Singapore adventures & company

This post is an unstructured collection of the adventures I had in Singapore, many of which were with my long-distance friend Daniel.

Me and Daniel posing for a selfie indoors in a mirror in front of a terracotta-coloured arch decorated with colourful flowers, and a hammerhead shark sculpture in the top left of the arch. I am wearing a black sleeveless top and denim shorts, and Daniel is wearing a coral jacket and beige trousers. — Daniel and I at the aquarium 🦈

🌳 Tampines Eco Green

Yet another outdoor activity I did whilst in Singapore was going to the Tampines Eco Green. I had been wanting to do as many outdoor activities I could while there, so after hiking Bukit Timah Hiil and visiting Pulau Ubin, I was really on a roll.

Clusters of vibrant yellow-orange flowers on a leafy tree, under a blue sky. — Can’t get past a good macro flower shot 🌼

My friend Daniel and I did some research into some parks and reserves with walking paths, and that were easily accessible via public transport, and Tampines Eco Green came up as the most fascinating option. I was also kind of over seeing Gardens by the Bay, because as beautiful and expansive as it is, I feel like I’ve spent a lot of time there already on previous visits. Singapore does seem to have a lot of urban parks, and I think they would have been a good option both for walking and looking at nature, but we were less keen on these types of parks.

Wooden directional signpost in a green woodland clearing at Tampines Eco Green. The signs read: “Bird Hide” (left), “Viewing Platform” (right), “Shelter” (left), “Biodiversity Trail” (left), and “Eco Forest Marsh Trail” (right). — Which way?

Shaded grassy trail winding through dense woodland at Tampines Eco Green. — So much green 💚

Tampines Eco Green was a bit of a journey on the MRT and bus. It was a quiet, very green space with some wildlife and plants, and most of the paths had the trees forming a leafy canopy shielding us from the sun. There were some man-made concrete shelters around the area as well.

Small pond surrounded by tropical foliage and trees. There are two small turtles in the water. — Turtles spotted 🐢

We spotted a couple of roosters, some nice flowers, and a white bird—it looked like a pigeon but I couldn’t be sure of the breed. It was nice to have a peaceful moment amongst nature and we heard some creatures that were hidden away that we couldn’t only hear and not see. 🥹

Two colorful roosters standing among leaf litter and dense tropical vegetation — Roosters spotted 🐓

Me wearing a white sunhat, yellow crop top, floral shorts, and blue shoes and standing beside a pond. — 📸 Photo by Daniel

⛩️ Jurong Lake Gardens

Sunset over a lake, with a low arched bridge, trees, and high-rise buildings reflected in the water. — Starting bright and early

On a different day, I trekked out to Jurong Lake Gardens, which was absolutely huge, with three main areas: Lakeside Garden, Chinese Garden, and Japanese Garden. I knew the gardens would be a long way from my hotel so I started as early as possible, jumping on the MRT and taking about an hour-long journey east.

Stone path winding through a rocky grotto and lush garden. — Love the framing of this photo 🫰🏼

Me wearing a white sunhat, yellow short-sleeved top with light purple stitching detail, denim shorts with studs, white non-binary (yellow, black, purple) socks, and blue sneakers posing in the Japanese garden. I am holding the brim of my hat lightly with both hands and have one ankle crossed in front of the other. — Had to take an OOTD picture 💛

One thing I appreciated about the weather in Singapore was that it was hard to have a day of bad weather during my stay. I tried to map out a route to explore the garden, but I soon found that approaching something like this with a plan of covering the entire area is way too ambitious. You have to let yourself enjoy what’s there. I really liked the Japanese Garden, even though there was not a lot that was completely unique to me because I have visited many Japanese gardens before. The sunken garden was a highlight for me.

Garden waterfall flowing into a pond, surrounded by lush trees and aquatic plants. — A little outdoor waterfall in the heat

Dark brick walkway through dense tropical greenery, leading beneath an elevated circular concrete loop, which is part of a water feature consisting of rain-like dripping around the loop. — The peaceful sunken garden

I didn’t get to explore the entirety of the Lakeside Garden because it was further than the MRT station and I didn’t have a lot of time to spare as it got later into the morning.

Pond with trees and a multi-tiered pagoda reflected in the water. — Lovely view of part of the garden over a lake

I was due to meet Daniel at *scape for a little creator market. I was quite thrilled about it, because I love markets in general, but also because I was about to experience a market on my travels. I am always excited to check out the work of local creators wherever I go. I bought a couple of small gifts for my friends and souvenirs for myself, and Daniel bought a few things as well. I was able to resist a few things because I restricted myself to using cash, so I had a bit of a limit to how many things I could purchase.

