Singapore: From "The Prison" to the Skyline

3,000 kilometers later, we touched down in the tiny city-nation of Singapore. Stepping out of the airport, I immediately noticed a phantom limb sensation—something was missing. No honking. No traffic chaos. No layer of dust settling on my skin. Everything was impossibly clean. It was humid, sure, but the "India" had been scrubbed out of the air.

Our quiet taxi ride took us to the Mount Faber Park area, where Aditya’s sponsor had booked us at the Ibis Budget. Now, I’ve stayed at Ibis hotels before. After what we endured in Bangalore, I was practically expecting a palace.

We arrived in the middle of a classic Singaporean downpour. Honestly? I welcomed it. It was the first rain I’d seen since leaving the U.S. six months ago. But the welcome ended at the check-in desk. The process was a cumbersome, phone-only ordeal that is the last thing you want after a travel day. I also realized the staff was struggling with Aditya’s accent—despite him being fluent in English—so I found myself "translating" English to English just to speed things up.

Then we saw the room.

I’ve seen bigger walk-in closets. It was two single beds jammed together with zero walking space and no window. The bathroom was a "vertical efficiency" marvel: the toilet, shower, and sink were so stacked that you could literally shower while sitting on the toilet if you felt like multi-tasking. We dubbed it "The Prison." On the bright side, a room that small ensures you don't waste a second of your vacation inside it.

Finding Bourdain in Chinatown

The next day, we set out with no plan, which is our favorite way to travel. Mount Faber Park turned out to be a stunning jungle-in-the-city, filled with chickens (they are everywhere here, not just the parks). We hiked up to Mount Faber Peak for some skyline views, then took the cable car over to Silooso Beach so I could put my feet in the Singapore Strait.

For lunch, I went full travel-geek mode. I’m a huge Anthony Bourdain fan. If he went there, I’ve watched the episode, read the book, and marked it in my world travel guide. We hopped on the incredibly easy-to-navigate Metro and headed to the Maxwell Food Centre in Chinatown.

It was the Lunar New Year (Hello, Year of the Horse!), and the streets were a riot of red and gold. We hunted for Bourdain’s famous chicken rice stall, but here’s the reality of hawker centers: when they run out of food, they close. Being famous means they run out fast. We improvised—Aditya grabbed his beloved fresh coconuts and glass noodles, while I tackled a pepper-chicken teriyaki dish.

We spent the afternoon wandering through luxury malls, feeling like "The Prison" was a lifetime away. Singapore’s architecture is breathtaking; even the Apple Store and Louis Vuitton sit right on the water at Marina Bay. We found the "Merlion," which was... fine? A bit unimpressive in person, but you have to check the box.

The Rainbow and the Influencers

While waiting for the fountain show at Marina Bay, the sky gave us a gift: a perfect rainbow silhouetting the Marina Bay Sands (the iconic hotel that looks like a ship on stilts). We shared the moment with a solo female traveler, exchanging the favor of taking "rainbow-proof" photos for each other.

Aditya and I share a very specific sense of humor when it comes to the absurdity of "influencer culture." We sat and watched a couple spend forty-five minutes—no exaggeration—taking the same pouting photos, completely blocking the walkway for everyone else. It makes me wonder about the balance of it all. Most of my work is online now, but seeing it in the wild like that makes me want to put the screen away and just look at the water lilies. Which I did.

Upgrading to the Skyline

Once the teaching contract was up, we escaped "The Prison" and moved to the Yotel on Orchard Road.

This was the polar opposite of our first room. Not only did we have a window, but the entire bathroom was a floor-to-ceiling glass pane overlooking the city. We spent the rest of the trip in a daily debate over whether the office workers in the skyscraper next door were getting a free show every time we showered. We closed the blinds, just to be safe.

I settled into a routine: a morning workout on the jungle stairs at the park, followed by an iced oat milk latte at a local Japanese coffee shop while I knocked out my neuroscience coursework.

We leaned into the high-fashion atmosphere of Orchard Road. I don’t come from a world where I can actually shop at these places, but my inner Carrie Bradshaw was screaming at the Christian Louboutin heels that looked like ballet pointe shoes. I even oggled the Manolo Blahnik store (hello, Lover). I might have to pick up a Vogue and actually learn about this high fashion world. Why not?

The High Life

We celebrated our final night at LeVeL33, the world’s highest urban microbrewery. The views of the harbor were incredible, even when the afternoon rain blurred the skyline. I tried an espresso martini stout—perfectly hitting that current espresso martini craze.

And before anyone asks: "But Sarah, you don’t drink?" Actually, I do when the company and the setting are right. It’s no longer a stress-response; it’s a choice. But that’s a topic for another blog.

We wrapped up the night walking through the Gardens by the Bay, watching the "Supertrees" glow against the night sky.

The trip ended with me leading a coaching session for my clients back home. My "office"? A makeshift desk made of a luggage bench balanced over the toilet in our hotel room, suitcases stacked high to get the camera angle right. The backdrop was a multimillion-dollar city skyline.

That’s how I roll. I take whatever the world gives me—prisons, bucket showers, or luxury skylines—and I make the absolute best of it.

Next up: Malaysia.