Ni hao from Asia

Singapore to be more precise... But apparently most people here are Chinese, so I think that counts :) After a very long flight (eleven frickin' hours!) I finally made it to Asia! I met a nice Argentinian on the plane and we ended up sharing a cab to the city, because we both didn't want to deal with the public transport system (although it is really easy as is turns out!) The hostel is located in little India and there really are almost exclusively Indians around here! The funny thing is, this city changes all the time, no matter where you go! It's absolutely fascinating!

On Monday, Carlos and I went to Chinatown - definitely my favorite part of the entire city! It is so cool! Full of little market places and food *everywhere* and tons of things to buy for my dear friends at home *gifts for everybody* Carlos didn't like the Asian food but I LOVE it! It's so good and so cheap! It's crazy!

Chinatown!

We found this really cool Buddhist temple and decided to check it out. I had to put on a Sari (which I thought was pretty cool) and I felt rather spiritual walking through the wonderfully decorated temple while some monks were chanting their prayers...

...ok, maybe it was a Hindu temple....

the ultimate temple experience ;)

We then made our way to Marina Bay - What a contrast! This is how I had pictured Singapore! Super-clean and super-modern with skyscrapers EVERYWHERE. Definitely impressive....

Singapore's skyline

At Marina Bay, we also saw one of the most expensive hotels in the world: The Marina Bay Sands Hotel. That weird shape on top of the three towers? That's the swimming pool.... I couldn't help it and checked the rates: rooms start at 500 Singapore dollars per night... I case you were looking for a vacation spot ;)

The Marina Bay Sands Hotel - crazy!

Another famous hotel is the Raffel hotel. Raffels was the founder of modern Singapore, so the name comes up all over the city. The hotel is set in a beautiful street full of palms and there are birds everywhere. It's very colonial...

Colonial remnants

Having a Singapore Sling here is one of the "things to do in Singapore" - but not on a Student budget ;) It was nice to have someone to travel with. Thanks for your company Carlos!

Carlos in front of the Merlion

We went to the Botanical Gardens on Tuesday. I checked out the national Orchard garden - I love Orchards! Hands down, coolest flowers ever ;)

...although some of them looked a little weird...

Tuesday night, I met with a local couchsurfer and we had dinner together at Makansutra :) Makan means food and sutra means paradise! Need I say more? Meeting Joanna was great, as usual we had lots to talk about and ended up chatting the night away! It started raining but we were sitting underneath a big umbrella so it was all good! I actually enjoyed the thunderstorm - made the humity a little more bearable...

Wednesday, I checked out Little India with my roommate Claire. It really feels like little India ;)

Colorful houses in Little India

We had lunch in one of the most popular food halls: Lao Pa Sat *yuuum* I still can't believe how cheap and how GOOD food is here! Anthony Bourdain was right - this city is awesome! ;)

Rocking the Chop Sticks at Lao Pa Sat