No matter how strong and independent I would like to believe to be, the first sight of my parents in Singapore had me jumping up and down, literally. Visiting Singapore for three nights only, I had to carefully plan my weekend with them. After all, there was too much to eat and too little time. Plotting the perfect plan to align the best food places with the best sights, I created the ideal itinerary.
It all started with sushi for Friday night dinner, then Singaporean kopi, kaya toast and mee siam for Saturday breakfast, to be followed by a Taiwanese lunch and Thai dinner. Sunday was scheduled to include Chinese pastries, an elaborate Indian meal and Hong Kong dim sum dinner. Monday consisted mostly of Malay snacks and a Thai lunch. In between meals, the occasional Tiger beer intermezzos took place. Welcome to Singapore!
I chose food places spread out all across Singapore so according to our city conquering routine, we strapped on our walking shoes and set out to take on Singapore by foot. The botanical gardens in the morning, Little India and Arab Quarter by day and a walk along the Singapore river at night. In line with our philosophy of ‘you don’t experience the culture from the inside of a cab’ we hope to have taken in as much as we could in the time that we had. It left me inspired, exhausted and with muscle-aches.
To relax, I took my parents for a drink where I enjoyed a lychee martini with Tim and Kira only a few weeks ago – an adorable bar on Emerald Hill. While at home I usually go to different places with my parents than with my friends, apparently this doesn’t hold true in Singapore. Either this is because Singapore is the place for mixed crowds (the locals and the expats, the young and the less young) or it is a sign of me becoming more mature and sophisticated (fingers crossed everyone!).
Regardless, I enjoyed taking full advantage of any opportunities to be taken care of by the parents. A good and slightly embarrassing example is the backpack my dad carried with him. The content? He brings his wallet and, more importantly, reading material for when my mom and I get distracted on Orchard Rd. In addition to this, he carried my camera, my sunglasses, my wallet (it is the thought that counts), my sweater, and that what initially distracted me on Orchard. I am still in doubt whether I should confess this, but he may or may not have carried a second pair of shoes.
On Monday afternoon, mom and dad headed to Bali as I made my way back to campus. Our much-needed family time was definitely a relaxing break from exchange life, where I honestly do carry my own backpack. But as I listened to a lecture on globalization only a few hours later it seemed slightly surreal. A weekend that revolved around family, sharing stories and excessive hugs settled back to normal exchange life in an instant. Luckily, I have the feeling that the happiness that their visit brought me will last me quite a while.
