All work and no play makes Arien a very dull girl. I really needed a proper holiday, and any short holiday will do. As a very student-y college student on a budget, I decided to go to Singapore, the closest, easiest, and most affordable place to be called my holiday nirvana. I had five of my best girls coming with me to the shopping mecca; Cantika, Claudia, Natasya, Tika and Winandya. It was a really short trip. I've been to Singapore several times with my family, and three or four days was boring enough, but with these girls, I think I could handle a two weeks trip in the land of mixed cultures. It was probably one of the best trips I've ever taken, and really, I think it was marvelous. The trips to Singapore with my mum was always all about the shopping; she's been there several times for work and she'd seen a lot of places so she never took me but with these girls, everything was just so new and memorable. The four days trip got me some of my own highlights of the day, and I'm gonna tell you a bit of the highlights.
We welcome ourselves to Singapore by observing the night life
Day 1: Clarke Quay
What's the best cure for traveling with a delayed flight? Traveling with your best friends! Since I'm not really a night person, I don't know if Clarke Quay is the centre of Singapore night life or something of that sort, anyway we don't really sit there and hang out; we took pictures instead, and since we just landed that very night, the pictures might be lousy, and you can't see a lot of people there but I'm telling you, walking through that particular bridge gave me the creeps as if I just came into the wrong party where only white, crazy and drinking people were invited. I looked like I was going to school that night. Sigh.
So much for a hillbilly pose after a long, money-draining shopping spree
Day 2: Wicked The Musical
Cantika, Winandya and I decided to take a stroll and spend some shopping spree at the malls in Orchard, while the three other girls were hitting the Universal Studios Singapore. I tried to find a proper dress to catch Wicked at the Marina Bay Sands Grand Theatre later that night, but I failed. I went crazy at the stores that haven't opened in Indonesia, and the rest is, well, history. I felt like my wallet had some kind of demon that eats plastic because my money was drained in no time! That's what happens when you're a girl who gets so easily distracted with new things. You'd forget what you came up there for, was it for the holiday or the shopping?
Ozians
Anyway, after a long, tiring and money-draining shopping, we got back to the hotel to clean up and try to look as pretty as girls in budget holiday could be. At the end of the day, no one wants to look like a fucking beggar watching a musical in Marina Bay Sands, right? We took the train to Marina Bay, and with all the power of our smart-ass-ness we got to the theater on foot. That's something you can't do in Jakarta, though; you can't survive a ten minutes walk in a dress, without getting some really annoying shout out from the street workers. Well, not knowing is a gift. None of us had ever been to the Marina Bay, and we just kind of use our smart-ass-ness to find the Grand Theatre by walking through the gigantic, posh shopping mall and casino completed with sophisticated bars everywhere, and there we were! The three of us was astounded by the place we came to, like it was just simply impossible that we were ever there! What are we, a bunch of teenagers on a budgeted short holiday, doing at The Grand Theatre?! I have never seen a musical before; never been to Marina Bay Sands; and never, ever, seen such a beautiful place that costs me quiet some fortune for sitting at the top tier and the very last row. Anyway, it was worth it though. We couldn't see the facial expressions of the actors, but we'd see pretty much everything that was necessary. I didn't know a lot about Wicked, and after the two and a half hours show, I was obsessed with it. Elphaba and Fiyero would be my new romantic icons. I can't get over the fact that I wanna re-watch The Wizards of Oz now, since it's been some time. At the beginning of this blog, I wrote about how that movie was played on repeat so many times in my childhood, and I loved the young Judy Garland with the red, sparkling shoes. After the show, we decided that we didn't have the energy to walk ten minutes to the train station back to our inn, so we'd take the taxi and without knowing where exactly to find a cab, we power-walked to the taxi stands and the queue was... rad. The taxi, as we'd all know it, was pretty pricey, but who cares? We'd just seen Wicked! Live! And it was not even the original cast!! I promised myself that someday, when I'm awfully rich, I would sit front row to see one of these shows live. I just had to promise myself that. Please remind me that again 20-30 years from now?
Day 3: All The New Places
We didn't look as though we just hit the USS or Wicked last night, eh?
