I totally did it. Our first day in Singapore, Sara looked at me as we were walking down the street and gasped, “Annette, are you chewing gum?” Whoops. Good thing only men (between the ages of 18 and 50) can be caned.

Singapore was stunning. We felt so far from the Asia we have been traveling for the past seven weeks. There is a huge foreign population in Singapore; young financiers come here to make money and enjoy the European luxuries of the city. The architecture is grand and modern, the people beautiful and well-dressed, and the government ensures that there are no mosquitoes in the entirety of the city-state.

We spent three nights with Yesky, a remarkably kind and humble couch-surfing host who has not been in his three-bedroom home alone for three months. He admitted that he is somewhat “addicted” to hosting couch surfers. He moved to Singapore from Taiwan seven months ago and enjoys having a built-in social network in his apartment. Our first night in the city, Yesky – who works as an engineer for Nikon – took us on a tour of the city. We snuck into the Fullerton Hotel, which smelled like jasmine, took pictures in front of the iconic Merlion statue, saw a water and laser show over the bay, and went to the nightclub and pool on top of the Marina Bay Sands Hotel.

Yesky decided to spend a weekend in Indonesia with his friend, so he left his three-bedroom loft to Sara, two other couch surfers, and me.  What an incredibly trusting person.  Sara and I were due for some rest, so we spent a day shopping for food and cooking Mexican food. I miss white sauce from Miguel’s. Our last day in Singapore, we led ourselves on another phone-guided walking tour, drinking the famous Singapore Sling where it was invented – the Raffles Hotel – and exploring Little India. We got caught inside of a giant market during a thunderstorm; we had lunch with some women from Java and I got a henna tattoo.

I continue to feel surrounded by new experiences. I am finishing this post from a wooden table, next to an infinity pool, in front of a beach, on an island off of Bali: Nusa Lembongan. Bali is going to deserve several posts on its own. For now, I will enjoy the Eric Clapton concert being played on the wall of our guesthouse and get some sleep before I dive with manta rays in the morning.  Grateful.