From Melaka we took a bus, not as swanky as before but loads of room, five hours south down the national highway to Singapore, as far south as we would be going in Asia. Originally we had planned to get here just before we flew to Australia but had managed, crazily, to get here around two weeks ahead of schedule. With this time in hand we had a hundred different options of where to go to but in the end decided to spend a couple of nights in Singapore and then fly on to Borneo.
Getting off the bus we were instantly introduced to Singapore's tropical weather, it was hammering it down as if someone had let off a hose pipe. We took cover under a tin shelter and tried to wait it out but this particular bus station was in such a ridiculous position that taxis were nowhere to be seen. After waiting for an hour for the rain to stop only to watch it get heavier a local man, who claimed to be a fisherman (really?-at a bus stop?) said that it wouldn't stop for three hours and that we needed to go. With this he miraculously spied a taxi and ran up to it so we could get in, such a nice bloke.
Anyway, as the hostel was in the thick of chinatown our taxi driver told us about all the great things to eat in the vicinity, items that, 'you can't really say you've been to Singapore until you've tried', which included, chilli crab, haikkanese chicken and fish porridge, mmmm.
Anyway the hostel was fine, nice and clean but the dormitories were ridiculously small, barely big enough for me and shell, never mind six! We were in there with some decent guys though, a couple of Austrian guys and an American couple. It doesn't matter who you are with though, in that small space you would learn every smell of the five other people!
Back out in Chinatown we headed for some of the hawker stalls selling various delicious things but even here, amongst Singapore's cheapest eating places, it was still way out of our league. And here in lies the problem. Singapore is expensive, in some ways more expensive than London. So for two budget travellers struggling by on £40 for two, it would be impossible. Even so, we found a place selling great dim sum and pork claypots so at least ate fairly well.
The next morning and our only full day in Singapore, we got up early, helped ourselves to the mediocre offerings for breakfast and headed out towards the botanical gardens, apparently one of the worlds best. It was fantastic, incredibly big and modelled on an English landscape (it was built by the second English governor). We walked for ages through the different sections in the rising heat until we hit the other side of the park and made our way down Orchard Road, Singapore's Oxford street. What Bangkok has in intensity Singapore definitely makes up for in volume. Every outlet you can think of, all in sanitised, air conditioned goodness. We walked as far as we conceivably could in flip flops and in the suffocating humidity before stopping for well earnr refreshments in one of the food courts. This time we peered way too much food. We ate roti murtabek, a roti stuffed with shredded chicken and spices all served with a tonne of vegetables and daal. In terms of Singapore it was cheap but still took up a food chunk of our budget. Bloody Singapore, it's all the bankers fault, they've made everything too expensive!!
From there we took the MRT down to Raffles Hotel, arguably it's most revered sight and a national institution. It was as grand and majestic as you would imagine. It even had a yellow Ferrari parked outside and a rather large Roller drove in to pick someone up. With rooms starting at £350 a night we could maybe afford to sit on someone's bed for ten minutes? We did think about going for one of the legendary Singapore slings but I think they took one look at us and decided the gin would be kept safely out of sight from these nutters.
Back at the hostel quite possibly the worlds smelliest guy had taken over one of the beds in our dorm. To be fair to him we think it was his towel or his feet, or maybe both but he smelt like a combination of rotting flesh and aged vomit. The prospect of spending a night with this smell actually turned shells stomach, I've never seen anyone with that amount of dread.
To compensate we went out to enjoy Singapore's light show, something I'd not even heard of until shell told me (she is a walking guidebook). We experienced a lightshow in HK which was huge but this was much more impressive. It was smaller but featured water in direct coordination with the music. Not only that but from the top of the huge Marina plaza building behind us, a laser was then projecting images onto the water spray, creating moving images to coincide with the dramatic music effect. A real assault on the senses.
After eating a sandwich for dinner, best we could do I'm afraid, we retreated back to the hostel and our smelly pit of a dorm!
It was a bit of a whistle stop tour of Singapore having only been there for one full day but it is just so expensive! We knew what to expect before we came but nothing can prepare you for things costing quadruple what they would over the border.
I suppose the similarities with Hong Kong are quite numerous in the sense that the British influence is still very much around in the road signs, architecture and fussiness but the city itself is the epitome of sleek. I guess what it lacks in character it makes up for in cleanliness.
Anyway, our next chapter awaits and an exciting and unplanned couple of weeks over in Borneo, can't wait!!
Much love, Tommo and shellface xx
No comments:
Post a Comment