Revisiting Singapore: Sentosa

[Having been back in Singapore for two weeks, I’d decided to squeeze in as many friends, and sights I’ve missed, in my itinerary. And I’ll be journalling some of these places here. My bulkier camera was left in Shanghai and photos were only snapped using my phone this trip. So, forgive the photos.]

One thing about Singapore that foreigners love and locals hate is that it’s summer all year round. The sun is always felt if not seen, rain or shine, the heat lingers, and the air remains humid.

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Revisiting Singapore: Arab Street

[Having been back in Singapore for two weeks, I’d decided to squeeze in as many friends, and sights I’ve missed, in my itinerary. And I’ll be journalling some of these places here. My bulkier camera was left in Shanghai and photos were only snapped using my phone this trip. So, forgive the photos.]

Arab Street is pretty known to the younger locals, but still not the most talked about among travellers. Tourists often overlook this place altogether when they’re short of time. When travellers do talk about it though, they often mention the majestic Sultan Mosque, or the little souvenirs they managed to buy from the little Persian lane stores, or an expensive unique dress from a boutique store run by homegrown designers. Those who stay at night, see a totally different face to this little area.

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Singapore: Mellben Seafood

I’m back for a short visit, and have been trying to fulfil as much of my local cravings as possible. Yes, food is always a highlight in Singapore. One on my list is a locally prepared crab. There’re lots of big-named seafood restaurants in Singapore but Mellben is one I’d heard so much about but had yet to try. (Yes, pretty slow). So yesterday evening, my best friends and I headed for the original outlet in Ang Mo Kio.

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Hangzhou: Lingyin Temple & Longjingcun

On our second and final day in Hangzhou, we hired a taxi for 3 hours to explore some of the mountains west to our hotel, for a bit. On map, it looked fairly near to walk from our hotel, but in true fact, they were not. They are mountains, after all. Also, fearing we might not have enough hours before having to make our way back to the train station, the taxi seemed our best bet. We got a nice driver who drove a “London Taxi” styled cab who charged around 60 yuan per hour (quite worth the money especially when splitting it per passenger). The drive up took us barely 15 minutes, whereas walking would have taken over an hour.

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