After two amazing book signings at the W San Francisco and W San Diego – this single girl author figures she deserves an indulgent vacation – first royalty check in hand I scoop up a deal from my favorite travel newsletter – www.travelzoo.com. Flying solo ain’t too shabby when www.globotours.com can get you there on the best ever Singapore Airlines plus a posh at the Ritz Carlton Singapore for $1100!
First trip abroad in forever, best single girlfriend begged off at the last moment and so I boarded the plane all by lonesome for the far Far East. . .
At the new SF Airport international terminal – Asian cutie & I discuss the feasibility of the tech chic vending machines – does that Ipod in the slot cost more or possibly less? You forgot yours at home –think I’ll just grab another at the airport… Yes- it seems kinda cool to say I got mine outta a vending machine. After doing the math we realize it’s the same and after parting company I realize that’s his girlfriend giving me the evil eye.
19.5 hours to go ---- on the plane I befriend my fellow passengers – Korean grad student returning home for summer vacation, an Indian woman flying home to Bombay after visiting her daughter in Sunnyvale and couple of Asian technopreneurs – bound for India - no drinking buddies here.
At baggage claim on the other side I meet an American white dude who’s stopping in Singapore for the legendary epicurean delights (foodie heaven) and then off to visit family for a couple of months in Bali. We’re destined to meet later on the streets of Singapore when I’m lost and confused on the streets of the city…
My first day I’m reacquainted with my body at the spa – what a lovely re-entry…The hotel staff is pretty amazed that I’m traveling alone – Singapore is perfect for solo female travelers – best shopping and safe to explore even at night. I’m positively amazed that other than the couple on the plane I haven’t seen another back person walking around nor will I during the fours days I’m there. I’m treated like a returning a princess – I chalk it up the city’s cosmopolitan way of being.
What luck I’ve landed in shop-till-you-drop-land just in time for GSS – The Great Singapore Sale – island wide discounts at every store big and small! I decide to tackle the block after block shopping centers on the infamous Orchard Road – window after window of designer boutiques and glass & steel temples of temptation beckon – I shop till I drop at one of the outdoor cafés lining the boulevard.
The live music draws me in. A casual trio playing guitars sensuously like the slack key artists of my youth in Hawaii – their repertoire skips from Los Lobos to Kelly Clarkson to Cat Stevens and Pearl Jam – mellow music to soothe my tired feet– rather than standing in the long taxi ques.
I grab my fifteen seconds of fame with the boys in the band www.catsinthecradle.com and score one their not-yet-released CDs. If you’re ever in paradise – Singapore – stop by for a cooling cocktail at Nude Bar (part of the Indochine chain of upscale eateries – make sure you go to the ladies room where the sinks sit atop a coral reef aquarium).
The friendly locals will make you smile and you’ll soon forget that you’re traveling solo…
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