girl do some belly dancing while we ate and another guy do some dancing which was nice to watch.
I was disappointed we didn’t get dessert after our dinner but I guess you can’t please everyone… 😥
I really wanted to get a henna tattoo so thank god I remembered before we left.
I quickly went and got one done before it was time to go and I’m writing this blog 4 days later and it’s still on my hand. Yay.
Henna used to be used for cosmetic purposes in Ancient India and to this day Bridal Henna nights remain an important custom through India, the Arabian Peninsula and North Africa.
The henna refers to the dye prepared from the Henna Tree which ‘stains’ the skin and can end up making these really beautiful designs on our skin.
By around 9.30pm it was time to head home. We found our 4WD and drove home with a stop off to inflate the tyres again on the way.
I was feeling hot and sticky and sandy so it was ice cream, shower and bed for me when I got back to my hotel.
I’m glad I did the desert safari tour. It wasn’t too expensive, the only thing you had to pay for was alcoholic drinks if you wanted any and the quad bikes.
There are sooo many different companies that do this type of thing so I’d defintaly trip advise.com some if you were interested in doing it in Dubai.
Wow what a day!
I’m currently writing this while I wait for my bagel at this place called The Bagel Bar in the Dubai Mall.
This morning I set my alarm for 8.05am. Mainly because I didn’t want to spend money on breakfast and it was already included in my hotel price. And also I was thinking of taking the hotel shuttle to the beach for the morning.
Neither of these things ended up happening haha.
I snoozed my alarm as I was so tired (may have had to do with the late shopping last night)
And then fell back to sleep until nearly 9.30am. Woops.
Breakfast finished at 10am so unless I just went down in my pj’s then it wasn’t happening for me.
I turned my air con off when I went to sleep so I woke up all sweaty and in desperate need of a shower.
I washed my hair and put on a respectable long-ish skirt. (Long at the back anyways) and popped on a scarf thing I used as a shawl.
In Dubai it’s respectable to cover up your knees and shoulders but not everyone does it. Especially if you’re a foreigner and you’re just visiting. I like to think Dubai locals are understanding as it’s so freakin hot I couldn’t even wear pants if I wanted to!
Once that selfie was taken, I went across the road to The Mall Of The Emirates and had a frozen yogurt for breakfast with granola and strawberries.
(That was the only healthy thing I had today btw)
Then went outside to enquire about a sightseeing bus.
As my phone doesn’t have data here (apart from in certain stores and the hotel I’m staying in) It’s hard to get around without my Google maps.
Usually I’d take the metro or something around Dubai to explore but I figured I’d never done a hop on-hop off bus tour before so I’d do one in Dubai. Plus it’d be too stressful without my fave Google buddy to try and navigate myself😦
I bought a 48 hour ticket so it expires midday on Sunday (which is fine as I have a desert drive thing at 3pm on that day)
The ticket cost about $95 NZD which isn’t too bad I guess with the exchange rate.
My first stop I went to was Dubai Mall. Which I know sounds a bit lame as I just came from a mall.
But I just wanted to have a quick look to see how big it really was and figure out how much time I’d need there later.
Well “being quick” turned into 2 hours. My sightseeing ticket included The Aquarium at The Dubai Mall so I went and checked that out while I was there.
I thought it would be bigger than what it was (like more to see) but it was still interesting to look at if you like the Sea life.
I’m not a big fan of marine life. Unless it’s a cute dolphin or some baby penguins so I didn’t spend a lot of time at The Aquarium. However, there were some penguins I took photos of! 😙
When I was finished looking at all the seafood, I went across from The Aquarium to the very large and colourful candy store!
I was going to buy my brother some caramel popcorn but I knew it would just end up getting all crushed in my bag so I decided against it. I actually left the store with nothing which is a first for me!
This year I did 8 months without candy and I actually don’t feel like it as much as I always used to. 🍬🍭 so that’s a great thing!
I decided to get some lunch so headed upstairs to the food court.
