A couple months ago I was still planning my graduation trip to Thailand (Koh Samui). Our group of 7 had already booked a Villa, paid the minimum booking deposit, organised a brief itinerary. I was so carried away with the whole concept of graduating that little did I know what I would be doing for two straight weeks was consuming large amounts of alcohol and turning into a nocturnal animal.
As our group were about to book the flights (by far the biggest expense of any trip), my parents suddenly changed their mind and did not allow me to travel to Thailand due to the ongoing political unrest. I was gutted, the thought of missing out on the opportunity to spend time with my best friends one last time before we went our separate ways at University was a daunting one. I received a message from a friend inviting me to join his graduation trip to Singapore. Firstly, I was stoked to even be contacted as I was feeling quite down from the thought of not going on a grad trip. Secondly, although I only visited Singapore once when I was 6, I had no living memory of it so naturally I jumped at the opportunity!
The timing was good since I had already planned another trip to Norway with my family a week after the proposed return date for the graduation trip. The day I was officially added to the graduation group, we had immediately booked the flights, forcing me to commit to this trip completely.
So there it was, I was now going to visit a foreign country with a group of friends whom I did not know all that well, I have to admit initially I was quite sceptical as to how enjoyable the trip would be, but that worry quickly disappeared. I’m not going to go into great detail about the trip here. The goal of the trip was pretty much to have much fun as possible.
Here is a brief itinerary of what we did:
DAY 1 – Travel to Singapore, Shopping near Little India
Day 2 – Universal Studios
Day 3 – Pulau Ubin
Day 4 – Sentosa Beach, Breakout Games, Maxwell Food Centre
Day 5 – Night Safari, MacRitchie Nature Trail, Clarke Quay
Day 6 – Garden by the bay, Marina Bay, Orchard Street
My personal highlights were definitely the cycling adventure day in Pulau Ubin, Universal Studios and Clarke Quay. We split the 6 days, each person was in charge of one day. I was responsible for the day we visited Pulau Ubin.
Pulau Ubin is a pristine island located on the North Eastern tip of Singapore. When you say Singapore to someone, the thought of the Merlion and Singapore’s city centre naturally springs to mind, but Pulau Ubin takes you back to life in Singapore 100 years ago, an island filled with coconut plantations. Exploring the island by bicycle was a refreshing break from the urban, concrete dominated city centre in downtown Singapore. Visiting Universal Studios was only the 6th Theme Park visit in my life, I’m the kind that is terrified by roller coasters. Thankfully, the scariest ride (Battlestar Galactica) was closed. Then came the Mummy Ride, similar to Space Mountain from Disneyland, it was a roller coaster in pitch black and had sudden tilts and drops. Initially the group went on the ride without me, as I was too afraid. After some hard-fought convincing, I decided to try it. The ride was horrifying although thrilling to say the least, the sudden swerves and dips were expected, but the sudden downward reverse was definitely the killer, I yelled non-stop for the entire ride. That being said, this was a great experience and the visuals and effects of this ride truly makes it the best ride available currently in the park.
Nightlife in Clarke Quay… is so much better than that in Hong Kong. For starters, the bars and streets are much cleaner, without shattered beer bottles or drunkards rolling on the floor. Then the clubs are much classier, many with exclusive VIP access and stunning lighting. That being said, although our group did visit an open bar and experienced the live music experience, we spent most of our time out in Starbucks chatting. (Yes, we’re very cheap).
This was a budget trip, and therefore we stayed in accommodation known as “hostels”. I had experience with this kind of accommodation previously during my backpacking trips to Scandinavian countries, however it was obvious that it was the first time for some of my grad-mates. In the first hostel we stayed in, we were roomed with various strangers including a Pakistani trader and other tourists. The night was surprisingly peaceful and uneventful, the biggest problem being the fire alarm going off during my shower, which prompted a dash half naked into the reception. The second hostel provided some much needed privacy, but was honestly the smallest space I have lived in. 6 of us were packed into bunk beds with a space barely enough to fit two open luggages. The cramped nature of the room meant everyone was much closer together, nice and cosy.
Despite these small hiccups, I had an amazing time in Singapore and would highly recommend it for travel. In my opinion, travelling with a group of people is the best way to get to know someone. You spend so much time together, travelling, having fun, troubleshooting, eating. At the end of the trip, when you all go separate ways, you will realise how much you miss your fellow ‘grad-mates’. This is exactly what I experienced recently on my graduation trip to Singapore, and this feeling that has left me convinced I made the right decision to abort Thailand and embark on such a refreshing adventure with new people!
Below is a little selection of the photos from the trip. Mostly taken from Canon S120. Edited with VSCO film.
Clement Ma 