Singapore Day 3

This was my first day where I was actually solo. I had no William or Gaurav to show me around, but luckily they recommended things for me to do. I started my day off, per Gaurav’s recommendation, by going to the East Coast! I took a grab (their form of an uber) to a bike rental spot. I ended up getting a bike but I didn’t realize they only took cash. Fortunately, the man renting the bike out was SO nice and told me to just pay later and that I could use the ATM down the street. Great. He said the cost would be $20 Singaporean dollars for 2 hours + an addition 2 hours free. Not bad!

All was going smoothly. The bike ride was GORGEOUS.

It was right along the seaport, and Singapore having one of the busiest ports in the world, there were many cargo ships across the horizon.

15 minutes from renting the bike, I finally found the ATM. What I didn’t realize was this ATM was not compatible with my card. I’m assuming it’s because of my foreign card but I have no idea. After about an hour of calling my dad trying to work things out I had no choice but to find another ATM, or for that matter go straight to Chase bank just in case the other ATMs didn’t work. From that point I had a choice: do I risk it and try an ATM a little out of the way that may or may not work? Or should I go to Chase bank that is a a lot out of the way that definitely works. I chose the latter.

Anyways I bike about 12km there, but to be honest it was way more than that due to how many roads were closed. I also learned it’s illegal to bike on the roads in Singapore without a helmet! Good for them. The bike ride was quite nice. Mostly flat but there were the few odd hills every once in a while. I also passed a military property which was kind of cool. They had an ATM there. I saw it with my own eyes, and I so badly wanted to use it. But it was fenced off.

Anyways FINALLY I get to the complex with the bank and it’s also a mall which is cool. Everyone was dressed so nicely for work, and then there was me, dripping from the humidity, the bike ride, my tears, who knows. I felt very bad for the people I walked past. Anyways, once I get into the Chase building I ask the secretary if they had any ATMs there, and guess what. No! No actually they don’t. No the bank for my card did not have an ATM. You would think so, right? Well I did at least. FORTUNATELY, however, there was an ATM in the mall in the basement. I continued my search until I found it and there, low and behold, in between the escalators, was the ATM machine. As I was waiting in line to use it, I was worrying, whether or not it would take my card, and on top of that I needed to be back on my way soon.

Long story short, yes my card worked, and yes I probably took out more cash than I needed for a week, considering most places use card. But whatever. I also decided to treat myself by getting a strawberry orange smoothie, a fruit cup, dragon fruit, and guava at the fruit stand right beside me. It was delicious!

I bike back to the place, pay my fees, but this time I decide to walk along the coast, the same path I biked through. I really wanted to try the XTreme wakeboarding I saw before, but I needed a reservation of 2 weeks in advance. Oh well. I then found a food court along the coast, and ordered sugar can juice! I loved it! Very sweet, very plant-y. I then enjoyed my juice and rest of my fruit along the beach, lying down, listening to some music. It was very nice.

After I finished chilling it was time for me to go to Chinatown. It was pretty cool!

I walked the streets taking photos, until I got to the big Buddhist temple. Some guy saw me taking photos of it and offered to take one with me in it. How nice!

Ironically, in China town I had Indian food. I really wanted to try Roti Prata but the waitress said no don’t have that, try butter chicken and naan, so I did. Despite it being a dish I’ve already had, it was very good!

After my meal I walk the food stalls in the Hawker Center, until I see a bunch of these men playing board games! One of the games was XianQi, the other was some version of checkers. It was very neat to watch them, and they seemed to get a kick out of me being interested in the game. They told me how it worked and I sat there for about a good hour. Then some other guy came up and said something and I decided that that was my queue to leave.

Fortunately I had something planned anyway! I signed up for a soccer game earlier in the day from 7:45-10:00! I called my taxi and walked around a bit more while waiting.

I was a bit nervous considering I saw that I was the only girl and had no cleats. However, once I got there my nerves calmed quite quickly. Everyone was SO nice! It was a 5v5 with three teams of 5. Winner stays on the pitch, but no more for 2 games in a row. At first it was a bit rough, still getting warmed up. By the end of the first game I thought I was about to die. Man it is so hard to play in Singapore’s humidity. The air is so thick and even at nighttime it is hot! However, you do get used to it after bit. By my third game a team was formed that became unbeatable for the rest of the night. It consisted of myself, my new friends, Ian, Daniel, Clarence, and Jono ranging from ages 18-40 haha. It was really cool meeting them. 2/4 of them were locals so I got to learn more of what their life is like here. For example, Daniel is a fire fighter here in Singapore as a duty for his 2 years of service. I thought that was quite cool.

Anyways the games go on and our team works so well together. We are making plays, communicating, playing smarter not harder. One of the most fun games I’ve ever played.

At 10pm the games end and everyone is on their way out. But, before everyone left, I asked if we could get a group photo and they said of course! We took the photo and then everyone exchanged social medias and it was quite wholesome. I might even play more games with them another day! I was very grateful to make friends here, it was very fun.

On my way out, I ended up grabbing dinner with my friend Ian. He’s from Morocco! He was nice enough to pay for my meal and together we ate and talked about what it was like in the US for me and what it was like in Singapore and Morocco for him. Very nice guy, and again, I was grateful to have made that friend.