I arrived in Singapore just before 2am. Who schedules these flights?! But Singapore has an answer for that: airport hotel. This wonderful invention is in with the terminals in the sterile zone, so you can check in straight from your flight. They rent rooms in 6 hour blocks, which is just enough to make a huge difference. The room was nice; there’s just something about staying in an actual hotel. Fancy LCD TV, not that I had any time for that. Sent a couple emails and crashed. The night went too quickly.
In the morning, I got a better look at the Singapore airport. Amazing. It really sets the tone for the rest of the city. It’s spotless and uber trendy. Everything is big and open, made of glass and stainless steel. I have a bunch of pictures of it, but it’s probably the nicest airport I’ve been to. But people weren’t kidding when they said the government keeps an eye on everything. There’s probably three cameras on you at all times. Security actually watches you as you walk by. The room leading up to immigration is lined with soldiers, armed with automatic rifles. Contrast that to Japan where there was one old guy with a large stick (that he was leaning on) and a riot shield. Or the US where we have, uh, guys in white shirts with radios. Like I said, it sets the tone.
The public transportation is remarkable. The subway is cheap, clean, and COLD, and it goes just about everywhere. Over 20 cars in each train. Getting around is so easy. Even the buses are nice! But they do have strict rules: I was yelled at for drinking from a water bottle in the train station. Apparently eating or drinking in a station or train is a $500 fine. These people do NOT mess around.
So I get to my hostel around 9, but can’t check in until after noon. Stashing my stuff, I head out to see what can be seen. Orchard Street is supposed to be a big deal, so I head out there. To say it’s hot here doesn’t do it justice. Not only is it around 100 degrees, it’s over 80% humidity. My shirt was soaked as soon as I stepped out, and I’ve been literally dripping sweat all day. It’s disgusting. Good thing my anti-malarials have a warning to avoid sunlight. I wasn’t quite ready for it that early this morning, so I ducked into a Starbucks. I’m ashamed to admit it, but I needed to get out of the sun and needed a cold drink. After doing some reading on Wikitravel, I decided there was no more walking around sightseeing to be done for me. My feet were a little too sore and I was tired. The Indo country director warned me to come healthy, since they have a lot of work lined up. So I decided I needed to rest a little. The Internet told me about a nice beach, so I decided to get there and chill.
Three hours later, I found the beach. In the process, I saw almost the entire city/country. But I’ll start with the beach. It was basically like Portland’s waterfront park, just ocean adjacent. A small strip of nice between the road and the water. Except the horizon of this water was exclusively freighters. Not quite what I had in mind. They had bike rentals, so I nabbed one for a two hour block. So nice to get off my feet and moving around with some breeze. I intended to find a seafood joint to eat at, since I have heard wonderful things about Singapore’s food. But I didn’t want to spend $30 on a chili lobster (their specialty) and I didn’t want to eat deep fried baby squid, so I struck out there.
The city itself is truly remarkable. It has the look of the trendiest parts of Portland/Seattle/Vancouver BC, the foliage and landscaping of the nice areas of Florida or southern California, all infused with an Asian twist and a hint of Arab-ness. The architecture is spectacular and the city spotless. It’s incredible to see a city like that. If I had to open a branch of a business somewhere in Asia, it would be here. Things are very “high touch” in that area, too. Hotels are extremely nice. Everything is professional and shiny. But it’s everywhere, not just in the “good” parts of town. I would totally spend more time here, and probably spend way too much money.
You get out of the city a little ways (I know it’s technically the same city, but different districts than the business center) and you start running into more ethnic flavor. There’s a very large Indian population (my hostel is in Little India), then there’s Chinatown and Arab Street. There’s a certain level of Western culture that overshadows all of this. Everything is in English. Signs, media, announcements, etc. That’s probably the biggest difference from the rest of Asia. In the subway, signs are also in Mandarin, Maylay, and Tamil, which makes them look very cool. The look of things is more like rural Asia: packed in row homes and shops, vendors shouting at you as you walk down the street, and pretty much everything for sale. It’s a noticeable difference from the financial district. A funny thing is that the infrastructure is consistent across the entire island. In the worst spots, the buses are the same and all the streets still have crosswalks with all the lights, just like downtown. Kind of a funny blend.
Arriving back at the hostel, I got my bed and got a shower. Not sure why I thought it would help. This place is supposed to be air conditioned. But as far as I can tell, that means there are non-functional air conditioners in the walls. It’s just as hot in here as it is outside. It sucks. I actually thought about leaving and paying for another place to stay. But I won’t. Need to prepare for Indonesia.
So now I’m back in the warm and sticky hostel, where I will most likely stay for the rest of the evening. I picked up a large thing of water because I was feeling very not good from my previous waterless sun-drenched wanderings earlier. Amazing the difference it makes. And, no mom, I didn’t wear sunscreen. Everyone looks at you funny if you wear sunglasses, but that didn’t stop me! I don’t know how they do it.
I have big plans for tomorrow, but you’ll laugh if I share them in advance, so I won’t.
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