Journey behind the passport stamps

We travel not to escape from life but to not let life escape from us. Whoever said that (not me) was completely right. I was leaving Dashain, maasuko parikar (khasiko choila, fried khasi, saadheko achaar, khasiko jhol, Bhutan, hyakula) and dakshina to travel so the journey had to be worth it.  After a tiresome journey we landed in Singapore “the Lion city”. Spotless clean roads guarded with bougainvillea hedges, the roads of Singapore from the airport into the city  itself were very pretty.

Exhausted by the journey my parents chose to rest but we sisters filled with curiosity had promised ourselves to walk till our feet hurt as we wouldn’t get the chance again. We walked for ten minutes and then reached Little India. From fresh flowers to dream catchers, from Diwali decorations to mithaais from Bikaner you could get everything at one place. The aroma of the mithaais and fresh flowers, the reflection of sparkling mirror handworks, Hindi tracks from various cities, foreigners buying Rajasthani handicrafts and children nagging for mithaais made the place livelier. As soon as we got out of the market there were almost 50 light arches giving the city a view like Navaratri hit Calcutta. From the extensive arrays of restaurant we chose an Indian restaurant nearby. The waiter smiled with freshly prepared biryani, raaita, greasy curries and sambar on banana leaf adding an Indian vibe to it. We ate till we looked three months pregnant.

Courtesy: Shraddha Suman Silwal

The best part of Singapore was the religious tolerance. There were mosques, churches and temples right next to each other and so were places to booze where people were clinking their beer jars but all of the people respected the differences and were living harmoniously.

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Along with our parents our very first destination was garden by the bay, a seaside botanical garden. The park that boasts of more than one million plants had various segments but we chose to visit cloud world and flower dome. With carved pumpkins, vibrant lights, statues and flowers, flower dome was quite clean and funky, but it didn’t touch my heart. (Have I become old?)

We then entered the cloud forest. Veiled in mist the mountain got colder and better as we climbed higher. After ten minutes of walking we reached the top and the view from that point was mesmerizing.

The alarm rang and it was next day, my ears which would never hear the beeps of alarm in other days perfectly functioned that day. Firstly we headed towards fountain of wealth in Suntec city. Largest fountain in the world, fountain of wealth was the place where the movie Krish was shot. Every time I struck a pose for photos I could feel the water droplets from the fountain on my body.

Courtesy: Shraddha Suman Silwal

Without sharing the whereabouts our guide took us to place which according to him we couldn’t afford to miss. When we arrived, we were standing in front of the Merlion. Merlion, a mythical creature with a lion's head and the body of a fish was definitely one of the most popular places of Singapore and was heavily crowded with thousands of people waiting to click pictures there. (my experience of rushing to take photos did work finally)

Courtesy: Ramesh Kumar Silwal

Just nearby the Merlion was the Singapore flyer. With glimpse of neighboring islands of Malaysia and Indonesia one could get a 360° view of Singapore. Slow and steady, the wheel did get dull at times and was a bit expensive.but overall it was beautiful. As I am a night person after looking at the day view I think it would have been better had we got the opportunity to ride on it at night as we would get a glittering.

A picture of the flyer which I took from the gardens by the bay

We then headed towards Sentosa Island. We had a concrete time plan so we rushed towards Madamme Tussauds. I would have loved it more had there been real people instead of wax statues (I mean who wouldn’t) but clicking pictures with the wax statues and learning the process of preparation of each one was interesting.

Courtesy: Shraddha Suman Silwal

We then headed to a 4 D movie building, which basically wasn’t a movie but there were actors delivering the history. I was shocked to know that Singapore had such a short history yet was so developed. Then I compared the timelines we read in social studies with the movie they used to teach history. It was crystal clear why Singapore is so developed and Nepal isn’t.

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At the end we went to watch the wings of time. Set in an open sea with nature as the screen, wings of time is an outdoor night show with a delicious fusion of water fountain, multimedia effects, laser lights, fire effects, entertaining music and a story. It is definitely a night extravaganza.

As I love lights visiting all the places I mentioned above would have been better at night time as the beauty of these places came into full effect. But nevertheless Singapore is definitely a place to visit and if you eat in places like Little India it isn’t that expensive too as it is described to be.

Courtesy: Shraddha Suman Silwal

The last day and the best one, visit to Universal Studios was a highlight in our Singapore tour. Located in Sentosa Island, universal studios is a world-class theme park and a glamorous world of movies. Every spot was begging to click a picture with it. The decor for each section was very striking. Six hours wasn’t enough for us as the studio had whopping list of entertaining activities. Thus if you are planning to visit this place any day it’s better to purchase an express pass. The express pass is worth the extra cost as it saves your day. As the studio closed by 6 p.m we missed few activities but we managed to have thrill rides of transformers, Jurassic rapids. Each themed activity had matching shops and 'inspired' food stores. It was a thoroughly fun day out with something suitable for all ages. It brought out the child in me. Let alone me, even my parents were also enjoying the games. This is definitely a place that I  will  take my children along in the future . That ended my trip in Singapore.

