Travel notes in memory, three different countries: Dubai, Indonesia, Singapore

Since the outbreak of the new crown at the end of 2019, the Travel habit of many years has been blocked. The original plan of long-distance travel once a year was interrupted. Although there are irregular short Trips, the feeling of walking in time in long-distance travel is gone. Spring is probably a season that is very easy to recall. Thinking about the blooming flowers, I still didn’t go out to see and walk. Maybe there was no one to accompany me, or maybe I was too lazy. Some time ago, I went to the rose garden. My parents went to pick strawberries. I sat on the corridor outside the strawberry greenhouse. I looked up, there was wind blowing on my face, listening to the rustling sound of leaves shaking, the sun shining through the shade of the trees, and one night when it was late at night, it rained all night. It was not spring rain like silk, nor summer rain like a sudden, but I knew that this was the end of spring, summer is coming, and I am not ready. Suddenly, the memory is so far away. Maybe I have been too idle during this period. There is only time to waste. Thinking of the days of Traveling in the past, the memory has become a little fuzzy.

It was 2023. At the beginning of that year, I was a little sad because of something that trapped me. I wanted to go out and relax. A friend said he was going to Dubai, and I said take me with you. This was not a very good travel experience because it was a group Tour. I stayed in the car most of the time. There was not enough time for many attractions. I was even locked in the duty-free shop for a long time. The shopping time was very long, and the purchasing power within the group was not enough, which led to the bad temper of the tour guide. The only thing I remembered was the soft sunset desert, the sacred Abu Dhabi Grand Mosque and the lonely seagulls. Finally, my friend went crazy shopping in Dubai Mall, and I sat in the store helplessly in a daze. Even the cruise was charged and added items. It was a few days of chaos. Later, my friend saw that I might not be in a good mood and apologized to me, saying that she didn't know that this trip was like this. This time directly led to me never wanting to travel with a group again.


Abu Dhabi Grand Mosque


Sunset Sandbank


Lonely Seagull


Lonely Me

In July 2023, I started to discuss with another friend where to go. The first consideration was to save money. The budget was about 500 US dollars per person. There were many places I wanted to go. Finally, I looked at the air tickets and flew to whichever place was cheaper. In the end, I decided to go to Southeast Asia. Every time I went to Southeast Asia, I would say that I would never go there again. The sun was scorching and I was sweating every day, but I really forgot the pain after the scar healed. Who said that the air tickets there were really cheap? Finally, I decided to go to Singapore. After deciding where to go, I started to make a strategy for each of us to see where I wanted to go, and then summarize and arrange the itinerary. I suggested that Singapore was originally very small, and I could go to Bintan Island, the back garden of Singapore, by the way, because I really love the sea. After the itinerary was set, I started to apply for a visa. It seems that I booked the air ticket first and then applied for a visa to avoid you not being able to go back. It has been too long and I don’t remember it very well. Singapore is indeed a developed country. There is a possibility of visa rejection. I am worried because cheap air tickets cannot be refunded. I signed a one-year multiple-entry visa and can go to Bintan Island. My friend signed a three-year multiple-entry visa, and I am a little jealous. Then I looked at the accommodation. I think I can have a pleasant trip with my friends every time. Our needs are not much different. The accommodation is clean, has WiFi and can take a shower. Next, just wait for departure.

September 20, 2023, red-eye flight, starry night, first to Malaysia and then transfer to Singapore, bought some bread and drinks for breakfast at the small supermarket in the Malaysia Airport, where you can use Alipay, and then flew to Singapore. My friend and I did not choose the same seat for this trip. I sat with two foreign girls. I needed to fill in the entry application form on the plane. I didn’t bring a pen. I asked them to borrow one. After getting off the plane, I found that I filled it wrong. We kept filling it until we were the only two left at the immigration office. A staff member came over and asked if we needed help? We didn’t know how to fill in how many days we stayed in Singapore. The girl said that we only needed to fill in 1 day because we were going to Indonesia soon. The weather in Singapore is really good, I mean the sun is really big. Arrived at the pier and handled exit. I don’t know what kind of climate this is, maybe it’s a tropical monsoon? After boarding the ship, it started to rain heavily. We both chose a window seat to wait for landing.

I like the sea, I don't know why I just like it inexplicably, so this time I just lived on the sea (a house built directly on the sea), although it was just a simple thatched house. I withdrew money at the pier, and although the money was deducted from me, I didn't pay it out. I... also embarrassed a local lady and a policeman who were eager to help, and felt that they couldn't help. Because they couldn't call the Capital Bank with their local phone, they later called the bank here. My poor English has reached the limit of vocabulary in the past two days, and I feel that my body has been hollowed out. Because the pier is a bit far from where we are staying, we took a taxi. The driver was very talkative and left a phone number saying that he could pick us up when we leave. In the end, we found that it was a bit expensive to send us there. The sky cleared along the way. In fact, there were few people on the road, but there was a different view.

