Day 14: Bali to Singapore (Thursday May 25th, 2023)

Today I wanted to stick with my morning routine and get another workout in, so I woke up at 6:30 again. My ultimate goal is to wake up at 6, but I'm slowly adapting to that. Once I got up, I journaled, did an upper body strength workout, stretched, and meditated. I was done around 8:30 and then showered, got ready for the day, and ate breakfast. I had the hostels free egg, chive, and tomato omelette with toast. 

Check out time at my hostel was 11, so I had about two hours to explore Ubud a little bit more. I wanted to go to the Royal Palace since I wasn't able to on Tuesday. It was only about a 8min walk down the street from my hostel and only took me about 5min to see the whole place. Most of the grounds are closed to the public since this is the official residence of the royal family of Ubud. It was pretty though, with lush gardens and intricate stone work. They also host a Legong dance there on Thursdays, but I was leaving and would miss that. 

On my way, I had noticed the Ubud market and went to check that out after. I still had 130k left to spend and wanted to find an incense holder and sorang. I bought a snack for the airport and a few more souvenirs. With only 11k left called it a day and went back to my hostel to pack up my things. 

I checked out and called a grab to go to the airport. This is like Uber, but the Asia version and usually on a motorbike. I wasn't excited to sit on the back of a motorbike for an hour, especially with my backpack on. I had looked into other options, but this was the cheapest, fastest, and most reliable option. I could have taken the bus, which would have been the cheapest, but I didn't know how reliable they are here. Another option would be a taxi, but that would be the most expensive option at 350k ($23). I also could have gotten a grab car, but that was also 350k and would have taken longer since the traffic here is so bad. I also looked into a shuttle bus, but the only one I could find left at 10am, and I didn't want to leave that early since my flight wasn't until 3:30pm and I wanted to explore Ubud some more. So the grab motorbike seemed like the best option. 

Once I got picked up, the guy asked me to cancel the ride. He said that he would still take me to the airport and I would pay the same price, but that way he gets paid more. Since grab takes a cut. I said no, I'll pay you 100k (fare was 94k) and he said okay. The ride turned out to be longer than I thought as it took us 1:30 to get there but Google maps had shown 1:00. The entire ride, all I could think was "I'm so hungry and I can't wait to get off this bike." My hip flexors hurt from being in a shortened sitting position while also keeping me stable on the bike. It was a small bike and he was a big guy, plus me and I was wearing my backpack. I gave him my small backpack to put at his feet. Once we arrived at the airport, I paid him the 100k plus all of my extra change which was about 16k ($1) so that I would spend all of my change before leaving the country and I went on my way. 

As I was walking into the airport, I checked my phone and noticed a notification from 1hr ago that said "your ride has been cancelled". Which means that he cancelled it after picking me up. This infuriates me because it puts me at risk, which is why I didn't cancel in the first place. What if we crash? What if he doesn't bring me to the airport? What if he harassed or abused me? To Grab, it's going to say that there was no trip and they wouldn't be held liable. I had to pay cash in the first place because when trying to add my credit card, my bank and visa wanted to authenticate my card by texting me, but I'm abroad so my home number doesn't work. There wasn't an email option. My plan was to just use cash whenever I use grab since that's an option. But it might be worth paying the $10 for one day of international to get the authentication to add the credit card so this doesn't happen again.

Once at the airport, I was starving. But I wanted to get through security before getting food. After security and immigration, I went to find food. I really wanted mei goreng which is friend noodles with vegetables and egg, but I didn't see any options for that. The food court had about three main options of chicken, ramen, or western food - so I settled for ramen. 

On my way to my gate, I saw an Indonesian place that had mei goreng, but it was too late now! I went to my gate and worked on my blog while I waited for the flight to board. 

The flight was simple but obviously so cheap. The seats were the most uncomfortable airplane seats that I've ever sat in. They were so thin it was like sitting on cardboard. They also didn't have free anything, not even water. It was 10k for a bottle of water (and I had spent all of my cash), or they had hot boiling tea water on board. So I got my water bottle filled with that since I figured it was better than nothing. I assumed I could drink the water in Singapore, but I wasn't 100% positive so I wanted something just in case. Otherwise it would be a few hours before I had access to buy water. 

Once we arrived at the airport, customs was a breeze. It was all automated. You scan your passport, do a thumb print, and if they like it, you're in. 

We landed at 6:30pm and I was still really hungry. Although the free hostel breakfast is nice to have, it's a very small meal. So I bought some $3 lentil chips (which were delicious!) At an airport kiosk - which was cheaper than the $6 protein bar. 

Then, I wanted to explore the airport a little bit. I had heard that the Singapore jewel airport is amazing and worth a visit. Especially, the waterfall - it's the world's tallest indoor waterfall! So I took a bus to terminal 1 departures. 

The Jewel is right across the street to the entrance to terminal 1 departures. It's a huge indoor shopping complex with a waterfall and butterfly garden. The entire complex is absolutely stunning. The air is so fresh and clean, there's soft music playing, lights, mist, the waterfall, etc. The setting makes you feel like you're in the rainforest. 

I walked up one of the "trails" to the top for a better view. 

By now it was a little after 8pm and I wanted to get to my hostel before it was too late. I debated eating dinner at The Jewel first, but figured it would be very expensive and I didn't want such a touristy shopping mall experience, so I went on my way. 

I caught the bus which took about an hour. I got off right in front of a hawker center (food center) and decided I would eat there rather than go back out after checking into my hostel. I got chicken Nasi Goreng (friend rice). 

By the time I got to my hostel and checked in, it was almost 10pm. I was exhausted , so I showered and went to bed.