[Singapore, Singapore]

So much has happened since my last entry that I don’t know if I will ever catch up! I am currently in New Delhi, India, and have already visited two other cities over the weekend; however, for the sake of completeness and my own recollection of the trip details later, I shall go back in time and cover my last day in Singapore!

That day was Friday, May 20th. Our flight to New Delhi was not until 7 pm so we had a good part of the day free to explore. We originally planned on going to the Indonesian island of Batam to enjoy the rumored white sandy beaches and to get one more country stamp on our passport. However, we heard from another team that it took way too long and was not worth it. Hence, we stayed in Singapore.

On our way to the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore interview the day before, we had spotted a cable tram that ran from the top of a hill (called Mt. Faber, we later learned) to the island of Sentosa, a Singapore attraction complete with a Universal Studios park, a giant Merlion and a bunch of other amusement-park-kind of things to do. It seemed like a good time-waster, so off we went!

The cable tram journey was quite awesome. It went over a part of Singapore we had not seen from the Flyer or Marina Bay Sands. We enjoyed views of the Singapore port, second busiest in the world, as well as Sentosa Island and the ocean and islands beyond.

Group photo at Mt Faber

Singapore Port

Upon arrival at Sentosa, we took a bus to one of the island’s three beaches. Although only a couple of us had swimming trunks, we all enjoyed dipping our feet in the warm water (such a pleasant change from the cold Pacific!) and taking jumping pictures.

Next, we checked out the giant Merlion we had seen from the cable car. This one was much more impressive than the one we saw at Merlion Park during our city tour of Singapore. However, after a few photos, our enthusiasm for sight-seeing melted with the sweltering heat and all we cared about was the blasting air-conditioning in the adjacent mini 7-Eleven. God bless the ice-cream isle – a paradise for the over-heated tourist in a country just one degree north of the equator.

Upon returning to our hotel, we checked out of our rooms and headed back for the final thing on our to-do list – feet-eating fish.

Yep, you read this right – feet-eating fish. Apparently, this is a popular way to get a pedicure in Asia. It’s quite a simple concept – you go to a fish spa, wash your feet, and then dunk them in a tank full of these so-called Doctor Fish. They nibble on the dead skin on your feet for a pre-set amount of time, after which you leave with smooth rejuvenated feet. Although slightly scary at first, it actually was a very pleasant experience. The sensation was similar to when your foot tingles after falling asleep, minus the pain. It was a little bit ticklish at times but it helped if I distracted myself by talking to my friends. My feet felt really refreshed and energized even through the 6-hour flight to Delhi. It was a nice way to spend my last hours in Singapore.

As I boarded my plane to New Delhi, I knew things were about to change. Our faculty advisor, Dr. Seal (also a native Indian), said two things to us:

1. Love it or hate it, India will be an experience like no other.

2. No matter what books you’ve read or what movies you’ve seen, you can never be prepared for India.

I was about to find out he was right on both accounts.