Singapore

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February 14th 2013

Published: March 6th 2013

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Graeme Clark

Chinese New Year

With its shopping malls, theme parks, safe tap water and high cost of living, Singapore felt a world away from my previous South-East Asian destinations (save for some parts of Kuala Lumpur). While the mix of ethnic groups is similar to Malaysia, the British Colonial history is far more palpable, from the official language (English) to the ubiquity of landmarks named after the city-state's founder, Sir Thomas Raffles.

I'd heard Singapore was the best place to experience Chinese New Year outside of China, so I planned my arrival to coincide with this. Richard, who I met up with in Kuala Lumpur, had the same idea as me and we both booked in at the Happy Snail hostel. We walked the short distance to Chinatown around 11pm and weaved our way through the crowds in search of a good vantage point. When midnight came, the fireworks were a bit tame for Chinese standards and everyone seemed to go home as soon as they finished, so we went for takeaway then followed suit.

The next day, I headed out with Richard to explore the city. Chinatown was completely shut down for new years. We walked north to the Singapore river and

Marina Bay Sands Hotel

the Colonial District, where we explored Fort Canning Park, emerging at the Nationl Museum, which was free for the public holiday. I managed to lose Richard in there and spent the next couple of hours alone, walking past the famous Raffles Hotel, where the Singapore Sling was invented (I decided not to pay $50 for one!) and to Marina Bay, where the view is dominated by the Marina Bay Sands Hotel (the one with the boat on top). That evening we were joined in our hostel by two girls from the Philippines, Bavs and Mae, and Reynaldo from Chile. The five of us headed out the following day to the Little India and Kampong Glam areas, stopping at a Hindu temple and a mosque, which were on Reynaldo's itinerary. We walked on to Marina Bay, where we visited "The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands" next to the hotel, which had desiger shops such as Louis Vuitton, which was clearly for people to whom money is no object, as there were no price tags.

Prior to Singapore, I had stayed in single rooms as accommodation was so cheap. However, my first hostel experience made think this was a mistake, as

Reynaldo, Bavs, Mae and Richard in their gowns after they were deemed to be dressed inappropriately

I met more interesting and friendly people than I had anywhere else and was an ideal place to pass the evenings in a country where it is expensive to go out. The main drawback of hosteling is that I've had less free time to spend on blog writing, and so future entries may be shorter (sorry fans!) Rest assured there'll still be plenty of pictures though, which are each worth a thousand words!

My third day in Singapore was a drizzly affair. After a lazy morning, Richard and I eventually headed out mid-afternoon to the theme park island of Sentosa. We planned to visit the new aquarium, but with a 2 hour queue, decided to leave it to the next morning. We went back to the hostel, then headed out for Indian food with Mohammed, who had just arrived from France to look for a job.

My final full day in Singapore was action-packed, as Richard and I did the aquarium, followed by the Singapore River Cruise and Night Safari (which, given that most of the animals tended to avoid light and people, was very good). On the day of my flight to Sydney, the monsoon hit Singapore,

Aquarium

so I hung around in the hostel, before catching the MRT (underground) to the airport in time for my evening flight, where I would leave Asia after an unforgettable six weeks and cross the equator for the first time.

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