Utopia in Singapore 

As previously mentioned, Singapore was one of my favorite cities. It’s beautiful and luxurious, clean and organized, and arguably one of the most urbanized cities in the world. Their metro is great, the food even better, and as a bonus, potted flowers line their roads. And, it’s not far from Bali and tons of gorgeous getaways.

What more can you ask?

The downside is that Singapore is a very strict place, with somewhat extreme punishments for breaking their laws.

No gum chewing, no smoking, no cuddling, no jaywalking, no singing to inappropriate songs.

We would jokingly yell, “15 years hard labor,” or “death penalty” at one another whenever someone did something a little questionable- but we all knew there was a little more truth in that than joke.

After a rough night that included me having a dance off on an empty dance floor with a stranger in Clarke Quay, the three of us yelling along to Rihanna’s “Only Girl” at a karaoke bar at which no one was rowdy but us, and us singing to Drake’s “One Dance” after a cab driver refused to play music, we made our way home- or more accurately, to the 7/11 across from our hotel which we frequented too often in those two days.

We hadn’t had our fill of singing and dancing for the night, so we decided to go to a bar next door called Sassy Bar.

It was a shady looking bar, the kind that’s perfect for a nightcap, and as we trudged up the stairs to the doorway, Nick joked, “Wouldn’t it be funny if this were actually a brothel.”

It was a brothel.

We walked in and the boys were immediately swarmed by a group of women in tight dresses. I still insisted on getting a drink, but the women said the bar was closed, so we turned around and walked right out.

For a place where so many things are illegal, a house of ill repute was quite puzzling. But hey, it is the world’s oldest profession.

Aside from the great nightlife, the sights in Singapore are unreal. The infamous Marina Bay Sands-an impressive structure consisting of three separate towers propping up a boat-like building on the top, makes for an incredible view of the city. It’s lovely because when you’re at the club on the top floor and don’t feel like talking to anyone anymore, you can just gaze out at the lights reflecting off the harbor.

The Supertrees in Singapore are also out of this world; they literally look like a scene from Avatar. Supertrees are imposing artificial trees covered in plants that act as vertical gardens, and generate electricity (I know that’s a lot to take in, Google it). If you want to know what the future feels like- this is it.

I would have been more sad to leave this artificial Utopia, if it weren’t for the fact that Bali was next. Oooh baby.