Advertisement
Shop 'til you drop Along with eating shopping is apparantly Singapores national pastime, and todays experiences seem to back that up!
Bugis Street Bugis street is a covered arcade which in the old days was a street synomymous with the seedier side of Singapore life. Now it sells tons of designer clothing and jewellry ripoffs as well as a lot of food stalls selling everthing from pancakes to stinky Durian juice. Just as a side issue Durians smell so bad that they are actually banned from the MRT and busses in Singapore.
Sim Lim Square Next stop was world famous Sim Lim square, a highrise department store catering for all sorts of electronics and computer products. The choice was stunning from the big names to unbranded ripoffs of the current trends. Chosing a shop to buy from would have been hard work, as literally anything you wanted could have been bought at twenty or more other shops. At least this kept the bargaining chips in the hand of the customer, and I wish I had this sort of choice when buying in the UK.
Little India A short walk from Sim Lim square is Little India. The architecture
This is what keeps Singporeans going
In the UK shrooms can be a term for magic mushrooms... apparantly here is much different - low rise old buildings are everywhere and gone is the high rise concrete of Bugis/Sim Lim/... The streets were filled with fruit sellers, tailors and restaurants all plying for trade. I spent some time discussing prices with one very pushy tailor before deciding that 1) he was too expensive and b) I didnt really trust him as far as I could throw him. And a man of his size I couldnt throw far at all.
Orchard Road Orchard road is a wide tree lined road said to be the Ginza, Regent street, etc... of Singapore, and it was actually quite an impressive street to walk down. Im not normally a fan of malls and department store but walking into CK Tans soon changed my mind. It was like 10 feeds from QVC (home shopping channel) being played at the same time. People with headset mikes were everywhere demonstrating the newest gadgets. I love looking at kitchen goods as it is (i know, im sad), and this was just so buzzy that I actually found myself going back for more! There are just so many shops down Orchard road that you could never see them
all. Well... maybe you could if you tried reeeally hard...
The Singapore River Day turned to night and I went for a walk along the Singapore river. The area was a big change from other parts of Singpore that I had seen so far. Backed by the quiet (like any CBD on the weekend!) Financial centre the waterfront was a bustling place. The establishments were considerably more upmarket than other places (such as the hawker centres!) and the clientelle here seemed far less Asian than other parts of town. The views were great and the night city lights made a great panorama from a lot of the many bridges.
Chinatown Hawker I ended up back in Chinatown, this time facial hair free. When I look in the mirror I feel about 15, and it seems that the waitress thought the same. "You so cuuuute" she said as she wiped the sweat from my face. I started off feeling like a sex-god, but ended up feeling like a little kid having his face cleaned by his mummy! I got talking to a Phillipino working in Singapore as a bar maid, and she said that there was a live band
playing at her bar and did I want to go. Beer and live music - of course I went!
Cover, Uncovered The band were great. To look at. And to listen too. It was fronted by possibly the two most scantilly clad (and stunning!) girls I have ever seen, and their pronounciation was great, which must be tough singing songs which are sung with neutral accents.
Lady of the night After a while my friend said she had to go, so I stayed and watched the band (well, I listened to the band. I actually only watched the singers). After about 20 minutes she came back, telling me she hadnt gone after all, but that she was going now because she had a regular customer to see. Not that Im jumping to conclusions about her profession, but I felt relieved I hadnt been handed a bill for her time!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.186s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 13; qc: 86; dbt: 0.0945s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb