'Singapore Slicker'

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14th Oct

Z' plane was full of Germans, not backpackers. However unpleasant that may sound to the racist among you, i was in fact sat next to this pleasant couple: though the bloke was hench with crew haircut coupled with earrings...anyway, being on the aisle seat, which is where i prefer to be, the incontinent pair interrupted my thus ill-fated attempt to sleep several times during the night/morning.

First impressions of Singapore. If Changi International was anything to go by, my Qantas flight had transported me to what id imagine to be 2050. Futuristic, clean, lightning shuttle trains took me between terminals and after leaving the, lets face it, delapidated Heathrow T1, i felt as though id landed in a place built only during my flight here.

Decided not to wimp out and get an airport shuttle bus so for the 30 or so min trip into town, i thought id try the equally modern MRT train system as i knew my hotel was 4 mins walk from Bugis station (first ref to Lonely Planet: South East asia on a shoestring, upon which my whole trip will be based). Using my backpack as a non-metaphorical battering ram, i forced myself onto a packed rush hour train thinking that perhaps id made the wrong decision...as i got off, i was attacked by a distinctly hot and humid evening simmering at 27 degrees, and felt further stupid for not taking the air con bus to the door step of my hotel. The 4-min walk evolved into 10 with the weight of my kit on my body separated only by loose clothing and sweat.

Disaster. Having finally got to the hotel eagerly wanting a shower and rest, i hand over my receipt for the room id booked months in advance for me and my cousin, who's tagging along for the first 2 weeks of the trip . However, the receptionist (whose cuteness i only noticed the day after when my panic had subsided) in perfect english, pointed out to me that the room id booked dated 14th September 2005 and not OCTOBER...FUCK. and thus id arrived in Singapore at 9 in the evening having no room with my name on it. nor that for my cousin who was arriving the next morning.

By the grace of whoever, there was a twin room going at the hotel which was damn lucky, but only until the 16th. i still had the problem of not having a room for sunday, but at least i had somewhere to stay to look for a different hotel. Phoned home and made my parents less confident that i could actually do this trip alone...hehe. hopefully no more of these mistakes. you have to wonder how STA travel, having booked the room on the 13th sept, thought i could have collected the ticket and flown to the other side of the world to use the said room!! plus i get no refund being now a month outside the refund period...frigging money down the loo...methinks i would have had more fun flushing it for real myself.

Once i showered, i broke a cardinal promise not to eat any western fast food on the whole trip, by comforting myself with KFC after this ordeal...though it was quickly noticeable in my first stroll in town, that most of the resident singaporeans prefered the above crap to their own native dishes -  if the number of deserted Singapore restaurants and packed Burger Kings was anything to go by.

Apparently, this area (Bugis) used to be rather seedy in parts, but as LP romantically puts it, it has since been 'sanitised'!!

15th Oct

Jet Lag = 4am wake up. Not tired, just feeling like i should be. Go down and wait for breakfast to start at what must be an equally fiendishly time for the hotel staff.. My cousin Olivia arrives as im eating, and she grabs a quick bite before the sightseeing festvities but not without a power nap. Meanwhile, with the cockup with the rooms, it turns out this hotel is full for the 16th, thus i must find a room for the both of us...couple of expensive hotels on our road are fully booked but i finally lay eyes on the one across the road which has a nice twin room for a cheaper price compared to SV. Nice...

First stop Raffles Sq. this place is akin to Canada Sq in London but more impressive :) its named after Sir John Raffles who came over in the colonial days and decided to nab the island for himself and turn it into quite a decent place i guess...went on this 'bum boat cruise' which though advertised on the ticket as a glass roof job, a smelly wooden thing arrived w/o our luxury liner in sight: we got on as it was too baking hot not to. Turned out to be a nice way to see the city though the english commentary was hilariously out of sync with where we were on the river. Stopped for a photo of this large 'lionmaid' chimera thing which, spewing water, is the national symbol and worth a pic if not a postcard. Curiously lining the banks were these strange and colourful petite buildings, looking  uncomfortable within the high rise metropolis in the background.

Clarke Quay, where we alighted, epitomised this quirk. With every place having Anglo-names such as Victoria Road/Orchard Road, i was pleasantly surprised to encounter the bars named 'hooters' and 'one-nite-stand'. something for later. Typical in the purposefully under-developed colonial district of singapura, there was this cricket pitch slapped bang in the middle of town..typical arrogant relics/tradition.

Lunch was cheap. around 90p for a hearty noodle lunch and they say this place will be the most expensive of my trip. i guess for that price i deserved to get the runs - but i didnt :)

16th Oct

Decided to climb the - let's face it - intimidating 116m peak of Mt Faber today (forget Kilimanjaro Luther!)...but wasted time getting lost near the foot of the 'bump', so had to get a bus to the cable car following the advice from a very friendly and cheerful McD's assistant...now there's a sentence... Excellent views nonetheless and got some overpriced drinks from this cool open air bar at the summit. reckon itll be a club in no time.

Got back late for checkout as a result of getting lost earlier on, by only 5 min mind, but with a bit of conjolling we didnt get fined. Rushed further to get to 'South East Asia hotel' where the room wasnt ready. so we wondered into the nearby Little India. now ive heard of Chinatowns but not little indias - was a cool place with heaving crowds, indian music and smells. After a nice lunch there, my first glimpse of monsoon rain arrived and i didnt see the sun until the next day. still we went to Singapore's premier shopping district: Orchard road where we tired ourselves out and bought nothing.

Ironically, we had dinner at SV hotel. Nice Waitress.