And wow was i spoilt for choice! I can never make up my mind about anything because I’m scared I’ll get one thing and then end up wishing I got something else so this was hard for me 😯
Anything you could probably ever imagine wanting to eat was avaliable at the food court. And to think they still had a whole other level of restaurants in the mall was just crazy!
I ended up getting a Thai curry as I hadn’t had one in awhile.
I should have gotten something else though because myself and like 5 other people waited ages for our meal. I was standing there as 2 other people pretty much yelled at the counter worker because they’d been waiting for over half an hour for their meals.
Eventually I got my food and it wasn’t even worth the wait. 😧
Even though it does look pretty good in that picture, there just wasn’t enough flavour and spice for me.
I didn’t want it to get too late so I hopped on the next Sightseeing bus and headed off to see some more places. We passed Union House which is where the documents were created and signed which created the Arab’s world’s historic federation of the states (The UAE).
Then we passed the Jumeirah Mosque which is the only Mosque in Dubai open to the public. And one of the most photographed in the world.
I didn’t actually stop here, I think I assumed since it was a Friday it would be closed (as Friday in Dubai is like our Sunday)
We then went through Kite Surf Beach, Suqeim Public Beach and Burj Al Arab which is one of the most luxurious hotels in the world.
When you think of Dubai you usually think of this building.
Unfortunately I didn’t get the beeest picture of it because the sky wasn’t super clear but I tried!
The next stop I got off at was one of the many Souks Dubai has. A Souk is a traditional market where gold, jewellery, spices, textiles, womens garments etc… are sold.
It was nice to walk around the Souk I went to because it was kind of inside a small mall type area and it was nice and air conditioned! Haha.
Entrance to the Souk
Inside the Souk
Can I just say also, the amount of people that shop in Dubai is insane. There’s literally so many people coming to and from malls in their fancy cars and hoards of shopping bags. Do people not work??
I checked out Atlantis At The Palm after the Souk. It’s basically this amazing resort where I would absolutely love to stay at!!
I’ve looked into it before and it’s so bloody expensive I can’t believe I was even allowed to enter it without being told off for breathing in rich people’s oxygen.
It was the first resort to be built on The Palm back in 2008 and has 1,539 nautically Atlantis themed rooms. It also has two accommodation wings, also referred to as The Royal Towers which are both linked together by the Royal Bridge Suite. (That’s where you want to stay if you ever stay there! Haha)
It also has the Aquaventure water park and a beach called Nasimi Beach which frequently has concerts and other events. 😍
I checked out the mall downstairs when I was there but couldn’t really afford anything so left and waited for the next Sightseeing bus.
I ended my journey back at The Dubai Mall (the one 15 minutes from my hotel) as I wanted to watch The Fountain Show. The Fountain Show started at 6pm and goes every half hour after that. It’s the world’s largest choreographed fountain system set on the 30-acre manmade Burj Khalifa Lake which is right outside the Dubai Mall downstairs. It was built at USD $218 million and made by the same company that did the Bellagio Fountains in Las Vegas.
I didn’t actually get to see the fountains until about 7pm coz it took me forever to find them going through that great big mall. Plus I got distracted in Victoria Secrets along the way….
Eventually I saw them and it was really pretty to watch. Very very crowded though so I’d defiantly get there a bit earlier to be up the front if you ever went. Personally I didn’t want to stand outside in the heat so happily watched it from behind hundreds of people haha. The perks of travelling solo, doing whatever you want.
Update: I finished writing this blog when I got to my hotel
Once I finished my bagel that I was eating at the start of this blog, I decided it was probably time to head home so grabbed a taxi about 11pm.
Thank god I had some cash with me because the ATM wouldn’t accept my card when I tried to get money out. I think it’s because the magnetic strip had come off and it only had the chip so the ATM’s wouldn’t let it go into the machine. It that makes sense…
Anyways, cabs here don’t do card so I just had the right amount to take me back to my hotel!
(These were not the fountains by the way, these were other small fountains outside the front entrance)
When I got back, I went and got some ice-cream after putting all my bags down in my room. What a day of shopping I’ve had!
ThePassportPrincess 
