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Published: December 2nd 2012
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It was sad leaving Thailand as we really did not get much time there. We'll be back someday. So in order to use our miles we had to fly home from Singpore. So why not go check it out. We did very little research and only booked a hotel. Just by researching hotel costs we did know it would be pricy. Upon landing at the airport we could see things were going to be much different. They actually listed by baggage claim all the ways to get from the aiport to town and with the cost. What is this? No bargaining over transportation! So we hopped the airport shuttle to our fab hotel Wonderlust in Little India. Each room is different and has a theme. The staff here was great and upgraded us to a larger room. We had to climb stairs to get to the bed. With only a day and a half we had to maximize our time. The first thing Nick noticed was their public transit system as it reminded him of the Tube in London. So we spent our first evening riding Singapore's very nice MRT. You are not allowed to eat or drink on this train
or face a large fine FYI. We had intentions to go to the top of Marina Bay Sands, or walk outside on a shopping street, Orchid Road, where they had decorated for Christmas but we soon found out it was the rainy season here. So instead we rode the train around, caught a quick overpriced drink at a rooftop bar and headed back to our hotel. We intended to have a drink at our hotel and call it a night but not for $15 beers we weren't. So back to the streets to locate the cheapest beer possible - $4. Wow. Having just had two beers and two meals for this price it was hard to swallow. Seriously most meals we have had have been between $4 and $12 including beer! We even tried to find some cheap Indan food as we were in Little India and we still couldn't believe the prices. To be fair a lot of them are what we would pay in Minneapolis but after three weeks of very cheap meals its hard to go back!
Day 2 started off sh*tty - literally - we literally we got shat on by a bird! Great way
to start the last day. Checked out Marina Bay Sands Hotel and the Bay Gardens. These gardens are free to the public which was nice. Also spent some time in their casino. To enter you must show a passport so they know what kind of job you do. Table minimums ranged from $25 to $300. And most of the games we had no idea about. So we tried our luck at a roulette table. Three spins and we were done. Between that and the bird shat we decided our luck had stayed in Thailand.
So it seemed a better idea to head out to the Tiger Brewery. Can't go wrong with samples of beer! To save money we rode the MRT and took a bus. Over an hour to get there but less of our money in Singapore's pockets! The tour was all of 10 minutes and then you got 45 mintues to drink as much as you could. The bartender loved chatting with Nick and I and continued to find new beers for us to try even though they were not part of the regular taps. It was lovely getting to know him and ask him our many
questions about Singapore - this country that we can't quite figure out. After that we went back to the Christmas lane area now without the rain and splurged on our last dinner of vacation on Discovery Walk - an outdoor street of sorts with many different restaurants. Of course we went to the one with Japaneese craft beers.
What we do know about Singapore -
There is a lot of money here. It seems to be due to the large port and many corporations here. We were also told people here are very smart and study all the way to 21 regardless of what they do. They rank lowest in corruption and have very low taxes. They have the third highest per capita income in the world and highest trade to GDP ratio.
They love angry birds.
They seem to be a melting pot much like America. English and Mandarin being the most common languages we heard. The population mainly consists of Chinese, Malays, Indian and many others.
They have fines for a lot of things but it actually keeps everything looking quite nice.
Everyone was friendly but more in a subtle manner than
the other countries we have visited. Nick and I still couldnt quite figure out this place and decided it lacked the charm of the rest of our favorite places. Its a really cool city but one just not for us. So with that we are on our way back to the USA! 20 more hours on a plane followed by a week of no sleep!
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