I love my pants

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I woke up at 7:30 today! Today I went to Kampong Glam (the muslim area), Sim Lim Square (electronics store), and Pulau Ubin (undeveloped island). It was a short, yet intense day.

Mag got me a special breakfast today. She got me some Kaya toast (toast with a butter/coconut spread), along with a cup of soft-boiled (almost raw actually) eggs. The toast was so good! The eggs were a little strange, but certain edible. To round out my breakfast, I got some more ice cream from the carts.

Kampong Glam is fun to walk around, but I must have missed the heart of it because it didn't feel that unique. I saw the tip of a mosque, but the streets themselves seem to be some sort of mix of Little India and chinatown. There were the restaurants, the tourist stores, and the wholesale shops. I ate my lunch there, and bought an underwater camera case at Sim Lim Square (for my stay at the Malaysian islands!)

Pulau Ubin was up next! It was a bit of a pain to get there (walk-train-bus-ferry), but it is an awesome place. It is still quite undeveloped, so all there is to do is go mountain biking... there aren't any stores there! I paid $2 for a 2-hour rental, and headed into the drizzle, with the sky still ominously gray. As I biked, the rain kept getting worse and worse. I had to sit out the worst part of the rain for a while, before I headed out into the rain again. I was thoroughly soaked, but had a great time. There were no sights to speak of, but I swear I saw a wild boar run across the road. I had some delicious and cheap noodles after I returned my bike, and headed home.

Tomorrow I will be going to Singapore Zoo with Kathy =). We won't be able to do the night safari, but I hear that the zoo is very interactive. The British Girls that just left the hostel said they had breakfast with Orangutans! Afterwards, we'll probably walk around a bit before popping into our Train that's heading towards NE Malaysia (it's a 12 hour sleeper ride... we couldn't get first class =). I probably won't be posting at all for the next couple of days, since I will be on a very small island and will be snorkling/eating/tanning all the time!

Final thoughts on Singapore: I stand by my recommendation that Singapore is a great jumping off point for South East Asia. You'll find many cultures represented, you can find a lot of variety even between subway stops (Chinatown, Little India, Raffles Place, Orchard Road, etc), and many places speak at least some English. It's not as cheap as I'd hoped, but if you look hard enough bargains can be head. However, there are way too many shopping malls, and the weather is awful (hot/humid). But not everything is perfect!

For now, I am signing off from Singapore. Some last points below:


High Schoolers in Singapore wear these pastel colored, highly unattractive two piece outfits. They look almost like hospital scrubs... I guess this is on purpose?

I also saw a bunch of people in army wear, and they were so young!

All Singaporeans are very fit and fashionable, in an international way. Japan is also very fashionable, but has its own unique style. Singapore is also a much more material country, with expensive cars zipping by every few seconds.

There is way too much PDA going on. I swear I saw this guy walking down the street with his girlfriend's asscheek clenched in his hand. However, it can be cute too. I saw two couples with matching shirts. One set had "Lo/ve", and another set was "She's a bitch / He is shit" (seriously).


I'll post some beach pics soon!

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Photos

Streets of Kampong Glam
Kampong Glam and Little India both have sidewalks that are integrated into the buildings, so you are often under the protection of the shade (thank goodness!)

Breakfast
Mag (one of the owners) picked me up some Kaya toast and Soft Boiled Eggs!

Ice cream
Another ice cream, but this time it's raspberry on a wafer

Another Hawker Food Court
Oh man, these things are everywhere

Textile Store
There was a huge block in Kampong Glam with nothing but stores like this

Scary
I didn't actually go in...

Bike Path
What looks like the median is actually the bike path. Look how narrow!

Indian Food for lunch
Chicken Biryani. I saw some people eating with their hands; I had no knife, so I did the same ($4.80 + $2 limeade)

Sim Lim Square
This place has more than 5 floors of exactly the same stores. It is supposed to be the mecca of everything and anything electronic, but I found it a little overpriced (by US Standards at least).

Bus Stop
Public Transportation can be confusing in a foreign city, especially without a map

HDB Buildings
I'm guessing these are HDB buildings. They are ugly and they are everywhere

Ferry to Pulau Ubin
This is our boat! The 10 minute ride on the clunker cost $1.38... I don't know where the life vests are =\

Biking in the Rain
It got so much worse after this... this was 2 minutes into my bike ride

Wild Fruit
Some people were knocking these things off trees and got warned by the park rangers

Pearl of Wisdom
However, no one in the neighborhood spoke English

Waterproof bag
I used my jacket to shield my bag from the rain

Singapore Mee Goreng
Seafood noodles! (This + beer was $5.20). It was delicious

Comments

[Sam]

the Bike Path you mentioned isnt for bikes. It is a road marking that indicates, " no parking ", local would often says "no parking at double yellow line"

[psy]

hello from singapore
Hi Michael, looks like you've enjoyed your stayed in Singapore. By the way, the fruit you are holding can be found in many tropical fruit stalls here - It's a rambutan and I have a tree in my garden covered with it. And the seafood noodles is actually Hokkien Mee from the chinese zi char stall. (Mee Goreng is a spicy Malay noodle dish and some chinese stalls do offer it as well - it'll be just as spicy) The double yellow lines are not bike paths - it simply means that no vehicle is to park there. I hope you didn't spend your time trying to keep within the lines! Anyway $2 for limeade is way too expensive!