Blogs from Singapore, Asia - page 338

Asia now blogger buddies! Singapore is a hustley bustley kinda town. Very clean, very clean. Lots of lights, lots of cameras, lots of action. Stayed in a cool little hostel in little India. Apparently voted the best hostel in Asia by lonely planet. That might be going a bit far. Best things we did were, eating lots of cheapy yummy asian food, checking out the botanic gardens and finding a spot up on Mt Faber, overlooking the whole place lit up at night. LOL (lots of love) Chris and Grace xxxxxxxxxx... read more

Well after more than 20 hours and over 10,000 miles I made it to Singapore. On the first leg to Tokyo I sat next to a Philipino, horse track bookey and the second a Singaporan oil/gas guy, both very friendly. Breezed through immigration and custon - 15 mintues - and that was with a line. Tired to say the least. My host, Marilyn is fantastic and very gracious. A welcome respite for a weary traveler. Although tired, I couldn’t sleep until about 3:30 am. I slept for about 4 hours then was up exploring the city. First off Kaya Toast for breakfast - a yummy concoction of cocanut jam and butter smashed between toast and a cup of strong coffee with milk - condensed milk no less. I walked all over town, to Chinatown, Orchard Rd ... read more

Last stop: Singapore! The island that is at the same time a city and a country. Singapore is the epidomy of modern. The MRT zips above ground transporting mass amounts of people all over the city. It is also the cleanest city I have ever been in, and there are even fines if caught litering, smoking in public places, and spitting in public. One of the first things to notice about the city centre in Singapore is that it is almost entirely made up of shoping centres. It is absolutely insane to walk along Orchard Road and they just never stop. They are usually at least 6 stories high. Some of them are knows for electronics, some for average clothing (similar to the malls we have at home), some are exclusively topend malls where I felt ... read more

The adventure continues. Yesterday, after listening to the Oilers beat the Red Wings on Internet radio (yay!) I decided to go out for lunch. What followed was my first hawker eating experience. A hawker area reminds me of an outdoor food court, with service to your table. Certainly not fancy but very fast and I had an excellent meal of roasted chicken, rice and baby bok choy and a bottled water for $3 Singapore. I wasn't in downtown or a tourist area and the server did not really speak English, which made it interesting to explain what I wanted and answering questions that I couldn't understand. I was the only tourist in the area and most of the food signs were not in English so I went by the picture. There were some very interesting pictures ... read more

Wow! I can't believe I am actually here. 28 hours of travelling can make a person a little bit loopy but I am pretty much back to normal, or so I think. Thank goodness for all the food, drinks, satellite radio and movies on the plane, it makes the travel a bit more enjoyable. I've settled into the apartment and made friends with the secuity guards who sit in their little kiosk just right of the apartment (see Mom, no need to worry...) 24 hours a day. I spent yesterday orienting myself to my new 'hood and then I was off to Orchard Road, the main shopping district (of course). First impressions of Singapore: so green extremely well-organized very clean and safe very diverse excellent food cheap and good transit system Lessons learned so far: do ... read more