Skyscrapers, Clean Streets and Shopping Malls!
Singapore is the 5th country I’ve visited in less than a month. First Vietnam, then Cambodia, then Thailand, then Indonesia, now Singapore. Yes, I officially went crazy when planning this trip.
Singapore is unlike the other cities I’ve visited so far in Southeast Asia.
For the first time in nearly a month, I’ve seen skyscrapers and super-clean streets! And a Gap! Not that I wanted to shop there or anything…
Tammy and I arrived in Singapore on the Chinese New Year, expecting celebrations all around us. However, arriving in Singapore on the Chinese New Year is like visiting America on Christmas. Quiet. We had planned our trip one evening after all the huge celebrations. We were told the big celebrations are on weekends, so since the Chinese New Year lasts a month, I’m sure we’ll see a lot of parades and parties when we arrive in China, later.
We went to a hotel called 1929 that I had heard was pretty good. It wasn’t. The room was clean but small. I really needed to use the bathroom when we got there… only to discover it was a small section of the room, separated from the bed (yes, only ONE bed!) by a GLASS door with a stripe across it, so you can’t really “see” inside of it completely, but it’s strange because it’s not private.
While I was *busy* in that not-so-private-room-with-the-see-through-glass-door, Tammy went downstairs to look around.
She found another hotel next door that was better and cheaper — with two beds and a normal bathroom. Yeah, go T! There were two other travelers who had checked in around the same time as us who were on their way out of our hotel too, as soon as they saw their room.
Then it was time to explore. We quickly discovered that Chinatown was dead… which was a shame since we booked our hotel in Chinatown, specifically to celebrate the Chinese New Year. Then the man at the front desk of our new hotel told us to go to a place called Clark Quay. We took a cab there and found a maze of restaurants, bars and nightclubs in an outdoor area near the river.
Hung out, had some drinks, ate some food and went to bed… in our NICE hotel room.
Today it was time to explore.
Walked though a pretty sedate Chinatown during the day (apparently everyone who celebrates it was with their families today) and headed towards Little India.
The funny thing about walking in an unfamiliar city is you generally have to ask for directions. Without fail, everyone’s concerned about how far we’d be capable of walking. Every time we asked for directions, all we wanted to know was “this way” or “that way.” However, the answer people tended to give us about directions was “Oh, that’s too far to walk — let me tell you which way to the bus — or you can take a taxi!” Well, Singapore really isn’t that big and we had all day day to explore it. If we don’t walk through the markets and temples and mosques and side streets, what else were we going to do???
Despite the concern of everyone in the city, we made it to Little India in about a half hour or so and our legs didn’t fall off. Had an AMAZING lunch and decided to check out the Sultan Mosque.
According to our guide books, there’s a large Muslim population and the Sultan Mosque is the biggest mosque in Singapore.
After the mosque, we saw by chance what I’ve been wanting to see in this country… a Chinese New Year dragon show!!!!!
Then it was off to the Singapore Flyer, which is a gigantic ferris wheel, much like the London Eye.
From there, we got an audio tour and spectacular views of Singapore and Malaysia.
Walked around some more, and Tammy led the way to the Singapore Chabad House.
We went back to the Singapore flyer where we picked up an open-air bus tour through the lights of Chinatown. Apparently, people were done with the family time, because the streets were alive. It was nice to see that all those decorations informing us it’s the year of the Ox aren’t going to waste, as people celebrate!
Ended the day in Singapore with a Singapore Sling (local drink) at the Raffles Hotel (local high-end hotel). My friend Kieran recommended we do that and I wanted to check that one off my list. The two us were the only two in cargo pants or jeans and backpackers’ gear, which everyone else was so elegantly dressed. (Left my formal wear at home. Oh well, ha ha.)
We did it. We pretty much saw it all in one day, which is just nuts. Getting ready to hop an overnight flight to Beijing.
I need a moment here, I’m mourning the loss of the warm weather.
Next time I write I’ll probably be hunting for a winter coat to buy. I hear it’s COLD in northern China right now! Should I really go run to catch my flight?
