12 Hours in Singapore

Oh Singapore! What a sight for sleepy, tired eyes from a 7-hour flight from Melbourne. I have been travelling to Singapore all my life, mainly because it is conveniently located on the way to my hometown, Maldives. Every year on our summer vacation to Maldives, we would stop in Singapore for a few days and it was always SO. GOOD.

We would usually arrive early morning or late at night, stop by a 7/11 and pick up some water bottles, ice Milo cans and madeleines and head back to the hotel for a rest. The next day we would venture out to Orchard Rd for shopping and more shopping, stopping frequently for snacks like the Haagen Daz or Dippin’ Dots ice cream or curry puffs.

This time, I arrived in the afternoon around 4.30pm. As soon as the airport doors slid open, I was hit with the humid heat and the scent of rain. I don’t mind heat and humidity although my hair doesn’t appreciate it very much! We had about 24 hours to spend in Singapore and here’s what we did…

♡ Wednesday 19th September @ 4.30pm 

We arrived and took a cab straight to our accomodation, Lloyd’s Inn. It was in a part of town that I have never really been to before and there were such pretty villas and houses around this area!

Lloyd’s Inn is a boutique hotel located on Lloyd Rd, a short walk from Orchard Rd. This is one of the oldest hotels in Singapore and was revamped into a classy and minimalist haven. The nature around the villa is beautiful and the design of the rooms and garden exterior is super chic yet simple. The service was excellent, I would highly recommend this spot to anyone looking to be close to Orchard Rd but in a more quiet location surrounded by greenery.

♡ Wednesday 19th September @ 6.30pm 

After freshening up in our room, we headed out in the rain to ION Orchard for a touch of shopping and a bite to eat. We ate at the basement food hall from a delicious and excellent value Indonesian Stall. I had the Chicken Curry and my mum had the Beef Rendang – both so delicious!

♡ Thursday 20th September @ 8.00am

We woke up to the natural light streaming through the huge windows right above our bed, it was a cloudy morning with the sun peeking through sneakily! We got ready and headed out to havethe included breakfast, some Kaya Toast and black tea.

♡ Thursday 20th September @ 10.30am

We hopped on the MRT trains and headed to Haji Lane. It was such a colourful street lined with small stalls of clothing, scarves and cute cafes.

♡ Thursday 20th September @ 12.00pm

We then took a cab a bit further east to Koon Seng Rd, a road lined with pretty pastel houses. We took a few snaps and headed off again!

♡ Thursday 20th September @ 1.00pm

We decided to retreat back indoors to some air-conditioning as the noon sun was coming in quite strong! So we zipped back into town in a taxi to Takashimaya, a department store located on Orchard Rd. We decided to head to the TWG Tea Salon for a tea and some food. I ordered the Seafood Marinara Spaghettini and an ice Blue Lotus tea, both of which were AMAZING!!

♡ Thursday 20th September @ 2.00pm

Following our lovely lunch, we headed upstairs to Kinokuniya bookshop, which has got to be one of my favourite places in all of Singapore. Every single book you could imagine is in this place. I could spend hours on end in here browsing the shelves of magazines, young adult fiction novels, pretty fashion books and obviously the self-development section!

♡ Thursday 20th September @ 2.30pm

After spending a lot of cash on books, we lugged our purchases out of the bookstore and back out into the heat of Orchard Rd. We hit a few stores including H&M, Bimba Y Lola and Forever 21.

♡ Thursday 20th September @ 3.00pm

Quick stop to purchase one of my favourite Singaporean street snacks, Ice Cream Bread! Basically, you choose an ice cream flavour (Taro, Sweetcorn, Durian, Mango, Chocolate or Strawberry) wrapped in rainbow bread or two wafers. I chose the rainbow bread with sweet corn ice cream flavour. It sounds a bit crazy but trust me, it is so great. Especially on a hot day!

♡ Thursday 20th September @ 3.30pm

We walked back to Lloyd’s Inn and packed all of our stuff and headed off to the airport.

I had such a beautiful time in Singapore and now it is time for the next adventure! Stay tuned…