I enjoyed a no-sugar Monster energy drink that I obtained as part of the entry to the market. I don’t really drink energy drinks but the no-sugar made me feel better about drinking it. 🤭 It was nice. I felt that I needed the caffine. After finishing browsing the market, for a bit of a lunchtime snack, I grabbed a crepe with noodles in it. It was the most interesting and tasty-looking option in the building.

Hand holding a crepe cone filled with fried noodles and toppings, against a colourful diner-style backdrop. — Delicious noodle crepe

🧱 LEGO Shophouse

Daniel and I waited for quite some time to visit the LEGO Shophouse. We missed out on some promotional items because they had run out for the day, but still decided to join the queue to observe the house. I can’t think of a single person who actually likes queues, and in the Singaporean heat it was a bit of a challenge, but the locals didn’t seem to mind. I had been gearing myself up for the challenge of experiencing a bit more outdoor heat on my holiday. 😂

Two people pose before a colorful checkered patterned artwork, made of LEGO and resembling flowers. They wear a coral jacket with cream trousers and a yellow top with black shorts and a black bag. — We made it! Our outfits suit the backdrop.

After struggling in the heat and in the queue, we were welcomed with cool air at the entrance of the LEGO Shophouse. Many LEGO sets were on display and it was really organised like a little house. I mostly marvelled at the sets that were on the walls, recreations of famous paintings. I don’t own a single LEGO set, but those ones have been tempting.

Mid-century console beneath a large framed pixel-art cityscape, made entirely of LEGO — Cute LEGO living room

Colorful LEGO-style coral, sea creatures, and underwater plants arranged in an elaborate display. — It was pretty incredible and fascinating to look at all the details of this

I had planned to show Daniel a flea market in the afternoon. It was indoors and in a small hall near an MRT station. However, I felt a bit overwhelmed by it, not really up for the task of rummaging through secondhand items to get bargains. Glossing over all the sellers’ items, most of them looked fairly low quality and uninteresting, and I had forgotten about the prospect of paying for items at a market (I was running low on cash) and the amount of stuff I’d have to take home if I purchased anything.

On a related note, I have found that my shopping habits have really dwindled over the course of the year. I am less interested, and actually exhausted by, most clothes shopping—be it at a market, online, or in person in stores. My trip to Singapore was at the end of March 2026, but I already wasn’t really interested in purchasing new clothes.

🪼 Aquarium adventures

About fourteen years ago, I notoriously posted almost a hundred photos of marine life on my blog after visiting an aquarium in Japan. I will not be doing that here, haha, so here are some gorgeous jellyfish highlights—or, mostly jellyfish.

Three golden jellyfish drifting in a dark aquarium, with long orange tentacles and white frilled structures. — Gorgeous gorgeous jellyfish

Three translucent jellyfish floating against a black background, their long, delicate tentacles trailing upward. — Triple threat 🪼

Close-up of a translucent jellyfish with a rounded bell, ruffled appendages, and fine purple tentacles. — My favourite photo I took of the jellyfish

Daniel and I spent literally hours in the aquarium and I felt the urge to look at almost everything. I had been to the aquarium before but it had gone through some updates since my last visit, including a new entrance. It wasn’t crowded at the time we went there.

Colorful reef aquarium filled with coral and several blue and yellow tropical fish. — Lots of fish

Striped lionfish hovering in an aquarium above a black-and-white tiled floor. — Pretty proud of this shot—looks pretty good sideways/in landscape too!

Night view of a large, wave-shaped glass building illuminated in turquoise, with a glowing arched entrance. — This looked much better illuminated at night, compared to during the day

🦶🏼 Foot massage

After days and days of walking 20,000+ steps, my feet felt like they took a beating, and my legs were almost equally as tired. I did some research and booked in a foot massage at Comfy Feet Reflexology, which was decently priced and the service was good. I was able to use WhatsApp to easily book in an appointment.

🥺 Goodbye

An airport tarmac with about four white and yellow branded Scoot planes on standby. The sky is a pale blue colour — Waiting at the airport

Daniel saw me off at the airport on the morning of my departure. I was sad that our time had come to an end. I felt so grateful for the quality time we had spent together that was a huge complement to our long online/long-distance friendship. It felt long overdue but I hope we “made up” for it.