We’ve written a few times about rolling with, and adapting to some difficulties on the road. However, it’s important to remember that world travel often leads to unexpected positive experiences as well.
For example: during our visit to Singapore we got to spend time with both one of Clint’s friends from childhood, as well as some friends we’d just met a few weeks before in New Zealand! Both of these meetings were unplanned until we actually arrived in the country, and both were amazing times.
Old Friends – Hanging Out With SE Asia Brewers
Clint and Jason grew up in the same neighborhood – on the same street – in Toledo, Ohio. There are many fond memories of backyard soccer, cul-de-sac hockey, and bike trails through the woods, and to this day their parents remain good friends.
In adulthood, Jason has become a brewery consultant – working with a few Ohio breweries (e.g. Wolf’s Ridge in Ohio, Founder’s in Michigan) but mainly focused on establishing/developing breweries in SE Asia. He is on instagram @everythingisalchemytome, see his website here.
By complete chance, Jason was scheduled to judge the Asia Beer Championship in Singapore during the same time we visited the country. Neither Clint or Jason was aware of this until our moms talked back in Ohio and realized the fact!
Of course we had to meet up – randomly, we actually ran across each other in the Singapore airport and talked for a while, but planned to meet up during some downtime after his judging. So, one evening we caught the subway to Chinatown and met up with Jason (and the rest of the Beer Championship judges) for a night out!
The “leader” of this group was Charles, a British expat living in Singapore. Once we met up with Jason we kind of folded into the group of brewers, and ended up spending the whole night out. We even got into Level 33 – the “highest” microbrewery in the world, with some amazing views of the city!
Cheers to everyone in this group!
After the brewery tour, we joined Jason on his “ramen quest” looking to find the best/most authentic ramen possible. He’d heard the best Ramen in Singapore was at this restaurant, so we came along. We don’t have enough knowledge to say whether it’s the best, but it was pretty great!
As a parting gift, Jason gave us the remaining contest beers his Philippine brewery had leftover after the beer championship.
I tried valiantly to finish them all, but ended up giving about 7-8 (can’t remember!) to our new Singaporean friends!
New Friends – Connecting With Singaporeans We Met in New Zealand
One evening during our Campervan adventure around New Zealand, we went out for dinner at the Alice May Restaurant in the town of Franz Josef. After we finished dinner, we struck up a conversation with 3 Singaporeans sitting next to us – Nicole, YY, and Jiayin.
The conversation was initially about Clint’s beard – which is undoubtedly impressive:
But ultimately we had so much in common with our new friends, who were also our same age! We ended up talking and drinking until the small restaurant closed down and kicked us out.
At the time we weren’t sure of our next destination after New Zealand, but Singapore was a possibility. Once we ultimately decided to make the stop, we let our new friends know. They were back to work when we made our visit, but we still made plans to meet up when they could!
When talking about Singaporean hospitality, I distinctly remember Nicole using the phrase “under-promise, over-deliver” – this is exactly what they did. We first met up with them at Jumbo Seafood, on the island’s east coast (after seeing the otters!) and had an amazing crab meal:
When we were ready to leave, we discovered our hosts sneakily paid the bill before we even had a chance to see it. Thanks again!
After the seafood feast, Nicole and YY took us to a karaoke bar close to where we were staying. Again, we ended up closing this place down.
But we weren’t done yet. The next night we met up outside a large hawker centre near where they work, and were treated to some local Singaporean favorites. We went to a nearby bar after eating, and hung out again until the latest possible time – only leaving to catch the last metro train to our hotel.
Singapore is definitely impressive enough to enjoy on its own, but our experience was made all the better by getting to enjoy it with both old friends and new friends. This is a huge part of what makes our world traveling experience so memorable and worthwhile!
