Ever since we started earning our own money, we normally celebrate outside the country we currently live in - Maldives (2015), Jogjakarta (2016), we skipped 2017 because I attended and witnessed a greater love where a friend of mine got married, Lombok (2018), Tokyo and Osaka (2019).
Abnormally, in times like these (COVID-times), we were forced to celebrate in our second home - Singapore! It was just right after the circuit breaker was lifted. Still lucky, though paranoid, we had the opportunity to go outside our house and to explore the city like we never used to.
We are currently living in Singapore for almost a decade now, but little did we had the chance to really travel over due to work obligations. We originally wanted to do a staycation where we can feel like tourists, but it is extremely expensive to book a hotel here especially the real good ones. So we decided to skip that and just use the little money we have to indulge with other things and with good food!
This time, we made sure we can - we were on a long leave from work for us to have a break, especially from the WFH setup which was and is still pretty intense.
We did a small setup in our room --
We originally wanted to try fine dining but we can't find something within the budget so we decided to just go somewhere where we can be something else rather than our usual selves...
It's one of Singapore’s premier nightclubs, but due to the current restrictions for covid, they turned it to a sky-high dining place and became the World’s Highest Alfresco Dining.
We clean up good 🥂✨
The next day was different... we discovered an oasis!
Here in Singapore, since it's a small country - it's mostly city views and it's rare to find natural attractions. Out of the Southeast Asian countries, I think, Singapore is in the bottom in terms of having beautiful landscapes and/or beaches.
But... there's an amazing secret beach in Singapore that no one is telling you about!
The beach is on Lazarus Island. It's accessible by ferry and it’s never crowded (we’d been a few times [to this date of writing] and it was never overcrowded). On the flip side, you need to bring everything with you to the island as it's not commercialized - there are no food stalls, shelters/cabins or cottages, and even comfort rooms. The nearest would be around 10mins walk which is in St John's Island.
We we're so excited that we didn't manage to take photos in the ferry!
Photo credits: ShopBack
We had the whole day to spend on the island.
We brought our own tent to setup, food & drink, and our skateboards.
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There were only about 10 groups of people who were also on the island during our visit, it's like we have the whole island to ourselves.
Aside from the much needed R&R, we had the chance to reminisce and have a ❤️ to ❤️ talk on how grateful we are and on how we manage to surpass all storms we've been through.
We took the last ferry back to the city.
The next day, we headed out early to have a sumptuous heavy breakfast in the city center...we also rarely do this as we stay in the northern part (cheap thrills) of the country which is considered a little faraway.
From there, we walked our way to another must-visit semi-"natural" attraction...
Fort Canning Park
It was a struggle to take this photo since there's only the two us; we needed careful placements of the camera & the tripod to achieve this shot! Fortunately, I have mastered the art of using tripod 😉
Singapore is big on parks! Everywhere you go, there is one park that you definitely stop by to strike a pose.
During this time, we were a little skeptical on roaming around the city as many other people are already out of their houses and excited to go back to their normal lives. We then decided to get back home and spend the rest of the day chilling.
Our 5th and final day was a different story... we were supposed to do our yoga session and skate at a park.
Yes, we managed to do that but something unexpected happened. I will save that story for now and leave this post on a positive happy note.
One thing I realized while I was writing this is that... for my fellow Filipinos --
ang sarap magmahal, lalo kapag tama at wagas.
Literal translation: It feels good to love and to be loved, especially when it's true and pure.
Until next post, friends! See you on our next destination, hopefully soon 👋😎
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