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Published: February 23rd 2007
After Passing through Malaysian immigration and crossing the causeway to Singapore, we were again off the bus and being checked by Singapore immigration and customs. Singapore customs was the complete opposite of our experience crossing from Thailand to Malaysia about a week earlier, where we were waved through customs by an elderly Malaysian official who was to busy reading the newspaper to scan our bags. For starters, the Singapore Immigration/Customs centre resembled a high-tech fortress, being a large modern building with a massive radar. More intimidating than this was the Singapore Customs form we had been handed the previous day, highlighting in red writing that that drug smugglers receive the death penalty under Singapore law. Of course we weren’t carrying any prohibited substance, but we were still somewhat relieved when we passed through without any dramas.
After lugging our backpacks from the bus station to the underground train station and through the Singapore’s MRT we were relieved to arrive at the Royal Peacock Hotel, in Singapore’s Chinatown district. We were only to stay here one night as it was the last day of our organised tour and this was disappointing as this was easily the most comfortable accommodation we had
Peace Dudes!
One of the many free ranging Orangutans at the Singapore Zoostayed in so far on our trip. Our first day in Singapore and the last day of our trip also happened to be Josh’s birthday and Valentine’s Day, so we called home to catch up with family, before heading out with the group to celebrate our final night together. We ate at a restaurant in China Town, where we enjoyed a nice meal, which was relatively expensive compared to what we had become accustomed to in Thailand and Malaysia, although (as we would quickly learn) it was an average priced meal in Singapore. After the meal we went with most of our group to a nearby night club, where the music was way too loud and the air way too smoky for our likings. Not to mention that (at least for Josh) drinking was out of the question, after his recent heart troubles, which were most likely a result of becoming ill from drinking while taking malaria medication. As you can imagine, we didn’t stick around long. Instead we pottered around the quay, admiring some of Singapore’s landmark buildings, magnificently lit up at night. This made a pleasant ending to a low key, but enjoyable Valentines Day and birthday.
The following morning we said our final goodbyes to our group members, before again lugging our bags through the MRT to our accommodation for the rest of our stay in Singapore. The Cozy Corner Guest House wasn’t exactly what we were expecting. And to be honest, we weren’t expecting a lot. Just a room with a double bed like we had booked, (clean) sheets that fitted our beds, (clean) blankets that hadn’t been stolen from commercial airlines, and an air conditioner that didn’t leak. Maybe a window, or some room to move would have been nice too? To be fair, we hadn’t paid a much for this hostel, and anyway, after our tour we were now used to ‘roughing it’, so we didn’t bother to kick up a fuss, although we (affectionately?) nicknamed our room “the cell”. Being in a good location was something this hostel had going for it. Just across the road was the Bugis Shopping Complex, where we spent a bit of time browsing, and much time relaxing while using the wireless internet at Starbucks and McDonalds. Our hostel was also close to an MRT Station, and was about a 25 minute walk from the main quay
and Orchard Road, the main shopping district in Singapore. So after checking in and exploring the Bugis complex, we walked to Orchard Road in search of some bargains. Unfortunately the bargains were few and far between, yet we still managed to save heaps of money, but only by not buying anything!
Our third day in Singapore was spent at the Singapore Zoo. Generally the zoo was really good and almost all the animals were in nice big enclosures, as opposed to ‘cages’. One highlight was the ‘free range’ orang-utans, who hung out in the trees above much of the zoo. We were there for about 5 hours, and were on track to see almost everything, but our visit was cut short by a heavy tropical downpour from about 5pm onwards. We had also planned to visit the neighbouring Singapore Night Safari that evening, but with the heavy rain, we decided to postpone our visit pending clearer weather.
