Wow, how does one wrap up what really feels like three separate trips all packed into one?! It feels so long ago eating laksa in Singapore, black water rafting in New Zealand or visiting night markets in Taiwan. With the world turned upside down, I have been (very) slowly blogging and am finally through the trip (from almost a year ago now!)
If you have read through all of it, Thank you! Though this is likely the “longest” stretch of blogging for a single trip. In the midst of a pandemic, I find reminiscing on past travel to be a mini “getaway” in and of itself.
There is some temptation to to wrap up each individual country but in the spirit of past wrap ups, I figure keeping with convention makes sense here.
Top 3 Highlights
Highlight #1: Southern Lights! (Again!)
When In Australia the first time, one of my highlights then was seeing the Southern Lights for the first time. Imagine my excitement when Gimpy and I decided to go stargazing at Lake Pukaki, only to find that familiar hint of green in our photos!
Just like the first time, this is purely an accident but equally as awesome and exciting! On top of this, being in the calm of night in New Zealand’s Dark Sky Reserve is something to experience as well. To be able to see the stars so clearly is worthwhile in and of itself.
Highlight #2: Gardens By the Bay
On one of my last full days in Singapore I made it a point to visit the Gardens by the Bay in the evening to catch the Super Tree Light Show. Experiencing a perfect setting sun that displayed the beauty of the Gardens by the Marina Bay Sands Hotel is my highlight. While the light show itself is fun. I think the way it lights up the entire garden and the almost fantasy like nature of it in the evening let it be one of my favorite memories in Singapore! On top of this, having the temperature cool in the evening after a fairly hot day made for a very comfortable experience being outside in Singapore, which isn’t always the case.
Highlight #3: Seeing Physio get Hitched!
One of the main reasons for this trip is to attend my friend Physio’s wedding! Although it was a very whirlwind weekend, I’m honored to have been invited, and am so happy to witness him and his lovely brides union! The whole visit was magical and am really glad to have been there for it!
Highlight #4: United Island Hopper
Before planning this trip, the United Island Hopper was an aviation bucket list item for me. But I didn’t know if it would ever come to fruition. Thankfully, with a little creative routing and a lot of endurance it did! Unfortunately due to the pandemic, they didn’t allow passengers to deplane at each stop and I was stuck inside the cabin of a 737 for about 17 hours. But I am happy for the experience, for the amazing views from above and to check this off my aviation bucket list!
Highlight #5: Road Trippin!
This one might be cheating, but i’m doing it anyways. While we did so many things in New Zealand. I really enjoy spending time with both Suzy and Gimpy driving around the country. Road trips are an awesome way to see and explore. It also has the benefit of being in a car with your friends for a long period of time and it facilitates the chance to catch up and chat! We saw so many great things and have some wonderful memories! This truly is a highlight of the trip for me!
Favorite Meal
With so many countries and so many types of cuisine, picking a de facto best meal is difficult. After doing a brief look through my meals, I think I narrowed it down to three.
Katong 328 (Singapore)
After a fairly busy first day in Singapore, a friend recommended Katong 328 to me. Getting good Laksa is on my list to “eat” in Singapore and this is as good a place as any to give it a shot. I’m glad I did, the broth is very flavourful and it is jam packed with seafood! On top of this, it’s only served with a spoon because the noodles are cut up in sizes that don’t require chop sticks. This meal really hit the spot and I’m really happy I visited it!
The Stoaker Room (New Zealand)
Gimpy and I found the Stoaker room totally by accident. We were driving on our way from Twizel to Queenstown in New Zealand’s South Island. When Gimpy and I just happen to stop off at this spot for a pit stop. What we found though was a small winery tasting room and the Stoaker Room. An outdoor bbq setup where food is cooked in old pinot noir barrels.
I think what made this meal so memorable is partly the accidental way in which we found it and the surprisingly unique and tasty way the food is prepared. The meat was very well prepared and the fresh veggies provided also made it super tasty. We never would have found this had we not needed to have a bio break!
Niu Tien Beef Noodles
Niu Tien Beef Noodles was also my first meal in Taiwan. I wanted to ensure I get a few chances to have Taiwanese Beef Noodle, and Niu Tien Beef is one of these establishments that is also on the Michelin list. So when I went I really enjoyed the unique Beef Noodle soup experience! Add to this the fact that the day was a bit cloudy and cold, a hot soupy noodle dish really hit the spot!
If I could change the itinerary…
This one is very difficult. On more than one occasion the itinerary DID change. In fact even while on the trip I had to change the itinerary in order to get home before borders closed.
So I think my initial answer is, don’t travel during a pandemic (duh!). It did cause a few headaches for me: Things like not being able to deplane on the island hopper, or having to reroute due to airline cancellations as the virus spread is annoying. 
