In Singapore...what am I doing here?

---

It's Friday night...actually Saturday morning (12:15 a.m.) and I'm in Singapore. What am I doing here? Well, I needed to leave Thailand since my 30 day free tourist visa expired.

Why Singapore? Why not? I had some vague idea of going to the Singapore Night Safari and drinking a Singapore Sling at the famous Raffles Hotel, but I'm basically winging it.

I should start with my final day in Chiang Mai but this internet cafe closes at 1:00 a.m. so I won't have time tonight to cover all the details since my last update. I'll tackle some things that happened today, and share about my final day in Chiang Mai tomorrow? Ok, let's go with that.

I departed Chiang Mai this morning with an airline ticket to Singapore (via Bangkok) and a reservation at the Strand Hotel. Since I was pretty much in the dark when it came to Singapore and Malaysia, I was really hoping that my purchase of the day before would pay dividends. My purchase was the Lonely Planet Travel Guide for Malaysia and Singapore. I cracked it open for the first time during my flight from Bangkok to Singapore and gave it a lot of attention on the 2 1/2 hour plane trip...a lot of attention.

First off, where was my hotel? Hmmm...ok, found it on the map in the Lonely Planet. How would I get there? MRT (subway)? The MRT had a stop at the airport and one that looked fairly close to my hotel. That seemed like the way to go...at least until I got to the Singapore airport...

First impression of the airport was that it was modern, colorful and everybody was speaking in English. I guess I won't be saying "Sawadee Kup" (hello) for a while. As for the MRT (subway), I didn't see any signs for it (I know now it's in Terminal 2 and I was in Terminal 1). I did see signs for the bus though. I figured that would work.

I exchanged some money and got to the bus stop to see that exact change was required. The fare appeared to be S$1.80 (Singapore dollars) for the general area I was going. I didn't have it. Back into the airport I went to get change.

Ok, now I get on the bus. I pay my S$1.80 and it's up to me to figure out where I'm getting off. I reopen the Lonely Planet Travel Guide, sit in front of the bus, and try to follow along as we're driving. Yeah, like that's going to happen (the Lonely Planet maps are very basic). But I did manage to get off somewhat close to my hotel.

I dropped off my stuff at the hotel, started walking around and found this outdoor restaurant (tables on the sidewalk) that was packed. It was 11:00 p.m. but I hadn't eaten hardly anything all day. This guy comes up to me and asks me what I want (mind you, I'm not even sitting, just kind of checking it out). I ask, "what's good?" He says, "you want the Martabak." I respond with "what's that?" He shows me a picture of something on the menu that I really couldn't identify, and I say "I'll take it!" 5 minutes later I'm eating some seriously good grub. The dish consisted of a stuffed pancake with chicken, onions, gravy, and who knows what else. The cost was S$5.00.

Side note: I'm in this internet cafe (really it's a convenient store with 8-9 computers) and there are two guys sitting next to me that are chatting online, except they aren't typing...they're using sign language with the web cams. That's actually pretty cool. Looking at their monitors, I see windows with 8 other people using sign language at the same time. That's a first for me. Never seen that before.

We're approaching 1:00 so I've got to call it a night...

I'll try to get another update out tomorrow.

---

Photos

Strand Hotel
my room at the Strand Hotel in Singapore

Al-Jilani restaurant
packed restaurant that is apparently open 24 hours per day.

Martabak
interesting Indian dish that was like a pancake stuffed with chicken, onions and gravy

Creative use of the McDonalds logo...
Random Thai restaurant with the McDonalds logo being used to refer to the Mens and Womens restrooms.

Comments

[NiN]

Bencoolen Street...
Hi Dave, Stumbled upon ur blog by chance.. and its funny to see u talking bout the places around ur lodging while in S'pore! this is cos my office is in Bencoolen Street and many a times i see lots of tourists walking ard this area... never expect to read one who talked bout this place online :P keep on writing... ur travel tales r great! ;)