Our plane landed in Singapore, and we made our way to our hostel. Couchsurfing didn’t work out as most people didn’t even respond, and the 1 or 2 that did were busy. Even among the cheapest hostels in the city, it was still 15 USD per person in a 10-person dorm. We decided to stay only one night.

After checking in and dropping our stuff off, we headed downtown. We beelined it for the Marina Bay area and on the way passed through Little India.

While approaching downtown, I kept catching glimpses of a building that looked like a giant ship parked on top of 3 buildings.

I was surprised to see that my eyes were not playing tricks on me. One of the more peculiar buildings I have ever seen. I liked it.

At the waterfront, we saw the iconic Merlion.

There seems to be free concerts from time to time, and there was a metal concert happening while we were there. You could hear it across the bay, and we got closer to investigate.

After it got properly dark, there is also a lightshow from the top of the ship-buildings.

We were thinking about going on the ferris wheel, but that’s about 25 USD per person. The majestic boat building, Marina Bay Sands, was also considered. I couldn’t find exact prices, but the best I could muster was that one of the bars on top had an entry fee of 22 Singapore dollars, so about 16 USD. It would count towards your purchases, but I did find something of a menu for that bar, and it seemed to indicate that one would only be able to get one shot for that price. We decided not to go and instead made our way back to our hostel since it was already getting late, ending our one day in Singapore. I looked around at beer prices near our hostel, but even the cheapest beer was about 10 bucks, so about 7 USD. Not worth it.

The next, we took the subway up to the Marsiling MRT station where we caught a bus that took us over the border and into Malaysia.

That was about the shortest time I spent in one country. Less than 24 hours. I think I only spent less time in the Vatican, if that even counts. Singapore was just so expensive, and since we are both budget backpackers, it was going to destroy our wallets. We even answered some survey by someone at the border when we were leaving. She asked how long we stayed and how much we spent—I assume to gauge how much tourists are spending. She didn’t get good news from us because we spent very little and stayed for only one night. We came with food from Indonesia, although to be honest, while walking around, it seemed that food prices were not too bad. It was mainly the accommodation that was sky-high. Singapore was neat to pass through, but I don’t think I will ever go there again because of the cost.