However ignoring things outside of my control, I think allocating more time in Australia is what I would change.
A few years ago I already spent some time in Australia. This time, my intention was to attend Physio’s wedding festivities. My goal being to attend the wedding and then head to New Zealand. However, what I didn’t appreciate is that weddings are a busy time and an opportunity for friends to gather and catch up.
And in some ways I regret not having more time in Sydney. Not only to spend with Physio and his new bride. But also with Suzy and Touchpad Killa that flew in from Canada. On top of that Physio and I have mutual friends in San Francisco that also came for the wedding and another mutual friend from Canada who moved to Australia in order to pursue her culinary career.
So all in all, I think my desire to “see new things”, impacted my ability to see friends near and far and having that time to catch up.
What surprised me?
How a global pandemic really changes my perception of safety and healthcare. Those close to me know that prior to my trip, I was actually pretty stressed out. With COVID numbers rising, I had concerns about different borders potentially closing. Or even potentially catching it myself.
February 2020
At the time, Singapore represented the second largest number of confirmed COVID cases in the world next to China. And given the relative unknowns about this virus, there was some real concern about health and also disruptions to travel.
At the time, I didn’t know if while in Singapore, Australia might close the border to them like they did to China. Furthermore, I didn’t want to end up in any mandatory quarantine as it would surely ruin any plans I had.
In my mind, I figured that if I could make it to Australia and then on to New Zealand my trip would be fine. Somehow I had this preconceived notion that arriving in a “western country” like Australia or New Zealand would instantly mean safety and better health controls.
The Surprise
What surprised me is the minute I arrived in Singapore, everything felt normal. In fact, I had brought masks thinking it would be the norm. Oddly, on my first day, I was one of the few people wearing them. Life seemed very normal there and I felt extremely safe. There was a very heavy screening process upon entry into the country and health and temperature checks everywhere. But from any other viewpoint, the country was operating as normal and I truly enjoyed my time in Singapore
November 2020
Sadly after leaving, their cases increased a little but nothing like some of the outbreaks in the United States and even home here in Canada. In fact there are days now (November 2020) that I wish I am in one of the places I visited given how well they have handled this pandemic!
I think this surprise highlights my “North American” bias and that sometimes other countries can and do things better. This isn’t to say that I carry myself with a “North American” superiority whenever I travel. But like how I enjoy seeing and experiencing new cultures while travelling. This time, I am seeing how their way of doing things in a very current and secular context can and has been been better.
One memorable story from this trip
Two of our friends from San Francisco attended Physio’s wedding as part of their larger honeymoon vacation. Similar to Suzy and I, they hopped over to New Zealand after the wedding. It was cool to check out their Instagram stories and seeing us leap frog each other making our way down the country.
While we generally have the same pathing. We didn’t have any plans to actually meet up in New Zealand due to logistics (Plus I don’t think they would want us to crash their honeymoon!). However, after Gimpy and I did a last minute Milford Sound cruise booking due to personal vehicles being restricted on the highway. We actually found ourselves on the same boat as our friends!
I think some of my favourite memories, when it comes to travel, are those happy accidents that turn out so well and I think this is one of them. We spent the afternoon with them cruising around Milford Sound before getting on separate buses back to Te Anau and Queenstown respectively. But being able to spend that time with them is a welcome surprise and what a beautiful day for it too!
Did I pack appropriately?
For the most part, yes. I think I’m generally good with packing, though there are a few things that can always improve. I think focusing on footwear is probably going to be the next focus of mine during this pandemic. There’s nothing really wrong with what I packed this time around, though I think going from a very hot place like Singapore to being in some chillier climates like the mountains of New Zealand stretched some of my footwear choices.
I think historically I tend to rely on footwear that can be used in a variety of situations and have stuck with the same items for a while now. If anything it’s simply time to maybe update some of these choices. Both for updated function and also updated fashion, but past that everything worked out pretty well this time!
Regrets?
I didn’t make the most of my time in Taiwan. By the time I arrived, it was day 30 and country #5 or something. And as much as I enjoy travelling, I think by this time I started to get a little tired. I think to pile on, I started to feel slightly under the weather too, so with everything going on in the world, I didn’t want to risk anything either. Additionally, this last portion of the trip is a solo leg, and after spending 20+ days with friends, it’s a ‘little’ anti climactic to finish of the trip alone.
I still did things each day, but I certainly didn’t go out of my way to pack the days. So in some respects I don’t feel I gave Taiwan a very fair shake and I think I do need to make my way back in order to really experience what this awesome place has to offer.
Advice for people considering similar trips/destinations?
