Better Safe Than Starry Eyed
a few months ago, in march 2024, i flew to singapore with one of my besties to watch the eras tour. being the only tour stop in southeast asia, we knew we had to attend – longtime swifties that we are.
the tickets were booked in early july 2023, so we had eight whole months to wait in anticipation, excitement, and nerve-wracking anxiety (the curse of the over-thinker) for our day to come. our flight out from MNL —> SIN was on the same day as our concert, so as you can imagine, our frayed nerves were close to snapping completely.
thankfully, it all worked out! save for a bit of rain and a couple of tiny mishaps, our eras tour experience was beautiful and unforgettable, and we were truly ⟡₊ ⊹enchanted⊹ ₊⟡.
taylor says hi!
my friend and i decided to make the most of our time abroad—our first one together—and booked a 5-day stay right after buying our concert tickets. i’d been to singapore once before, but i knew there were lots more i needed to see and experience in the city. coincidentally, my friend is quite the singapore expert, having visited it multiple times over the last decade or so.
she had plenty of ideas for us to do, visit, and eat during our trip, and it was all a matter of fitting them all into our [seemingly endless] itinerary. but we had an abundance of time to plan it all and prepare accordingly, which was honestly a huge relief.
one of my biggest paranoias concerns going in was my walking-shoe situation. i knew we would be walking a lot on this trip, and i worried that i would struggle to keep up through those 5 days. i am one who occasionally experiences discomfort—even outright pain—in the ball of my feet. so in the months leading up to our flight, i bought some comfortable trainers (three pairs of them, lol), which i knew would carry me through the many food trips, train rides, and traipses through singapore’s tourist haunts.
i also researched various types of insoles i could use, in case comfy running shoes wouldn’t cut it. the best option i found were metatarsalgia insoles, which are specifically designed to help with ball of foot pain. packing a pair in my suitcase honestly gave me so much peace of mind, knowing i had that back-up in case pain did crop up at some point. but thankfully, i survived our long walks and explorations with little to no discomfort in my feet (it always helps to take breaks in between!).
outfit details: graphic white tee, uniqlo trousers, new balance fresh foam X 1080 shoes
these photos were taken on the 4th day of our trip. it was a double feature day: first stop was singapore’s national museum, proceeded by the national gallery (booked in advance via klook, just like our concert tickets). both locations were visually stunning in similar, but also wildly different, ways. we had fun going through exhibits, learning about singaporean history and southeast asian cultures, and most importantly, pretending like we knew anything about art.
although i am not, in any capacity, a patron of the arts or even an avid observer, i truly enjoyed exploring these spaces in singapore. there was a simple yet profound peacefulness to the experience that i can’t quite put my finger on, but will always treasure.
looking back, i feel immense gratitude for being able to be in the moment there, both mentally and physically, because i went in fully prepared to face any potential snag during our trip.
although i’m unsure whether i’ll be able to go back there any time soon, i’m glad to have visited new places in singapore and have these memories immortalized in the hundreds of photos and videos we took. i’m hoping to blog about other aspects of our trip in the coming months!
have you been to these singapore mainstays? what are some of your favorite spots in the city? inquiring minds need to know. 😉