"You're gonna need a bigger boat!" -Jaws
From my previous Eurotrip I have learned something: I love cruising on a boat. And that's just exactly what we did, and I really liked it. That's a very touristy thing to do, and even though it was Singapore, not necessarily Seine or Thames, it was really cool. All the six of us went to see the Merlion right across the Marina Bay Sands, where we took off the train from Clarke Quay and walk along the Riverwalk all the way through the Merlion Park. There are closer stations, but I'm actually glad we didn't take them because the Riverwalk was such a pretty sight, and besides, it feels a little like walking along the Rive Gauche, or at least that's the closest that I can feel as though I was in River Gauche. The Merlion Park, like every other landmarks in the world, was full of tourists with cameras and cute poses, and I have to say that it was fun, because finally, a place where acting like tourist is not so lame because so was every other people in that place is. From there, we walked through all the skyscrapers to take another train to Chinatown, where we're supposed to have lunch. None of us was familiar with the place, so we tried to find something to eat at the most obvious place the station can lead us to: The Hong Lim Food Centre. The site was under so much construction that we had to ask a stranger, a somewhat very nice Chinese man, that showed us the way to food centre. He was going the same way, though. But still it was nice to know that people in Asian countries are still really nice and friendly. As it turns out, The Hong Lim Food Centre was paradise... for people who eats pork. For those who don't, like the majority of me and my friends, it was a bit of a dull place. There was only one kiosk by a Malaysian couple that cooks halal food, and judging from the queue, I think there's a lot of people who didn't know how rare halal food in Hong Lim Food Centre is. Anyway, after Chinatown, we moved along to Farrer Park, where we paid a visit of one of the craziest store I know, Mustafa Centre. From the site that's full of Chinese people selling traditional medicines made of bats and special herbs, there we arrived at the place so over-populated with Indian and Pakistani men and women with their peculiar culture and food and colors... and odors. Unlike mothers, we didn't buy too much from the Mustafa Centre, but then we got back to put our shopping bags down at the inn and rest our tired feet and later that night, we went separate ways again.
The only thing missing, is someone staring at the same painting for me to fall in love with
The Wicked girls went to see the Singapore's Arts Museum, while the other three was catching up with the two other museums in the other side of town (or country...) The art museum was my very first experience too. I only came there because of the free admission every Friday nights, actually... Well, the fact that we love to see some arts helps, too. The minute I saw the building, I was amazed. But as soon as I stepped foot inside, I was, again, astounded by it. There was a collector's exhibition of some sort, and the guests looked extremely rich and cool, like the kind of people you see in a high society magazine. The art was so cool... Some are haunting, some are jaw-dropping, others are like eye candies... But my favorite would have to go to the one called Chapel by an artist named Li Hui (just in case you wanna Google him). His art was one dark room with red lasers from one side of the ceiling reflected by a mirror at the centre of the room to the other side of the ceiling, completed with crosses hanging around the walls. The second we stepped in, we felt like in a Cathedral. This is the place where I think we met the artist. No, seriously. And I really liked his art, had I known any better if it was really him, I'd probably shake his hands and take a picture with him or something. He saw Winandya took a photo under the red laser, and then he gestured for us to move under the red rays in some certain position, and he directed how we're supposed to pose, but then he walked away somewhere. I have to say, his direction gave us a better quality picture, and if he was really the artist, it's no wonder. Of course he'd know the best way how to enjoy his art, eh?
The ray of red lights in the "Chapel" by Li Hui
From there, all the six of us gathered together at Chijmes. It's another eatery for the rich and the richer, I guess, because I couldn't afford the menu, but the place looks really quirky, though. And from there, we decided to have some ethnic dinner back at Farrer Park, and treat ourselves some really spicy Biryani rice with chicken and lamb. Because where else would you eat so many rice with so many spices, all served up in a tray?!
I don't care if we look like K-Pop fans. He looks and smells hot
Day 4: Abercrombie & Fitch & I'm such a spendthrift
Our last day in Singapore, the room where we've been staying was a hot mess from excessive shopping and disarranged stuffs. After a very tiring packing, where I just realized that I have lost my incredible packing skills (sigh) together we went on a very last minute stroll around Orchard Road to use up the money we had left... or at least that was me. The first place we went to was, of course, the hottest new store in Southeast Asia: Abercrombie & Fitch! The store smells like a really sexy guy just sprayed his entire body with a really sexy cologne after a long day at the gym. No, seriously. The guy standing at the front door says it all. And the shirtless male model whose job was to take pictures with the ladies (like us) and kiasu passerby wanting to have their picture taken with some hot, unknown guy? He says everything we can tell from the store. Just like the one in London, everything in there was not fashionable and overpriced. It's like, only the Jersey Shore cast would actually spend their money in that kind of store. Really, their male t-shirts are only for the guys with muscles and to be honest with you, I don't know if it's the Alessandro from summer 2008 effect, but Abercrombie always smells and looks so... Italian. Alessandro could totally make a good addition to the Jersey Shore ensemble. Or Andrea. Anyway, nobody bought anything there. We're not the Asian version of Snooki and we don't like the Mike Sorrentino kinda guy. So we moved along to buy some cute shoes for low prices, and after that, The three Wicked Girls, also known as the biggest spendthrift in the entire holiday, were off to do what they did best: shopping. Uniqlo kills, I'm telling you. Or actually, the demon inside my wallet was named Uniqlo. Or H&M. Or Sephora. Anyways. Thank God for Singapore's new regulations about the 7% tax refund for foreigners, which was simple and easy, unlike the tax refund policy in European countries. I can't tell you... just like I can't bear the feeling to remember how much we spent for shopping, or how unhealthy strolling around the Orchard road can be, but honestly, even if without the intense retail therapy, this would still be the best holiday I had with the friends I love. And it's really something I've never done before.
P.S. I only put here my favorite (and available) pictures. Anyone not pictured or not looked so good in them is merely about natural coincidences.
