Advertisement
Published: January 29th 2009
Edit Blog Post
To be honest we were both a little nervous about travelling to SE Asia. After the comfort and relative safety of easy travelling through Australia, and enjoying some home comforts we were both apprehensive about returning to the backpacker lifestyle. Having never been to this part of the world before we had no idea of what to expect and as much as people tell you 'oh its so easy in Asia' you kind of don't believe it until you actually experience it for yourself...
So with our new Rough Guide to SE Asia we said goodbye to Oz as we boarded our Singapore bound flight from Cairns. Landing at Singapore airport things didn't immediately seem too different. We had a hostel booked so after a stress free flight, we gathered our belongings and made our way to the subway (MRT ) to a place called Kallang. On first impressions the underground was spotless, everyone was very helpful and nobody seemed to stare too much! When we arrived at our stop however it dawned on us we were in the middle of suburbia, rather than central Singapore as we had imagined. We managed to locate our hostel under an overpass and
although the room was cramped and windowless it was clean enough and we found we were only a couple of stops from the main sights.
Deciding to get some food that evening was an experience. Across the road from the hostel was a food market consisting of a range of food vendors (or 'Hawkers') dotted around a central eating area of plastic tables and chairs. The whole thing was a little confusing as we weren't really sure what anything was,or what to do with, but after eventually deciding on a stall Seamus ordered chicken and rice. When the vendor asked Seamus a question of which neither of us could understand Seamus politely nodded and then in horror watched as what appeared to be a rather anaemic raw chicken (head and all) was hacked up with a meat cleaver and dumped on a bed of rice. We later realised the chicken was actually steamed and the vendor was asking if he wanted steamed or roasted chicken, but watching Seamus try to eat his dish without it touching his tongue was highly entertaining.
After a good nights sleep we headed into Singapore centre to see as many of the sights
of Singapore as possible in our only day in the city. Our first stop was Orchard Road,a thriving center of shopping malls and high rise buildings. Here we had another 'oh god what do we do with this' moment when ordering breakfast in a small cafe in a shopping mall. After deciding on peanut thick toast and two boiled eggs we thought we would be safe, only to find the boiled eggs are served almost raw with soy sauce in a dish that is certainly not an egg cup. Deciding to break the top off using a knife in a very British manner we were shocked when the whole egg seemed to explode everywhere and with no spoon to eat it with we weren't quite sure what to do. The saying when in Rome do as the Romans do is all very well,but what do you so when there are no Romans!? The answer is regress back to being two years old and try to muddle your way through! So after a very messy but actually pleasant breakfast we headed to our next stop- Little India.
Although quite small Little India was interesting to wander around soaking up the
colours and aromas of heavily stocked spice stalls, veg stalls and clothing shops. We were pleased to find that we were able to wander around without any hassle to buy things we don't need and despite us being two of a very small number of tourists no one batted an eyelid.
Now no visit to Singapore would be complete without a trip to Raffles Hotel to experience a Singapore Sling. After winding our way through the streets of Little India, Sim Lim Square and the Central Business District we decided to take some time out from walking and pretend for an hour that we were rich tycoons just popping into Raffles 'darling' for a light beverage. The hotel itself is very colonial and very grand and heading into the Long Bar we felt like we were extras in a James Bond film. Straight away we were offered the famous cocktail and shown to a table with an enormous bowl of monkey nuts. We were a little suprised to see that everyone around us seemed to be chucking their shells on the floor and without wanting to offend we delicately placed ours on the beer mat, only for the waiter
to come along with our cocktails and chuck our pile of shells on the floor for us! It was like everything you have ever been taught by your Mum about manners was out the window and like naughty kids we joined in the shell throwing with gusto!
After our hour of luxury we returned to the real world and headed to our final destination of China Town. This was probably our favourite part of Singapore with bustling little alley ways, full of bright colours, neon lights,huge temples and exotic smells sending us into complete sensory overload! There was just so much to take in and it was brilliant! Everywhere you look there is something else to see. Feeling a little braver than the night before we decided to head to the food market again to try some of the street food and had an amazing meal for next to nothing, whilst soaking up the atmosphere and watching the world go by!
Heading back to the hostel we were both shattered but had had one of the best days so far on our trip. We were both on a high after a jam packed day and cant wait head
to Penninsula Malaysia to catch our flight to Borneo....
Advertisement
Tot: 0.235s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 9; qc: 61; dbt: 0.1522s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb