Once I was finally allowed to board my flight from Vientiane to Singapore, the flight was uneventful, thankfully. I landed around 6:30pm and took an Uber to my hostel. I dropped my stuff off and hurried down to Clarke Quay.
I only had literally about 36 hours in Singapore, so I was attempting to make it to the last scenic river cruise of the evening, which was at 9, and I basically ran up to the window, huffing and puffing. I asked if there were any tickets available for the 9pm cruise and the woman said no, but there were plenty of seats on the 9:30pm. Google had led me astray and apparently, I didn’t need to run down there (in the rain, by the way), but I was thrilled that it worked out.
Sightseeing river boat in Singapore
The Merlion from the water
Selfie with Marina Bay Sands
Boat Quay
I attempted to get something to eat after the cruise ended around 10pm, but basically every kitchen on the waterfront was closed. Many places were still open for drinks but none of them were serving food (which admittedly surprised me since Singapore is such a cosmopolitan city). After awhile of walking around and checking various restaurants, I did a quick Google search for a kebab place, since they’re always open late, and found one that was a 12-minute walk away. I grabbed a kebab and walked back to my hostel.
When I was booking a hostel for one night in Singapore, I got total sticker shock. Coming from the other countries in Southeast Asia, where a bed in a dorm is almost always under $10 per night, I was shocked to see most hostels in Singapore average at least $40 USD per night. I managed to snag a bed in a capsule hostel for $32 USD, which was the cheapest I could find that was in a good neighborhood and had good reviews. It was also my first time staying in a capsule hostel, and it was nicer than I expected.
Extremely unflattering selfie from my first capsule hostel
Aside from the famous landmarks, the thing I know Singapore is best known is its food scene. In the morning, I joined a food tour that left from Chinatown. We tried Chinese sweetened pork; a drink that’s a mixture of tea, coffee, and milk; toast with egg jam; chicken rice; oyster cake and oyster omelet; and potato dhosa. I’ve never met an oyster that I actually enjoyed but I did enjoy everything else.
The rice and oyster dishes also came from one of Singapore’s famous hawker markets so I was happy to experience that, as well.
Near the end of the food tour, we paid a visit to the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple, so named because it claims to hold an actual tooth from Buddha, rescued from a collapsed stupa.
The tour ended back in Chinatown where we started.
I hopped on Singapore’s metro system over to Little India. I was delighted to discover that Singapore allows tap credit cards to pay for public transport instead of requiring a specific transportation card, like an Oyster card in London or a T-Money card in Seoul, or even a token.
Tan Teng Niah in Little India, built in 1900
I then walked from Little India over to Arab Street
The Masjid Malabar
I wandered over to Haji Lane, a famous café-lined street, to get a drink and sit down for a few minutes. I ended up hanging out in the café for a little while because the skies opened up and it was downpouring. I tried to wait out the rain but it wasn’t letting up, and I had such a short time in Singapore that I wanted to make the most of it, so I ventured out in the rain to get to the metro station. I ended up getting soaked through and then sat on the metro like a wet cat under the air conditioning, but I made it to Gardens by the Bay, my next destination.
Gardens by the Bay is a huge botanical garden with many different sections, so I splurged on the all-access pass and explored for a few hours.
Floral Fantasy
Cloud Forest
Flower Dome
Supertree Observatory
The Supertrees lit up at night
A snippet of the Supertree light show
After I watched the light show at the Supertree Observatory, I headed back to my hostel to collect my bags, then took an Uber to the airport. My next stop was New Zealand, and I was meeting up with my sister there!
The first leg of my flight, from Singapore to Sydney, was scheduled to leave at 2am and land in Sydney at 12:30pm. (It’s only a 7.5-hour flight but I was losing time to time zones because I was traveling east). However, after a passenger boarded, he was then removed from the plane for a reason I don’t know, and it took what felt like forever for them to find his checked luggage and get it out from under the plane. So I’m not sure what time we finally got in the air but it was late.
I got a few hours of sleep on the plane and then spent several hours sitting on the floor in the Sydney airport while I waited to board my last leg to Auckland. That flight left Sydney at 7:55pm and was only 3 hours but I lost more time to time zones and it was 1am in Auckland when I landed. Then as I was making my way through the airport, I got stuck in the longest customs line I’ve ever seen.
I had heard from my Australian friends that Australia and New Zealand are very, very cautious of what they allow into their countries because of their extremely delicate ecosystems, but I didn’t expect to have to wait in a customs line for 40 minutes at 1:30am. I had booked a hotel at the airport where my sister was already sleeping, and it was only about a 15-minute walk from the terminal, so I decided to walk over once I (finally) cleared customs. Julia was awake and waiting for me when I got there so we had a big reunion hug and then I immediately jumped in the shower, since I hadn’t had access to one in almost two days.
We slept for a few more hours and but left the hotel at 7:30 to take an Uber into downtown Auckland because of course, we had a tour booked. I had contacted our hostel about dropping off our stuff early in their luggage room but they sent me the wrong door code, so when our tour guide arrived to pick us up, he very generously offered his phone to call the hostel duty phone to get the correct door code. We finally dropped off our bags and then we were off!
I had originally booked us on a combo tour of the city of Auckland in the morning and a coastal rainforest tour in the afternoon. Unfortunately, a cyclone struck New Zealand’s North Island in February 2023 and caused a ton of damage to roads and walking tracks, so the rainforest portion of the tour was unfortunately canceled. The city tour was still on, however, and it was delightful. Julia and I were both surprised by how beautiful Auckland is. It’s not like we expected it to be awful; on the contrary, I just didn’t have any expectations, so when we arrived and it was beautiful and clean and full of friendly people, we were delighted.
Our tour included Auckland’s Central Business District (CBD), Auckland University, the Auckland Museum, “the picturesque suburb of Ponsonby, known for its historic buildings,” and a breakfast stop on the North Shore. We were also lucky enough to drive to the top of Mount Victoria in Devonport, which provides panoramic views over Auckland. Our last stop was at the Westhaven Marina, which had beautiful views of Auckland’s Harbour Bridge.
Auckland's Skytower in the CBD
The Auckland Museum
A historic home in Ponsonby
Breakfast stop at the North Shore
View of Auckland from Mount Victoria in Devonport
We sort of had a photoshoot on Mount Victoria
Julia took this photo and she'd very proud of it
The Auckland skyline
With Auckland's Harbour Bridge
Our tour guide took the photo above and then told us, "Now the other side!"
After our wonderful tour, we took a stroll through the Wynyard Quarter and had lunch near the water. As you can surely see from the photos, it was a perfect day, weather-wise, and we sat outside and enjoyed it.
As it turns out, I was grateful that the afternoon portion of our tour had been canceled because the two days of little sleep (first night on a plane and then the second night from about 2:30am to 7am) caught up to me and I asked Julia if she would mind checking in properly to our hostel so I could take a nap. She agreed and I slept like the dead for a few hours.
In the evening, we met up with some distant cousins, who happen to live in Auckland, for dinner at a nice pizza place. Then, as is typical for me, we went to bed early because we had an early start booked for the following day.
We had an action-packed day booked that included a trip to Hobbiton and also a few hours in Rotorua, a town renowned for its geothermal activity and Maori culture. Hobbiton was first and we were absolutely so excited.
On the way to Hobbiton, we drove through the stunning Waikato countryside, which is known as the most extensive farming area in the world.
Julia posing with the Hobbiton bus
We made it to the Shire!
If only I could've stayed and lived like a hobbit
Having the time of our lives
Obsessed with this beautiful setting
There are still so many beautiful set pieces at Hobbiton
Posing with Bilbo's hobbit hole
Julia was very excited to celebrate Bilbo's birthday
At the pond in front of the Green Dragon Inn
The Green Dragon Inn (which is a real working pub!)
Sheep!
Our tour guide made a photo stop so we could get a picture with the beautiful Waikato countryside.
We then continued on to Rotorua, where we were visiting the Te Puia Geothermal Park.
Te Puia is the home of the National Maori Arts & Crafts Institute, so many of the buildings on the property are these incredible carved masterpieces. This is a Maori meeting house.
Maori cultural performance of a Haka
We had hand pies for lunch with a view of the geyser and then we took a stroll through the school, where we could see students hard at work on their craft.
At Te Puia, they have a kiwi bird breeding program because kiwis are endangered. Photos aren’t allowed of the live kiwis so I took this photo of a taxidermized one so you can see what they look like. Kiwis are about the size of a chicken.
Mud pools in the geothermal park
Everyone who works at Te Puia is Maori, and our tour guide told us that she grew up with Te Puia basically being in her backyard.
The Pohutu Geyser, the largest geyser in the Southern Hemisphere
Julia posing with the geyser and the blue pool
In front of Pohutu Geyser
An incredibly detailed and gorgeous Maori storage house
Entry to the school
After we finished up exploring Te Puia, we drove through downtown Rotorua on our way back to Auckland, past the Rotorua Museum.
Lake Rotorua
We got back to Auckland around 7pm and walked to a nearby steakhouse for a delicious dinner. Then we of course went to bed early, because we had a flight to catch to the South Island early the following morning!