SINGAPORE: An American couple who are on a quest to eventually see 100 countries around the world recently returned to Singapore. Only this time, they came back to “fix” the mistakes they made the first time around.
Heather and Bill, who document their journeys on their YouTube channel, Tales From Our Pocket, call themselves “In-depth travelers who over-analyze and research everything, including the destinations we visit,” in their bio.
Now obviously, this level of meticulousness demanded that Singapore deserved a second visit just to do the things they hadn’t done right when they came in 2022, starting from having “cheaped out” when they didn’t pay to see the National Orchid Garden at the Singapore Botanic Gardens.
During their first visit, Bill said that getting in would cost another S$15 and there were plenty of beautiful orchids outside anyway.
“That is the first mistake that we are fixing today,” Heather says. It didn’t take too long for her to admit that viewers to had written to them about it had been right. The “massive” size of the Orchid Garden shocked them, as did seeing a carnivorous plant. The two also searched for the orchid named after US President Barack Obama, which viewers told them about.
“You’re beautiful, Obama orchid,” Heather said, later adding that they enjoyed seeing the VIP Orchid area and the Celebrity Garden.
“We admit it, we were dumb,” the couple said, “our Singapore viewers were right.”
Next, they visited Katong, which, as Heather explained, required a backstory. During their first visit, they tried egg tarts, which to their surprise, were nothing like the Pastéis de Nata that they’d enjoyed in Portugal. When they said this, viewers told them that there are two kinds of egg tart in Singapore, one of which can be found in Katong. And true enough, it was much closer to the pastry they enjoyed in Portugal.
“It’s amazing,” said Heather, while Bill chimed in with “I really love this.”
Their third mistake to fix was to try laksa, which they did at Katong as well. Bill ordered a small seafood-style bowl, which he definitely enjoyed though he did find it a bit spicy.
“This is absolutely delicious,” he said, “thank you, Singapore.”
Heather, however, struggled with laksa a little bit, as she admitted to her “inability to handle spice” and said her tongue was on fire.
Then they went on to fix mistake number four, which was to include the Merlion in any of their Singapore videos, so they went to Marina Bay Sands to do just that.
Unfortunately, this was a wrong that could not be righted, as the statue of the Merlion near MBS is being refurbished and was all covered up.
“Now we can call this ‘When things don’t go as planned in Singapore,’” Heather quipped, although the statue’s face can be seen in some of their footage.
They went on to fix mistake number five, which they called “the satay crime,” as they had used the wrong sauces the first time they visited. And while the vendor where they bought food is no longer there, the couple definitely enjoyed their dinner from Satay No 6, to the point of Heather calling the peanut sauce the best she has ever had. /TISG
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