After dinner in the evening, my friend and I chartered a speedboat to go to the mangroves to watch fireflies (it was considered a chartered trip, but it was actually charged per person, but there were only two of us). We didn't have much hope of seeing fireflies, so we comforted ourselves with the charming night scenery along the way. Although the moon was very bright as it was near the Mid-Autumn Festival, the stars were no less beautiful. The sky was full of stars, lighting up against the sunset. As a result, we saw a lot of fireflies in the mangroves. The trees seemed to be decorated with twinkling stars, and the trees were full of starlight. The boatman drove the boat under the mangroves and caught a few for me to hold in his hands. They were very cute little guys, with a sparkling green light, but they flew away as soon as I opened my hands slightly. Finally, we returned quickly accompanied by the moonlight and the starry sky. It was the first time I took a speedboat at night. I felt like I had opened up a new world. It took about 40 minutes to get to the hotel. Facing the sea breeze, I felt like I was riding the wind and waves. I don’t know why the sky was clear here, but there were red lightning flashing in the distance. Although the mobile phone can’t take any good photos at night, my eyes remembered it all, maybe I will never forget it. When we came back, there was a cat who led us for a walk. The frustration at noon disappeared. In fact, happiness is really simple. It’s just the fireflies under the starry sky and the cat waiting for me to go home.



The cat waiting for us to go home

We got up early the next day, wanting to see the sunrise, but we didn't go out, so we went back to sleep. After breakfast (the hotel's black tea was really delicious), we discussed with the hotel owner about chartering a car for a one-day tour around the island. We originally planned to drive ourselves, but the owner said that we were foreigners and were afraid of disputes, so we had someone take us there. We planned to go to a temple, but it was not open, but we could go down to play by ourselves when we saw interesting places. The final destination was a beach. I forgot the name, but it was really beautiful and itchy. There were many mosquitoes on the beach. Fortunately, I asked the hotel owner for mosquito repellent ointment when I went out. It was very fragrant, like lotion. There were originally two couples and a young woman on the beach. Later, the old lady tried hard to say something to us, but we really couldn't understand. After they left, there were only two of us on this beach. There were two swings on the beach. We were swinging there, and no one competed with us. We occupied this beautiful scenery.





After a good sleep on the third day, we set off to leave Bintan Island. When we arrived in Singapore, we went back to the hotel to drop off our luggage and had lunch. Then I thought, nothing else to do, so I might as well go to the Merlion Park, a famous attraction in Singapore. It seemed not too far to take the bus, so in order to get a good spot to watch the light show, I sat there from the afternoon until the evening after watching the light show and then went back.


Light Show

On the fourth day, I was sweating a lot. I walked like crazy, had a local breakfast nearby, fed the pigeons, and started a day of walking. Because Singapore is a city with a large ethnic mix and various religious cultures, we saw various temples on the map and went to check in. Then we had Hainanese chicken rice near Chinatown in Chinatown. In the afternoon, we went to Gardens by the Bay to see the Sky Tree. This day seemed to be the Mid-Autumn Festival. There were also corresponding Mid-Autumn Festival lanterns and activities in the park. The moon was round and the lights were on. I lost my umbrella.


Skytree

On the fifth day, we wandered around the city for a while, and then went to St. Andrew's Church, which we missed yesterday. This church is really beautiful. When we entered, the nun gave us an introduction to the church. There were only a few people in the church. Although I am not religious, I prayed devoutly. Although I have forgotten what I prayed for, I guess God doesn't care, and neither do I. Then we went to the Presidential Palace and some unique art galleries. We always took the bus, and then we kept going around and around, and couldn't find the way. Finally, we chose to take a taxi and it turned out to be nearby. Taxis in Singapore are really expensive.


St. Andrew's Church

Because I am not familiar with this city, the plan for this day is to go to the Singapore Zoo. I bought tickets for the daytime and nighttime shows. We kept wandering around the bus station but couldn't find a place to take the bus. We missed the last bus. When we arrived at the zoo, we were running out of time. The zoo is basically semi-open. When watching the sea lion show, I was still wondering why no one sat in the front row. When the show started, I found that the sea lions splashed water into the audience seats, which was considered a close contact. In the end, the zoo was closed before I finished visiting it. After I came out, I waited for the night show to start in the coffee shop outside. There were peacocks walking around next to me. The night show was really fun, with many interactive activities. I felt like I was back to my childhood, jumping up and down like a little kid. Happiness is not easy to come by after adulthood, but it turns out that it is easier to be happy if you treat yourself as a child.

On the sixth day, the highlight of this trip, Sentosa Universal. There was still some time before the gate was opened, so we walked around the island for a while. In fact, there are quite a lot of entertainment facilities on the island, and there is also a casino. Now the big Merlion statue has been demolished. I learned from the lesson of queuing for more than three hours for Harry Potter in Osaka, and rushed directly to Transformers as soon as the gate opened. As a result, this Universal was not as big as Osaka. One day was just right. I played Transformers twice and was dragged to play the roller coaster twice. My legs were weak. All the shows were in English. I pretended to understand them. The shows were really good. Here I took a photo with Bumblebee and Optimus Prime. The time was good, just when they changed shifts. Finally, I came out to watch the sunset and chased the sun. In the end, I only saw a little bit, which was a bit regretful. I stepped on the sand at the beach and wandered around the island until night fell.


Merlion

On the seventh day, I went shopping in Singapore, visited a library, and a temple near where I live. I met a cute big dog locked in a yard on the street. It was time to leave and say goodbye to this park city.