My friend Jamie and I have used the last few Friday evenings as a chance to explore Singapore. We usually start with a quick meal at the hawker center near her apartment and spend the next few hours wandering through a mall, a shopping district, a neighborhood, or simply running errands that we didn’t get to during the week.
This past Friday took us to Christmas Wonderland at Gardens by the Bay. While I don’t have many pictures, the several posted below hopefully give you a taste of the extravagance of this free (!!!!) and dreamlike Christmas land in the middle of the tropics.
It’s interesting that the theme colors aren’t red and green. These are the same colors that Singapore uses to celebrate Deepavali. Maybe they recycle?If Aladdin had a Christmas palace, I think this would be it.Supertrees in the background!I love the outline of the palm treetsOne of the biggest draws to any evening at Gardens by the Bay is a song-and-light show called Garden Rhapsody in which the supertrees essentially put on a light show set to music. For purposes of Christmas Wonderland, the music was Christmas-themed!
I’ve been to Gardens by the Bay a few times now (you can read previous posts here and here) and I enjoy them more each time. In a city that is so industrialized and often seems like a carbon copy of itself, an oasis like this is both necessary and extraordinary.
At the moment, I don’t feel like reading, I can’t get any TV episodes to load, and I’ve just been messaging a friend from college about her wedding this summer. At the moment the thought running through my mind is, “What the heck am I doing with my life?” (Small potatoes, I know. Yes, I’ve heard the news about California. Yes, I talked about it with my very concerned and frustrated students today.)
But in the spirit of honesty, I wanted to share that life overseas isn’t always temples, beaches, beautiful places, and tasty food. Sometimes, it’s really hard to be away. I’m not homesick, I’m just alone with my thoughts. There is a difference.
I begin to question my choices when I feel sort of blue like this. My life would be in totally different place if I were back in the US. It would be in a totally different place if my boyfriend were here. (Yes, I am insecure watching friends’ relationships move forward and mine remain 9,534 miles out of reach. Yes, I feel like I’m getting old.) There’s a void, a feeling of emptiness that rises every now and again; it’s a feeling I really don’t like.
So I’m going to stop talking about it. Instead, now that I’ve fulfilled my promise to myself to be an honest blogger, I’ll make myself a warm beverage, return to my book, and take comfort in knowing that I’ll feel better in the morning.
This trip was different than many others that I’ve taken, for several reasons. Firstly, it took place over Thanksgiving weekend, so it was a three-night adventure instead of a more typical weekend jaunt. Secondly, and more importantly, I met up with my friend Lucas (with whom I also explored Hong Kong back in March) and his friend from college, Mel, for the last hurrah of the backpacking trip they were making through Thailand. Finally, this was a beach vacation with no purpose other than playing at the beach. It has been a very long time since I’ve had one of those vacations, and I have all the sunburns to prove it!
Random building that I just loved
Lucas, Mel, and I chose to stay in Krabi Town so that we’d have quick access to an airport as well as a good jump-off point for a variety of water-related activities. We stayed at Pak-Up Hostel, met a ton of really cool people, and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
The bar at our hostel where we spent each evening
On our first night in Krabi, we walked through the night market, which contained the usual number of food stalls and stands selling other random items. My favorite, however, was a mobile library!
On Friday, we booked a kayaking tour of mangrove forests and sea caves, which was really neat. It took a bit longer to get to the kayak site than we’d hoped, but we couldn’t have kayaked in this area on our own. Unfortunately, most of my cave photos didn’t come out, but this is what we saw on our adventure:
It was pouring when we got back to Krabi, but tropical storms usually clear in a couple hours. This was no exception, and we took advantage of the blue skies to head to Railay Beach, known for rock climbing. As it had just rained, we didn’t see any climbers out and about, but we did see a truly stunning place.
Our water taxi ride to Railay gave us these views . . .
. . . and our time on Railay Beach left me in complete awe:
Despite getting caught in another torrential, terrifying storm on our water taxi back to Krabi, we headed to Aonang Beach the next morning to hire a longtail boat to take us island hopping.
Interior of our boatExterior of our boat, complete with captain
It took about an hour to get to the Hong Islands, and we stopped in three places to just enjoy our time on the beach. Our favorite by far was Hong Lagoon, our last stop. Lucas and Mel dove gracefully off the boat; I belly flopped painfully a couple times and then opted just to jump.
We could have visited a fourth island, but hunger got the better of us, so we chose to head back to Aonang to eat. We spent about an hour relaxing in some rented beach chairs before making our way back to Pak-Up for a much-needed shower.
This weekend in Krabi was absolutely amazing. The ocean is my happy place and I haven’t been to the ocean in a very long time. Maybe it was the 10-bed dorm room in the hostel, maybe it was meeting up with friends, or maybe it was my makeup case remaining untouched for the entirety of the trip, but I have never felt as free as I did over the past few days. That feeling was entirely unexpected, but I’m glad for it. Sunburn and all, I’d do it again in heartbeat.
Photos, travels, musings, and ideas on education by someone trying to make the world a better and more peaceful place
By Rebecca Michelle 