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Published: March 11th 2008
What follows is the first in a series of notes and stream-of-consciousness entries about my travels around SE Asia. I will endeavor to keep these entries current and highlight my adventures for you dear readers. So, here goes....
Day 1-March 6th: I started in Singapore on March 6th. After spending Wed night, March 5th, in Guangzhou at a friend's apartment, I took off for Singapore in the morning. My friend, Sharon (that's her English name, her Chinese name is Shi Zhe), met me at the airport. I cleared customs and we were off to her neighborhood, Queenstown. It was so TROPICAL: hot and humid and green and lush and it reminded me of Florida or Mexico. We stopped off for yummy Indian food at a little restaurant between the MRT station and her place. Our evening errand to the local supermarket was a revelation in Western products that I haven't seen or thought about since I left the US: Potato Buds, pancake mix and maple syrup, Ruffles Sour Cream and Onion potato chips, Hershey's Cookies & Cream candy bars. I forgot about the snacks I miss from home! After we returned to Sharon's apartment at Gilman Heights, I met her good friends Michael and A.J. Good guys and they hang out all the time. Their nightly ritual is to get together and watch Friends on DVD. A good way to end the night! They all live in the same apartment/condo complex which is conveniently a short bus ride from National University of Singapore (NUS), where they are all international students. Other notes from day 1: Singapore money is pretty, I mean really nice-looking! And the city is very clean and orderly and British - they drive on the left side of the road and all.
Day 2-March 7th: Sharon and I took the bus - a double-decker no less! - into the city. We headed to Bugis Street for some cheap market-stall shopping, similar to markets in China. We walked over to Arab Street, the Muslim neighborhood. It's very colonial and the main mosque, Sultan Mosque, is beautiful. The shops on the surrounding streets sell Arabic/Islamic clothes, fabrics, souvenirs. We walked through the grounds of the Malay Heritage Center and then turned and went back to the canal and to Little India. Another colonial neighborhood similar to the Arab Street neighborhood. We passed temples, Indian clothing shops souvenir shops, restaurants, jewelry stores, etc. If you are Indian in Singapore, this is the place to get a touch of home! We headed to Mustafa Center, a large shopping mall that sells everything under the sun. I was able to buy anti-malarial pills here, an important purchase for my upcoming travels! In the evening we went to NUS to eat a cheap dinner in the canteen and then over to the gym for wall/rock climbing at the sports center. I've never tried it before but I gave it a shot! I am NOT good at this sport, but Sharon is pretty good (she is new to the sport) and Michael is a pro. I watched him and the others climbing around like monkeys on these hard-to-maneuver walls - wow! I was ready for another night of Friends after that!
Day 3-March 8th: I slept in thankfully. I spent the afternoon at Sentosa Island, off the southern end of Singapore. After taking the bus the wrong way from Sharon's apartment, I corrected myself and headed into the city. I took a bus to the island and switched to a tram to get to Siloso Beach. Sentosa is a tourist trap of a place, with the look and feel of Disney Resorts. But I just wanted to go to the beach, which I did. Rain clouds threatened all afternoon but there were only two short/light showers while I was there. I laid on the beach and relaxed. I wandered and took photos as per usual. There are polluting power stations just off the coast, which did not make for a pretty sight! And tankers fill the harbor all around. I decided to take the tram over to Palawan Beach to see the southernmost point in Continental Asia, a photo-op I couldn't resist! After checking out the view from Palawan, I climbed up to Imbiah Lookout and caught the cable car back to Harbourfront and then the bus back to Sharon's. Her friends were putting on a BBQ by the pool, so I waited down there for them. I went for a swim and waited some more. I didn't know where they were, they were supposed to have started already! Finally Michael came down and told me where to find everyone - they were up in A.J.'s apartment! I showered and changed and headed down the to pool, as that's where they all ended up by the time I was cleaned up. I had a great time mixing and mingling with the international crowd from NUS. A bunch of folks were going out to the bars/clubs later, and after much ado about who was going and who was staying and where we were going, I ended up with Marilyn, a California native who attends UNLV (that's Vegas baby!). She and I were with the crowd at Clarke Quay, at China One bar. We wandered over to LeNoir, where she knows the manager, who gave us free champagne! Then we went back to China One, but most of the people that we knew had left. So we were off again, this time to Attica, where she knows the owner. Despite not being in proper dress code (I only had my Teva sandals to wear), we got in. Hooray for connections and hooray for hip-hop clubs! We danced to some great beats, downed free tequila shots (!) with the owner, and finally headed home around 4:30 AM. We stopped off for Indian prata on the way home. I hit my pillow finally at about 5:30 AM! Now that's a night out!
Day 4-March 9th: I finished off my sightseeing of Singapore today. I went back to Clarke Quay to retrace my steps from last night. I needed to check out the party zone in the daylight. I then walked all over the city: Fort Canning Park, Armenian Church, Chijmes (former convent turned shopping mall and restaurant zone), historic Raffles Hotel, Suntec Mall for the World's Largest Fountain "Fountain of Wealth" (which was disappointing and not even on - it's only on at night apparently!), the Esplanande, a memorial park, St. Andrew's Cathedral, and finally the Raffles Hotel again to go to the Long Bar for a Singapore Sling. I sat down just in time to watch the sun showers. I stayed dry, drank the famous cocktail and ate peanuts and then proceeded to make my way back across town. I met up with Michael and the others from the BBQ for some pick-up soccer on the NUS sport-courts. I waited for Sharon to return from her day and we tried to go for a beer at the local fave Spice Cafe, but it was closed! So we went back and it turns out we were needed to help A.J. clean up his apartment from the BBQ. What a disaster his place was! The three of us got everything cleaned up and it was off to bed for our tired selves. Monday morning meant work/school for the Gilman Heights gang and a bus to Melaka, Malaysia for me!
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mom
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Raffles
I'm jealous!