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I ended up spending a week in Singapore waiting for my Vietnam visa. The first day I was going to drop my passport off at the embassy, it was a public holiday, but I ended up getting my visa in time. Singapore was a fun city, but since they’re known for their shopping and eating (both of which are expensive hobbies in this city), it wasn’t the easiest city to be stranded in.
Here are a few things I did to occupy the long days in an expensive city (while not doing any of the many things you shouldn’t do in Singapore):
- There are malls on almost every block in Singapore… with air conditioning! Since my hostel did not have aircon, I spent a bit of time mall walking.
- Movie tickets in Singapore are cheap, only $7 SGD, which is about $5. So I saw three movies during the week. Including the new Indiana Jones on the day it came out, (which technically was the day before it came out in the US because of the time difference!). Oh, and interestingly, they have assigned seats here, so when you buy your ticket you look at the seat screen and pick what seat you want to sit in!
- Sentosa Island was such a tourist trap, but I wanted to go to the beach! I took the gondola over from Vivocity, went luging down to the beach, paid $14 for a mojito and $15 for a “sunbather” (beach chair), and then felt obligated to stay for several hours to get my money’s worth!
- Shopping on Orchard Rd. OK, I didn’t buy anything, I just browsed.
- Exploring the city. Even though it was sweltering hot out, I found myself wandering all over this town. After a week, I really had the MRT, bus and map down.
See you in ‘NAM!