Eat, pray and love. You all must be thinking “Oh my god!! Not another blog because of that movie”. I know I am not the first to say that this movie inspired me. It’s a universal fact that almost everyone who love traveling are partly inspired by it. But there is no rule that each one’s inspiration should be unique. So, what is so inspiring in that movie? Well, Liz was literally suffocating from everything in her life and travelling relieved her from that suffocation. She was finally able to breathe. AND… she had 49 stamps in her passport. 49! While my passport was literally EMPTY and happily sleeping in my cupboard.
So, after months of dreaming… still dreaming… and just dreaming, I finally decided to get my first stamp on my passport. Yes! I am talking about my first international trip with my friends in the year 2016. It was also my first trip from my “hard earned money”. I don’t want to brag too much, but still it’s my money. And where did I go?! SINGAPORE …
Merlion
Many say that unplanned trips are always the best. I do not disagree. But that’s not exactly what happened in my case. It was perfectly planned trip but planned so quickly. Like everything in a month. Including getting permission. Parent’s approval??! Well that’s how it still is in some of our Indian families. At least for the first time.
Our checklist was covered without any big hurdles. Like Itinerary? Check! Flights and accommodation? check! Shopping …?? Double Check!! Oh, and Visa? obviously check!
3 days before our trip, I fell sick. Awesome right?! Anyway, the departure day finally arrived! All bags packed and ready to go… After 4 hours and 45 minutes, we finally landed in Singapore!! Yay!! It was Halloween month also Deepavali (Indian festival) was around that time of the year. Wherever we turned, there was celebration mood. Streets of Little India was beautifully decorated with amazing lights for Deepavali.
Little India
After check-in, we went straight to night safari. Singapore night safari is the first nocturnal open-air set zoo in the world. One gets to see most of the Asian animals like Asian elephants, lions and tigers and different types of leopards. They also conduct cultural performances for tourists like creatures of the night show and Thumubuakar performance (fire show).
Night safari
On our second day, morning we were at the Orchard road. Orchard road is the most popular upscale shopping area where you can find almost all international brands. Obviously, I did not buy anything, but I really enjoyed my window shopping. We had lunch in one of those many themed cafes available at Orchard road. In the evening we went to the Singapore Flyer. Our ride was after sunset and it was approximately for about 30 minutes. We were able to see the entire Marina Bay and the view was breathtaking in the bright city lights. The best time to take the ride, I would say either during the sunset or after sunset. After our Flyer ride, our next stop was Clarke quay. It is located on the banks of Singapore River. During the daytime quay is a place with wonderful colonial-era architect and after dusk, you will be surrounded by its famous nightclubs and the parties lasts till late night.
View from Singapore Flyer
Next day it was time for our trip to the Universal studio. Since it was Halloween month, we had booked an extended ticket so that we could also go for the Halloween themed rides and watch the Halloween parade in the night at the Studio. Until 5.30pm the studio operated as usual with their movie themed rides (Shrek, Jurassic Park, The Mummy, Transformers, Madagascar etc.). There are few rides that I really enjoyed and should be ‘a must try’ if you like roller coasters: Revenge of the Mummy (underground roller coaster ride), Cylon Vs human (try the Cylon) and transformers 3D battle ride. After 6 pm Universal studio completely transformed itself into a haunted theme park with many spooky rides. At 12 am was the death parade which was literally mind-blowing. We finally ended our day with nice hot margherita cheese pizza. Yum!!!
Universal Studio
Last day of our trip was a lazy day… We just roamed around Singapore. Had our breakfast in Little India, did some shopping in China Town and had an adventurous lunch at a local restaurant. Another thing I loved the most in Singapore city is their metro. The entire city is well connected by the metro lines which made our travel even easier. Evening, we roamed around Marina Bay, took enough number of pictures. Finally, we went to Marina Bay Sands Casino. Not to gamble but just to go inside and have a look, since we’ve never been to a casino before. All we had to do was show our passport and enter because entry was free for tourists. The first word came into my mind as soon as I entered the Casino was HUMUNGOUS… The place was so huge with great ambience. After an hour or so we had our dinner and we were returning back to our hotel room. The day had finally come to an end and so did my trip. Next day morning we were retuning back to India with few cute souvenirs and lots happy memories.
China Town
And that… is the story of my first international trip. Travelling makes us experience different challenges, get different perspective. But travelling need not have to be a trip to another country, it could also be a short trip inside the country. I began to like experiencing all of this and that’s when I decided to make at least one trip every year. Now, eager to share my travel stories…
One stamp down, still many more to go…
Destined to be Globetrotter 
👌🏼👌🏼👌🏼👌🏼
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