Singapore, June 2026

My sister, Simi, is a rockstar architectural engineering professor at Drexel in Philadelphia. Her work is about how humans and buildings interact with a focus on energy and sustainability. She’s been organizing conferences all over the world, and I crashed one in Beijing in 2018 and emceed another in Doha in 2023. This June, my mom, her 16yo kid Vesper, and I all joined Simi in the complicated stylish gourmet city state of Singapore! (full album of my Singapore photos here)

The non-stop flight from Newark to Singapore is the longest in the world, 18-19 hours. Amazingly, the Singapore Air plane we flew in was ALL premium economy (no regular/basic seats!). And of course SA food is excellent, the seats are wider and feature foot and calf rests, and the staff is quite so gorgeous and kind.

I am lucky to be a good plane sleeper, though middle age has required some significant adjustments (eye mask! ear plugs! inflatable neck traction pillow to keep my neck straight! half a Xan!). I can’t believe I could knock off without any trouble before. In 2008, I was on a Bolivian bus that literally caught on fire and I had to be jostled awake by a fellow passenger to escape. Of the 18+ hours in flight, I slept 7, watched a movie, ate 3 meals and 2 snacks, read half a novel, and worked a couple of hours. And we were still not there! :)

The last time I was in Singapore was in November 2022 for the Singapore Lit Festival (h/t to incredible poet and festival director Pooja Nansi!). It was hot and oh so sweaty, but it did not rain. June in Singapore is just as hot, plus smack in the middle of the rainy season. I did not bring an umbrella, and boy did we need them. Torrential downpours almost every day, followed by temporarily cooled air, and then back to heavy heat and humidity.

As you might guess, we ate very very well in the Lion City. From places around our hotel (bao buns at Legendary Classics, breakfast at Dewgather, bubble tea from the mall) to street fare (puffs at Maxwell Food Center, fresh juices at roadside stalls) to upscale restaurants (Bridgerton decor at Cultivate and tofu kyaw at Burma Social) to Michelin star restaurants (standout dim sum at Ya Ge and incredible Peranakan food at Candlenut)… we feasted and feasted and feasted some more.

Some of these places (Legendary! Burma Social! Candlenut!) were recommendations from my dear dear friends Aurvi and Monesh (and Aurvi’s friend Megha). Aurvi and Monesh came to Singapore all the way from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to hang out with us for the week! Monesh finagled a work trip out of it, and Aurvi works remote, so they were able to swing it. I have missed these lovely humans terribly in NYC since they left more than 2 years ago, so it was an absolute joy to reunite with them. And they got to meet and hang out with my fam which was also fantastic.

Simi describes Singapore as where architects come to play. I have been obsessed with architecture even before she became an architect, dating back to my 1995 visit to Spain and marveling over the Alhambra in Grenada, and Barcelona’s dreamy Gaudi cityscape. So of course, Singapore’s wild and playful skyline sends me: prismatic and mirrored surfaces, flower and dome shaped buildings, curving shards of glass and concrete, green walls galore, sky-high pedestrian walkways, and of course the famous ship building, perched atop 3 skyscrapers. A great way to see some of these architectural marvels is from the water, preferably a sunset boat ride along Singapore River.

There’s a Singaporean law that mandates that new construction preserve old trees, and replace any other displaced foliage with green walls and permanent plantings. This makes for one of the most gorgeously green urban landscapes in the world. Even the highways are hemmed on both sides with dense tropical forest. Two hotels I saw took the law to Amazon jungle heart. I could spend hours, days, wandering around the Parkroyal and the Oasis hotels, pictured below.

On the green tip, we made sure to walk through the famed Cloud Forest with its 100+ foot high indoor waterfall and even higher mountain of greenery. Next door, the Flower Dome (the world’s largest green house) was a wonder, this June wreathed in hydrangea blossoms of every colour and shape and size, and featuring luxurious Ottoman styled gardens. We timed our visit to the Gardens by the Bay so that afterwards, we could catch the daily evening light show above the Super Trees, followed by a special Saturday night Northern Lights show that was a neon smoke dream.

Our Pittsburgh family friend Michelle who moved to Singapore last year, joined us at the Cloud Forest with her two adorables, Sophia and Mina, and it was lovely to catch up with her, and give her an extra big hug for the loss of her sweet Ronny.

Naturally, I can’t leave out the capitalist fact that Singapore is the shopping bomb. We went to the Chinatown Street Market like every day (almost), and found so many fun beautiful interesting affordable clothes and knickknacks. I was able to track down Simi’s favourite store (Nepal Clothing) where we both bought multiple skirts and pants. Vesper found a vintage thrift store that she adored. And Amma bought art and jewelry and gifts.

Halfway through our week in Singapore, Amma had the bright idea to do a day trip to another country! I did not know this, but as my mother’s friend network claimed and my internet and friend research confirmed, it is extremely easy to jaunt over to Malaysia ($5, 5-minute train ride to Johor Bahru) or take a ferry to Indonesia ($40 hour-long ferry ride to Batam Island). The Malaysian train was booked out unfortunately - no wonder given how cheap it is. So Batam, Indonesia it was! (full album of my Batam photos here) Simi was busy conferencing, and so Vesper, Amma, and I packed day bags and were in Indonesia by midday.

I should have pre-booked the visa-on-arrival, and skipped the hour queue, but thank goodness for air conditioning and Amma’s cheer. Our taxi driver, Emi, was lovely and we ended up booking him for the whole day for $40. First, because we were very hungry after all our ferrying and queuing, he took us to the most delicious local seafood spot, Love Seafood, where we gorged on lobster fried rice, pomfret, and garlicky greens. Then he drove to Nongsa Beach, but a very local section where there were no food stalls or beach chairs, but plenty of beach cats and adorable kids frolicking in the calm South China Sea.

Vesper and I played a card game called Chodadi (she’s an annoyingly quick study at games) while Amma waded happily in the water. Then the two of them went off walking, while I sat and watched two little boys play hide and seek on a floating platform. There’s a funny thing that happens when your phone doesn’t work. You can’t post photos of your sandy toes or read texts from friends. You can’t look up the next ferry or nearest market. You can only just be here now. And the best part is that time s l o w s down.

When I think back to that afternoon at Nongsa Beach, I feel like I’m still sitting on the shell-sharp sand, like the afternoon lasted forever, when in fact we were only there for a couple of hours. I can still smell the warm seaweed air, see the boys jumping off the platform, feel the mosquito bite just beginning to itch. What a gift.

In care work, I finally was in town to join my Visibility Brigade peeps in their Wednesday overpass actions. This past Wednesday, our sign was KEEP ABORTION LEGAL.

I’ve also been calling and emailing about closing the inhumane Dilley and Delaney ICE detention centers, and donating to Rohingya, Gaza, and Lebanon mutual aid organizations. This past Sunday, I revived my languishing Care/Creativity hour-long zoom and will try do it more regularly (monthly?) going forward. Message me for the link if you’d like to join. It’s very low-key and it feels good and meaningful to be together, even if virtually.