After 6 months backpacking through Southeast Asia, we had visited already 9 different countries. There was only one place left on the list in order to have seen a big chunk of this region before heading back home: Singapore.

Singapore, as many often confuse, is a country (not city) located southeast of west Malaysia, and it is certainly very small. In fact, it almost feels more like a big city. We spent three whole days exploring this grand city, and also enjoyed a lot the delicious gastronomy that is heavily influenced with Chinese food.

Eating delicious and considerably cheap meals in Singapore is made possible by the food-courts found on almost every corner and even inside the most expensive malls. We were practically “food-court hopping” every day, having tasty meals from Chinese beef kway teow soup to Korean bibimbap. As you can find cuisines from almost all nearby countries, we made sure to savor our favorite plates one last time before not having these tasty dishes around, including also our all-time favorite Vietnamese pho, bun bo, and Indian roti. Mmmmmm… we will miss these flavors!

Aside eating, we also strolled around in some charming neighborhoods, especially loving Chinatown and the Telok Ayer area. There was one wonderful little street after another with colorful colonial houses and tastefully decorated shops and restaurants. The neighborhood was very well maintained with perfectly painted houses and very clean streets, something we were not as used to seeing in Southeast Asia.

The view of the skyline was most definitely a very privileged one. Just a few hundred meters across to Marina Bay one had a perfect view onto the skyscrapers of Singapore. Marina Bay has a collection of luxurious buildings, including the overwhelming Marina Bay Sands Building. The building hosts a very fancy hotel, a shopping mall, and casino whose inside seems almost like a city. We have to admit that all of this impressed us due to the extreme luxury and very modern and beautiful architecture.

The Marina Bay Sands Hotel (composed of three massive towers) is crowned by a giant boat-looking structure, which hosts one of the most spectacular infinity pools in the world, with a perfect view over the skyline. Although we were not allowed to swim in the pool as it is reserved only for hotel guests, we made sure to go up to take a few pictures and enjoy the view.

The shopping mall was connected to the hotel with an underpass. It had one super-size designer store after another with a wonderful boardwalk in front from where we watched quite an impressive lights and water show at nighttime with the skyline as an ideal background.

About the casino… well it is quite something!! We spent a good hour weaving our way through this enormous 4-story golden casino filled with addicted gamblers throwing their money out the window. The majority were Asian, with very few westerners here and there. Some poker gamblers seemed to enjoy throwing their one thousand notes on the table. Our jaws were open in shock. Some of them walked away after losing 10,000 Singapore dollars (approx 6,000€/8,000$) in less than five minutes, without seeming to be too upset…. What a show.

Nearby the area is also a super-size ferris wheel that offers beautiful 30-minute rides with 360 degree views over all of Singapore. After taking in these views, we completed the package by also doing a boat trip around the bay and up the river to see certain parts of Singapore that we had not yet explored. This was also very nice because it again gave us a great perspective of the city, and allowed us to see new neighborhoods such as Clark Quay, as well as re-visit previous ones we’d seen but only on land.

We truly enjoyed Singapore, especially after all of the buzz we had heard from westerners wanting to move there. We were eager to see it with our own eyes.

And for now, this chapter in our book, the 6-month Southeast Asia trip, has come to an end. What a wonderful and enriching journey this has been. We are so grateful and happy not only to have been able to see and experience together this side of the world, but the way we did it. Goodbye beautiful Asia, see you again soon! For now, back to Barcelona..