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Published: June 14th 2007
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Four hours by bus from Melaka and I was in a new, although very small country, Singapore. I had only two and a half days time so the plan was to do as much as possible as quickly as possible. The hotels are expensive in Singapore (I paid US$60 for my very average room - three times more than I have paid anywhere else during the trip so far) so didn't want to use any more time on the island.
All the main kitchens of the world are easily at hand in Singapore. Already in the street next to my hotel there were Italian, Thai, Indonesian, Chinese and Sarawak (the part of Borneo I would going next) restaurants. I started with eating some Thai food. Apparently common in Singapore they had 'eat as much as you like buffet' where you order things rather than pick it up from the ready set buffet table. I could choose some 4-5 dishes from the list of 30 items and the cook prepared the food fresh for me. When I had finished I could order more if I liked. Great way to sample Thai dishes I hadn't tried before, but needless to say
The wonder found in a Singapore mall
A fountain in which the water flows upwards that I came out far too full...
I had been given a map from the hotel that included also the sightseeing bus routes and as they seem to be quite comprehensive I decided to try them out. It's a good way to see loads when in a hurry and feel lazy, although obviously you see only a glimpse of the sights. I did the basic route and saw quickly all the main parts of the city: Financial centre, The Raffles Hotel, Chinatown, Little India and surroundings of the Quays.
There was also an evening sightseeing tour included in the ticket and as I didn't have anything better to do I decided to go for it. We were taken to the residential area where the 'normal Singaporeans' live and shop, in the Eastern side of the Island. Then we continued to the Red Lights District and were advised where to go to see how the 'shopping' happens. And yes, there on the back streets the girls were standing in a row for the clients to pick them up. As I have never seen such road before I was a bit shocked how young and pretty the girls were -
not nearly as corrupted looking as I would have imagined. Apparently lots of them come from China, Indonesia and the Philippines. The buyers were not old either, more like thirty something normal Asian men.
After this we were taken to Little India where we had an option to leave the bus and continue exploring the area independently, which I decided to do. In spite of the big lunch I couldn't resist an opportunity to have some tasty Indian food for dinner. I wandered around a bit and then found a really nice looking restaurant - it was a proper restaurant not a canteen as most of these places are. The staff was really friendly and food delicious. First a lady who managed to persuade me to go in kept me company and told about the restaurant, Indian food and the numerous ventures they have going on there. Then the chef came from the kitchen and stopped for a chat at every table. We had a long talk and got along well - he was an ex-investment banker who had decided to leave the business world to open this restaurant. In no time I had put my PR hat on
and found myself giving him advice on how to promote his business - and I had a few decorative tips for the venue as well 😊
As we were having such a good time with the chef he asked if he could take me out after closing the restaurant. As there wasn't any competing offers at the table I said yes and we continued to the Arabic cafe - where we you can sit on the mat right on the street. Quite a fun and long evening - just when my plan was to simply enjoy the evening in my 'expensive' hotel room.
The following day didn't go according to the plan either. I got stuck at the malls of Orchard Road, the main shopping street, basically for the whole day. Eventually I managed to remove myself from there in the late afternoon. I still could use the sightseeing bus ticket and saw the rest of the sights - e.g. the gate of the Botanic gardens, one of the places I really would have wanted to see. I didn't manage to go back to Little India to see the parrot astrologers either. Or see the Sentosa Island. So any future stopovers also in Singapore when flying somewhere else would be welcome.
However, I did manage to get to the Raffles Hotel to have the famous Singapore Sling cocktail. What a tourist haunt! I'm sure there wasn't a single Singapore resident in the bar. That is after I had refused to invite a young guy from the street who very enthusiastically wanted to show me around (speaking Swedish after having spent there a month!) and then hoping to get a free drink. Apart from the Singapore Sling the Long Bar at Raffles is known for being the only place in the tidy city where you are allowed to throw rubbish on the floor. They serve peanuts with drinks and people are encouraged to drop the shells on the floor.
(As you can see I took hardly any photos - it's difficult when you don't really walk anywhere.)
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Jo Haggerty
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Hi Karolina, I am so..... going to miss your blog when your trip is over, I absolutly love reading it whilst at work in a very rainy London. See you soon