Singapore Twice Over!

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My apologies for not updating my blog in the past week or so… I’ve had the most amazing time in Bali, an experience I’m not soon to forget and one I’d repeat over and over if I could. I will, however, backtrack and hold off on detailing my experiences in Bali and first describe my ‘interesting’ experience in Singapore.

I figure I’ll start with the trip from Chang Mai to Bangkok…

As I mentioned earlier, I’m in love with the beautiful and culturally quenching city of Chang Mai… Having spent four wonderful days there, complete with treks, cooking classes, and about a dozen massages, my dad went ahead and purchased a bus ticket for the 12 hr. ride back to the buzzing city of Bangkok. On the day of departure Bud and Daniel went rafting and I went cooking… Now, I made a specific list of things I wanted to do after my class but before we got on the bus, including a very last $2 foot massage. I waited and waited at the hotel for the boys to return from their trip and finally, after about an hour they showed up. This left me roughly an hour or so before we needed to board the bus.

Daniel and I took the short walk to the night bazaar and had a small meal of noodles and soup. We then separated and I found a massage place, which is by no means difficult because they are as common in Chang Mai as Tut Tut’s. I asked the lady for a quick job (that sounds bad) and then relaxed on the comfy chair while it commenced… The only problem with all of this: I fell asleep. Not good at all. I woke up about an hour or so later and realized what had happened. I then ran as fast as I could back to the hotel and found Daniel staring at me, the way he sometimes does, the way he might look at a seagull after having just been shat upon by the bird. I walked with him and finally met up with my dad who looked like he had spent a week in the sun- bright, fuming, red.

I’ll the leave the actual words alone. No need for them here… But I will mention that the trip wasn’t very enjoyable. Bus rides never are but I figure this one was the worst. We did finally arrive in Bangkok, took a taxi to the airport, and managed to make up. Our conversation had just returned to normal speaking level when dad asked for the head-lamp I had borrowed from Daniel on the plane. It seems that in my rush to get off the bus I had forgotten to check my things and had left it on the floor. Once again, I’ll leave the words alone. Those stay with dad, Daniel, I, and the shy taxi driver who kept very much to himself during the drive. I will mention just one little quote:

“Daniel, I’m more upset with you. I lent YOU the head-lamp. And let’s say you lent your car to your best friend… and then he lent your car to an IDIOT. Who would you be most upset with?” -dad…

The cab-ride from hell finally ended and we didn’t say a word to each other until Singapore. Thankfully, things between my father and I tend to repair themselves with a little time and we finally made up, again.

Singapore, in short, reminds me a bit of Disneyland. There isn’t a tree in the entire tiny country that hasn’t been planted, nor a street that isn’t meticulously swept and cleaned everyday. The people are kind but busy, the alcohol is expensive, the taxi’s are color coded, and things everywhere are fixed before broken. Once again, Disneyland. Upon hearing that we wouldn’t be able to fly out of the country for at least a week, we decided to explore the city for a couple days before heading to Bali. We walked around a bit, checked out about 10 malls within two blocks of pavement, and found a ‘nice’ place to eat: Hooters. Yes, Hooters. I fit in to that restaurant like my dad fits into West Hollywood. The food was descent, the coke was expensive (argument #2587), but we managed to accomplish our goal of eating something semi-cheap in the semi-expensive ‘gem’ of Asia.

We stayed at a cute, affordable hostel called the ‘Travelers’ Rest Stop’ with about the nicest staff you could ask for, complete with A/C and a hot shower. A good choice if you are in the area!

We also found the Irish pub my dad visited on his last trip to Asia. The manager there knows, dare I say it, more about Irish history than Bud! The beer was $16S (roughly $10US) a pint so I only had two... (argument 2588) ;) Daniel and dad drank water.

Overall, the entire city is enjoyable but by no means an adventure. A couple days were more than enough. We got our plane tickets and headed to the Singapore Int. Airport- which, by the way, has been voted the nicest in the world. For good reason- the place is amazing. Free internet, free massage- chairs, and a cheap hotel for layovers. While waiting for departure my dad met a group of girls from Brazil that would go on to become, by far, the coolest people of the entire trip. We spent our entire week in Bali with them, and in doing so, made friendships that could very-well last a lifetime. But I’ll talk more about that on my Bali Blog.

Love and miss you all!

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