The following day we visited the Singapore Science Centre, which was good, but not great, as far as science centres go. The real highlight of this day, however, came that evening when we headed to Chinatown. Being Chinese New Years Eve
Arriving in Singapore
Walking from the bus station to the underground we figured that there would be some pretty big celebrations somewhere in Singapore, but we hadn’t been able to find out exactly what celebrations there would be and where they would be held. Chinatown seemed the safest bet, but as we were walking there we noticed that masses of people were hurriedly walking in the opposite direction, ie. away from Chinatown. Although this was not a good sign, we continued and eventually came to some blocked off streets where thousands of people were gathered around a stage. We pushed forward, trying to get a good position, even though we were still unsure of exactly what was going on. It soon became apparent that we had found the official count down, and we figured that the Chinese, being Chinese, would put on a pretty spectacular fireworks show. We were still at least a hundred meters from the main stage, but after the crowd counted down from 10 in Chinese we were deafened by the sound of about 15 three metre long fire crackers, which happened to be really close to where we were standing. They only lasted about 15 seconds but the combined sound and heat was incredible. This was followed
Riding the MRT
On the Way to our Hotel by a very quick fireworks display, which was a little disappointing, but the firecrackers and the atmosphere in general made up for it. Getting out of Chinatown was a nightmare, and now we know why so many people were keen to leave before the countdown had even started. For some reason (possibly to prevent a stampede?) barricades had been temporarily erected so that the thousands of people trying to leave Chinatown for the MRT station had about a 3 meter wide passage. At the same time, for some strange reason, just as many people were trying to enter through this same passage. You can probably imagine the chaos, but far worse than this was the heat generated by so many bodies in such a small space. It felt as hot as the heat generated by the firecrackers, and certainly wasn’t a pleasant ending to an otherwise enjoyable evening.
After pottering around at our hostel and Bugis Junction throughout the day, we spent the following night at the Singapore Night Safari. This was kind of like a regular zoo, except the animals appeared to be free ranging, but most were separated by discreet rivers, rocks and other scenery. And instead
of walking from exhibit to exhibit, you are taken around on a guided vehicle. Overall this was a pretty good experience, mainly because the animals seemed to be oblivious to the passing vehicle, so you could see them behaving quite naturally. The next day we visited the Jurong Bird Park, which had some very interesting birds, especially the brightly coloured lorikeets and macaws.
On our final full day in Singapore, we headed to the National Library, which was only about a two minute walk from our hotel. Although visiting a library doesn’t sound like a riveting thing to do on a holiday, this was quite an incredible library. Its sheer size (13 floors), modern architecture, and remarkable views were enough to make this a worthwhile visit. Not to mention free wi-fi access and access to several travel guides for Vietnam, a country we would be going to the next day, but knew relatively little about. Being our last full day, we spent that evening walking to some of the landmarks we hadn’t yet seen. These included the Raffles Hotel, War Monument and the Merlion (half mermaid, half lion). Returning to our hostel, we stumbled across the Singapore River Hong
The Last Supper
Where we had our last meal with our tour group Bao 2007. This free event was part of the Chinese New Year celebrations, and featured some incredible acts from Mainland Chinese acrobats and performers.
The following morning, we were up at the crack of dawn to leave Singapore (and more importantly our ‘cell’) for Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. Singapore had been an interesting, but sometimes strange city. Of course the place was immaculately clean, and everything seemed to run like clockwork, as anyone who has visited the city can attest. Despite being a large, populus city, there were plenty of open areas, especially lawns and parks, which reduced the claustrophobic feeling of having too many huge buildings side by side. Although this was nice, for some reason we didn’t once see a single person lay foot on one of these parks or reserves. Walking past a huge lawn near our hostel we noticed a sign which read “State Land: Enter at Own Risk”. Although we don’t understand the reasoning behind this, it seems that like many other things, entering parks are forbidden (or at least frowned upon) in Singapore. Also, for a place with such a large population, the city sometimes felt a bit empty. Even
though most shops and restaurants were open till late at night, you could often walk an entire downtown block in the evening and hardly see a sole. However, the area around shopping centres and MRT Stations were always busy, so we figure that because the train system is so comprehensive, efficient, and cheap, people prefer to take the underground rather than walking a few blocks. Having said that, we were there over two public holidays, and to be honest we could hardly tell. Most shops, restaurants, transport and attractions ran pretty much as normal, which is the complete opposite of what we are used to in Adelaide and was really convenient for us as tourists. After 7 nights, we had well and truly ‘done’ Singapore, and were eagerly awaiting the vastly different experience Vietnam would offer.
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