Courtesy: Shraddha Suman Silwal

Malaysia

Our second destination was Langkawi. As soon as I landed in Langkawi it gave me a Terai feel. I have never loved hot climate and getting grilled again was very painful. We had a very short trip planned in this place and I was happy about that. The toughest thing for me there was finding food as I am allergic to sea food. With every restaurants serving sea food and exuding aroma of prawns it was hard for me to get good food options. We entered to an Indian place expecting it to be like that of Singapore but the platter was so bad that it could neither go down the food pipe nor out of my mouth.

Courtesy: Shraddha Suman Silwal

As soon as we woke up we had a target to hit, Langkawi Island hopping. The Langkawi Island Hopping basically takes you on a journey of four different islands to explore the lavish beauty of nature. After a refreshing motor boat ride we reached to the first venue which was a private island. We basked in the sun and swam for an hour in the sea. Pristine white sandy beach crystal clear water, the beach was indeed heavenly; I collected some shells and corals too.

Courtesy: Shraddha Suman Silwal

As the second venue we were taken to Pregnant Maiden Island. The entire island seemed like a sleeping lady with a baby bump. After having lunch in our hotel we went for a boat ride to mangrove area. With roots above the land, the mangroves were worth visiting. The entire package included visiting bat cave and crocodile cave too which wasn’t that wonderful for me. Then we headed towards fish farm which was pretty amazing.

The experience of feeding sting ray with bare hands, playing with small fishes and touching spiny puffer fish felt incredible. As soon as the boat rider dropped chicken on the river the golden eagles that had been swooping high in the sky in the wild came to eat it. That was definitely a wonderful view.

The other places we went weren’t that beautiful and I was highly disappointed by Langkawi. I felt this area to be pretty hyped. Nevertheless the beaches were beautiful.

Courtesy: Shraddha Suman Silwal

Bali

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Finally we reached to our third destination Bali. Bali is indeed a perfect destination for a romantic getaway. The land of temples and graffiti, every nook and cranny of Bali is filled with art and you can feel the artistic vibe. Even the airport seemed like a temple. With 21 thousand temples on the island and every house with similar structure like that of temple, it felt like I was lost in a durbar square but one that was a hundred times bigger.

Courtesy: Shraddha Suman Silwal

We went to Uluwatu temple first. Very different from the conventional temples, this one has a captivating beauty and is very picturesque. Everything here is beautiful beyond words; the only thing you should be careful about is the monkeys. Popular for their aggression, one of the monkeys stole my mother’s spectacles and returned it back when it was offered food. Crazy right? Even monkeys in Bali trade.

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Next day, As soon as we picked up some food we rushed towards watching barong dance. The dance presenting the eternal battle between good and evil wasn’t fun at all. With catalog impossible to interpret and act hard to understand the dance was pretty disappointing. I would never recommend this to any Nepali as our very own laakhe dance is way better than it.

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After the dance we went to Kinataamani Volcanic Mountain. As there wasn’t a single place from which we could observe the mountain and a lake below so we went to a halaal cafe nearby. Eating with a splendid view, cold breeze playing with my hair did cheer me up.

Courtesy: Shraddha Suman Silwal

As we had enough of free time we hopped into Starbucks.  As usual Starbucks had  warm ambience and friendly staff but the difference that day was the menu. Pink coffees were also served to raise voice against women violence. We ordered two of them. One was too sweet for my taste while the other one was just fine. We sisters grabbed our coffees and started walking again.

It had been two days that we had come to Baali and there wasn’t a single alley where we weren’t invited for a massage. Thus we made up our minds to pamper our feet and have a fish spa. The staff of the massage center washed our legs and then we dipped our legs in the tank. As soon as we dipped our legs, the fishes swam swiftly towards our feet and started devouring the dead cells. My sister enjoyed it more as there were plenty of fishes around her feet (she definitely needs to clean her legs pretty often :P) How did I feel? Ticklish and soothing. Soothing as the water was pretty cool and ticklish well 70 fishes kissing ones legs is ticklish. Our legs became softer and looked nice but for a while only.

Courtesy: Shraddha Suman Silwal

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As soon as we had our Indonesian breakfast we drove toward Tanah lot. A Balinese coastal temple situated on a rocky mountain with black rocks the temple had a charm of its own.

Finally we were taken for a cruise dinner. The cruise didn’t meet my previous experience in Seattle but the entertainment activities were fun. The wind, the sceneries and the food were dull comparing to Seattle but nevertheless the cultural dance, musical performance and magic was fun.

Overall the journey was perfect. The only suggestion I have to give if you are planning to visit Baali is be aware of the guides there. I ain’t saying because we met one guide but after talking with other Nepalese families they had similar experiences.

What did I come back with? Tanned skin, a tad of fats, bucket full of memories and a completely freshened body.