I want to get up at out by about 9:00AM, so that I have plenty of time to get to the airport and go thru immigration, etc. before my flight. I will miss the controlled chaos of BK! I expect SIN to be much more smooth. Even though the chaos of BK is sometimes difficult and frustrating, it is part of the essence of life here. There is always activity on the street. People, food, traffic. There is real life here, real energy. Indeed, this is part of many southern Asian cities. HK was also this way, but not to the same extreme as here. And never once have I felt threatened or concerned about my physical safety (except for trying to cross the street!). Not once has anyone frowned or scowled at me, or treated me in an untoward manner.
I do get up and out on time, and am at the airport by about 10:15. I check my luggage, buy my departure tax ticket (500B), go thru immigration and security, and check my email at the CP business class lounge. The peace and tranquility of the lounge is suddenly interrupted by a loud American man taking a call on his cell phone. Didn't he realize that the entire room was listening to his loud voice? Then he went to use one of the 3 internet computers and he loudly complains that it is not working while he pushes the keyboard around the table. Geez, what planet was this guy raised on? One of the hostesses comes over and finally gets him to communicate more effectively regarding his difficulty. By then I am done checking my email and so I tell him and the hostess that the computer I was using is working just fine. Yep, another ugly american! Ugh!
Otherwise the morning was smooth and easy. While waiting to board I called the YMCA Hotel in SIN and was able to reserve a room. Great! It is in a good location, and the room rate is reasonable ($70S, about $45US). I am the first person to board the plane. We are scheduled for departure at 12:00 noon, but we actually push back about 5 minutes early. The flight south to SIN was fine, and CP gave me a very nice lunch: smoked salmon; warm rolls; green beans, noodles, and baked shrimp. Very good! The flight took just over 2 hours, and we also lost and hour, so we arrived at about 3:20 PM SIN time.
I get my room, no. 611, a small room with 2 twin beds, drop my stuff, and walk to the nearest mall where I get a SIM card for my phone. OK! I then call my friend S, whom I have been emailing for about 3 years, and we agree to meet tomorrow afternoon. I walk around the Orchard Road area for a while, just getting the lay of the land. There are LOTS of people out. It is Valentines Day, and there are many happy couples, with almost all of the ladies holding flowers. It seems that V-day is very big here in SIN.
I continue walking northwest on Orchard Road for a while, and then decide to head back to the hotel. I see an MRT (subway) station across the street. After getting a stored value card S$15; very similar to the HK Octopus card) I take the next train (on the north-south line) two stops south to Dhoby Ghaut, the stop near my hotel. It is amazing how crowded the train is in the early evening on a Saturday! The subway system is quite new. The stations are very clean and spacious, and the trains run smooth and quiet. A very good system!
A while later I have dinner at the Y café. The short menu has both western and asian dishes. One of the western dishes is "pan fried garoupa", a freshwater white fish. Sounds good. Well, it was not pan fried--it was sauteed with a pepper sauce, and it was quite tough. I will not get it again. While I am eating I start talking with two ladies sitting at the next table. One of them sees what I have ordered and says she should have warned me--she got the same thing and liked it as much as I did!
After dinner I go down and am ready to go for a walk. The hotel building also houses a McDonald's on the ground floor, and there is a lady eating an ice cream cone at the hotel entrance. We say hello, and I soon learn that R is from HK, just arrived in SIN this afternoon (like me), and she was just walking around SIN when she had a taste for something cool. She is staying at a different hotel. We decide to walk together further up Orchard Road. We stop at an outdoor restaurant/bar, where she orders a peppermint 7-Up. Hmm, I have never seen this before. It is quite refreshing, and it is a pretty green/blue color.
We then take the MRT to Clarke Quay, where we walk around the various bars and restaurants that are located along the Singapore River. It is a delightful evening. The air is comfortable, there is a light breeze, and the place is busy but not crowded. There are a few taxi type boats cruising past. The river is maybe 50 yds wide, or less, and it curves sharply a couple times within a short distance. On one side are a row of low rise buildings with bars; there are some large boats tied-up with seating on the decks.
Nearby is the "Ultimate Bunjee" ride. There are two tall steel towers between which is suspended (on a very fat bunjee cord) a large metal basket with seats for 3 people. Think of a giant sling shot. The riders get strapped in, and then the basket is released and it shoots high up into the air, and then bounces up and down until it finally comes to rest. While we are watching 3 young girls, about 20 yrs old or so, get in and do it. Very courageous!
After stopping at one of the riverfront bars for a drink we walk back to R's hotel, where we say goodnight. We will try to meet again tomorrow afternoon. She is meeting friends for lunch. I walk back to the hotel, watch some TV, and then go to bed.
Getting thru the SIN airport was very easy. It is a new and modern facility, and the lines at immigration were short and fast. I got a luggage cart, my luggage soon arrived at baggage claim, and I went out to the taxi stand. We managed to get most of my stuff into the trunk and I sat in the front seat. This being SIN the driver spoke english, and so we had a nice conversation during the 15 minute ride to the hotel. I got my map out and he helped me follow our path. It is a sunny and breezy day, about 30C (86F) and humid.
As I had seen from the window of the plane, and what I now confirm here on the ground, is that SIN is a very new city. I don't see the decaying old buildings and streets that I saw in BK or HK. Everything looks like American suburbia--like Boca Raton, or Brickell Avenue. Palm trees swaying, wide smooth streets with smoothly moving traffic. What a difference!
The YMCA hotel is just a short distance from the center of downtown, and at the beginning of Orchard Road, a main shopping, entertainment, and hotel street. I had expected Orchard Road to be a narrower street with small hotels. Instead it is a wide thoroughfare with large new malls and shops. But my decision of hotel is good. The YMCA really is in a good location. The MRT is just a block away. And I can walk to most places here in town center.
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