These are all separate trips. Even though I ended up doing them all together, I believe that intentionally focusing on each country individually gives each of them a chance to shine. So, my advice is do trips to each country on their own.
Here are a few thoughts about the individual places I visited:
Singapore
- Singapore is one of the few places that is a “city country”. It is very self contained and makes for a very “easy” destination when visiting.
- Transit is efficient and easy to navigate (especially if you have something like Google Maps which will plot out the bus routes you need)
- There are distinctive neighbourhoods all over the City/Country, so plan your days around different parts of the city for maximum efficiency
- I think the biggest thing is to expect the heat, expect to sweat and expect the odd dousing of rain.
- If you feel the need to avoid the heat, exploring at night gives this city its own different “feel”.
- This city looks amazing at night so take some time to explore it in the evening as well. It’s very safe!
- Expect to spend money! It’s not a cheap city!
Australia
- I’m going to “skip” Australia since I only spent a weekend here. Though I’ll refer you to my actual Australia Wrap Up from a few years ago. I still agree with everything.
New Zealand
- Get out of the city! While there are some cool things to see in the different cities in New Zealand. I think the true value of visiting New Zealand is away from the cities. That’s where this country truly shines!
- Two weeks is not enough. Obviously two weeks is never enough to fully explore any place you visit. However, as “small” as New Zealand seems, there is just so much to see and do. While you can rush through the whole country in two weeks (like us). There are so many things left unseen or unexplored.
- To add onto the timing, I think picking either New Zealand’s North or the South Island is a better idea. That way you can pace yourself a bit when you explore. While you may miss out on something from one side or the other, you’ll at least have a more thorough experience of one. (In fact things like the Glow worm caves can be done on both!)
Taiwan
- Plan it out a little more. This may just have been a failing on my part. But aside from a few larger points of interest, I left most of my day fairly free and flexible. And I think there’s enough variety in Taiwan that you may end up with a case of “too many choices”. As an example, there are so many night markets with different specialties and I only had a few nights to choose amongst them. So having a bit more framework may maximize the experience.
- You can’t really go wrong with the food here. There are so many options and they are all very tasty! Eat your way through this country!
Final thoughts?
Variety
For all the “issues” experienced, I still enjoyed this trip immensely. It was so varied in activity, forms of transportation, friends along the way and even countries to visit. From the ultra modern, high end city state of Singapore. The beautiful nature “everywhere you look” country of New Zealand. Or the hustle and bustle, mix of history and “today” of Taipei. This trip afforded me so many different and memorable experiences. On top of that, bucket list items like the Island hopper to some of the most remote places in the world add to the richness of what this trip has meant to me.
I can safely say this has been one of the more aspirational trips I’ve embarked on. What started as a wedding invite and a destination “add on”, turned into so much more. Before I knew it, a weekend turned into two weeks, and then a month! I think what also makes this trip memorable are all the “happy accidents” that occurred throughout the trip. Finding out about Katong 328 from a friend who just happened to notice I was in Singapore on social media. Gimpy needing to use the bathroom which turned into a day of wine tastings. Going stargazing and finding the Southern Lights. Or even a last minute booking that put us on the same boat as two friends on their honeymoon from the the other side of the world. All of these things make the trip more special because, in some ways, it could only happen to us!
Pandemic.
The other element of this trip is that it occurred as close to the “world” shutting down as possible. I feel very fortunate that while there were a few disruptions to my travel, I remained safe and healthy throughout my trip and without any issues of closed borders or major flight disruptions. Seeing the different approaches to this pandemic from the countries I visted during the early days helps to illustrate to me the current state of these countries now. Tight border restrictions even back then, result in how well their Covid numbers are now. And while the travel industry will take years to recover (if it recovers), I suspect travel as we know it will change. And when that day comes, I’ll be eager to adventure again, but also to see what that “new world” of travel will look like.
Personal
When I arrived home from Taiwan, it genuinely felt good to “be home”. Additional travel (even if it were possible) wasn’t on my mind at the time. And for the first time in quite awhile, being home meant a lot more than it has on previous trips. I am grateful, first and foremost to be be healthy. I am also thankful that those near and dear to me are also healthy. I’m fortunate to live in a pretty cool part of the world. And as the pandemic draws on, yes, I do long to travel again.
But I am also reminded (especially while in New Zealand) that I live in a beautiful part of the world. And while I can’t travel internationally for a while, I am blessed to have travelled so much already. But I am also blessed to live in Canada where I can travel domestically. So for now, until the world opens up again, I may just spend time exploring my own “backyard”. And appreciating it for how awesome it is! So wherever you may be reading this from, I do hope that you stay safe, and healthy and pray for a prompt and good resolution to this global pandemic.