Singapore DAY 1

---

Arrived Singapore on a Saturday morning at 9:00 am. An old friend, Vien, met me at Changi Airport. She is the girlfriend of Eric (from Manila) whom unfortunately could not join me on this trip. Vien and I spent a couple of hours at the airport reminiscing about our earlier days (more so about she and Eric) over coffee and bagels.

After that we then headed to an area called Orchard via Singapore's impressive MRT. It covers an incredibly large area around Singapore. I didn't want to tote around my luggage during my sightseeing so Vien took me to her office to drop off my things. She works as a Market Analyst for the Tourist Office of Spain promoting Spain's tourism across the globe.

Once in her office, we chatted even more about Singapore. Some of the few incredible facts about the country are the following:

Residents who would like to purchase a vehicle must first purchase a certificate of ownership. Only then are you allowed to purchase a vehicle. That certificate either costs as much as the vehicle's selling price and often even much more. A brand new Toyota Corolla will end up costing 100,000 thousand Singapore dollars! On top of that you will have to spend an additional 250 Singapore dollars for parking fee at your residence. During my visit, the exchange rate is 1.27 Singapore dollar per US dollar. Obvious to say, the country's government discourages private transportation.

Most (if not all) casual eateries do not supply napkins to their customers. You have to purchase those separately! So most of the time, you simply eat without them. This eliminates people from littering. Thus explains why Singapore is so clean!

Chewing gum is prohibited and fines are handed out if not obeyed. This eliminates people from disposing their gums by spitting them on the streets, sticking them under tables, and so forth. Thus again promoting cleanliness in the community.

Vien and I realized it's already past 1 pm – lunch is way past overdue!. I told her that I want my first stop to be a hawker stand that specializes in Chicken and Rice which was featured in an episode of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservation. She needed more specific information so I had to Google it up and found it was the Maxwell Street hawker stand – a less than 10 minute cab ride away.

The Maxwell Street eatery houses over 50 food hawker stands and only one attracted a long line of hungry customers – Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice. Not certain if this stand is normally that busy or if it is reaping the rewards of having been featured on the Travel Channel show. I fell in line while Vien orders other signature Singapore dishes at different stand. While I paid for my order, I recognized the owner from the episode and requested a photo taken with him to which he naturally accepted. As expected, the food was great including those that Vien had ordered.

After lunch, we decided to work off all those calories by walking to the nearest MRT station and head back to Orchard. But along the way, we made a couple of MRT stops to do some windows shopping at what seems to be hundreds of shopping malls in the country. Earlier today, I wondered what residents did for fun while living is such a small nation. I quickly discovered it was shopping and dining. The malls and eateries were packed with people.

As we stepped into Vien's office building , she suggested I get a massage at a place just across the street. My vacation so far has been a non-stop adventure to so many places that I am feeling my body aching for some relief. So I agreed to a 45 minute full body massage. Believe or not, this is my first time ever getting a massage. I did not realize muscles can be rolled, stretched, and moved into so many positions. As John Mellencamp had said, it hurts so bad yet it also hurts so good.

We then went back to Vien's offfice where I grabbed my luggage, took the MRT and headed to Siomei and spend the night at yet another cousin's – Carlo, brother of Joel. Thank you so much Vien for being my tour guide for the day. It was so wonderful seeing you again after so many years (over 30 years) and I will try my best to convince Celina to visit Spain in the very near future.

---