After getting up, I go and take a look at the free hotel buffet, but it still fails to interest me, so I go to McD. This time I get there Big Breakfast--eggs, sausage, English muffin, hash browns, and coffee. OK! While I am eating my friend S calls me, and we agree to meet at 12:30. We will visit Chinatown and Little India. I spend the rest of the morning relaxing, and checking my email.
At the appointed time I meet S at the nearby MRT station, and we take the subway to Chinatown. She takes me down some of the back streets, and also to a Hindu temple. Very nice. We also stop at one of the hotels in the Hotel 81 chain. There are several of these here in SIN, and I wanted to see one and compare it to the YMCA. Their location here in Chinatown is very good, but the room is not as nice, and they do not have internet in the hotel.
We then take the MRT to Little India. Our first item of business is lunch. We go to Tekka Center, where there is a large food court with lots of choices. We both opt for the Indian style vegetarian food. Very tasty! We then walk up Serangoon Road, past lots of small shops selling clothing, shoes, souvenir items, etc. The sidewalks are narrow and crowded. We finally make it to Mustafa Center, which is a collection of shops that sell almost anything, and it is open 24 hours! It is much larger than it first appears, and I later see that it encompasses two separate buildings. I might come back here next week and pick up some things to take back home.
We then walk back down Serangoon Road and continue past Tekka until we reach Sim Lim Square. This is another computer mall, with lots of computer and electronic shops. It is not as big as Funan, but I think the prices are a little better here, and there is more of an opportunity to bargain. Funan is strictly western retail. We also walk around the neighborhood, thru some outdoor markets, and eventually we have dinner at the food court at Seiyu, another mall. There are so many choices it takes me a while to decide, but I finally opt for a claypot of rice and shrimp. The meal is served in a VERY HOT claypot, which is set into a larger bowl. The food is very hot, and the pot retains heat. I think the food continues to cook while you are eating it! It is very filling and I could not finish it. The cost was about $4S.
After dinner we do a little more walking around this area (Bugis MRT). We discuss where to go next. We decide to go to Boat Quay and go for a boat ride on the river. We can either take the MRT, or we can walk. S is a real trooper and agrees to walk. It takes us about 45 minutes but the evening is quite pleasant and we are soon walking past the bars, etc., at Boat Quay. In the middle of the block there is a booth for the river boat rides, and we get our tickets for the 45 minute ride. A few minutes later we are on our way, first going up river. We go perhaps a mile beyond Clarke Quay. The river twists and turns frequently. I am very impressed by how far upriver the riverfront has been nicely developed. At the far end of our trip we go past the Grand Copthorne Hotel. Wow, does it look elegant! We then turn around and head back downriver. We go past our beginning point, all the way to the Harbor area, Merlion Park, and Clifford Pier. This is where I had taken the boat ride a few days ago to Kusu Island. The nighttime scenery was very nice. Unfortunately, from a moving boat it is not possible to take photos. The exposure time is just too long. You will have to take my word for it--definitely worth the price of the tickets! I tell S that maybe I will come back one morning and take another boat ride when I can take some photos.
After the boat ride we stop and get some coffee (me a decaf iced cappucino; she a hot chocolate), and then call it a night. We walk back to my hotel, and then hail a taxi for S to get home. After all of our walking, I sleep very well!
After check-in I walk to the other end of the check-in area, and then enter the immigration area. The lines are very short and I am thru in 3 minutes. I then enter the departure area of the SIN airport and I see that every airport should aspire to be. What a wonderful airport. Not just the usual shopping (but here there is more than the usual amount). They also have kids pay area, internet cafes, food courts, and actual live entertainment. I watched a man dressed up in a sultan's costume do some singing (he got audience volunteers to participate), and they had a "game show" similar to bingo where the winner received a $50S gift certificate for shopping at the airport. I participated in the game show. I did not win the "big" prize, but during the game the emcee occasionally asked travel related questions, and I answered the question about when and where the Wright brothers first flew and received a gift of a computer mouse.
During my wait time I had dinner at the food court (fried kway teow--noodles and veggies and shrimp sauteed in a wok, very good and very filling). At the proper time I went to Gate D-30, and a few minutes later I was on board my flight to India. We pushed back from the gate a few minutes early, and 15 minutes later we were airborne. The view of the city lights from the plane was very good. I wish I knew what part of town I was looking at!
The plane was a wide body with 2-4-2 eating. I was in 21A, and next to me was a young Indian man. His name is Suresh, and I think he was returning to India after having been a construction laborer in SIN for 2 or 3 years. He was very very happy, and also a bit nervous about flying. He had 3 beers with his dinner. When they handed out the India immigration forms for entry to India he asked me to help him fill them out. He actual Indian name was very long. I filled out the form for him as best I could. He was quite appreciative, and wanted to give me one of his beers, but I declined.
The flight to Chennai was generally good. There was an inflight movie. I think they announced that the headphone system was not working, so they put the audio on the speakers. But it was not too loud. The movie was a typical Bollywood romantic adventure/comedy about young love between our hero and the beautiful girl, and the girl's father who wants the girl to marry another man. Even though I could not hear or understand the words, the story line was easy to follow, and of course true love wins out in the end!
We also had a meal on the flight. If I had known this I would not have had such a large dinner. We had a choice of 3 dinners. I took the vegetarian one. It was delicious. I wish I had been hungry enough to eat all of it!
There is a 2hr30min time difference between SIN and Chennai. We arrived in Chennai at 10:50 PM, which was 1:20 AM SIN time. The lines are immigration were medium, and after about 20 minutes I was thru and waiting for my luggage. After about 10 minutes my bag came thru and I headed out into the main terminal. I was looking for my friend A and her husband V. I hope I would recognize them, and I hoped A would recognize me. It has been over 8 years already since A stayed at my home in Miami while attending a medical fellowship at the U of M medical school. How time flies! There were lots of people crowded up against the railing. I did not see any faces that I knew. I kept walking, and soon, between some other people, I saw A's smiling face. We recognized each other immediately, and we greeted each other when I was able to exit out past the railing. Her husband, V, a slim and fit man, shook my hand, and we walked out into the parking lot to find the taxi that they had taken to come and get me. The night air was very comfortable--about 25C, light breeze.
Soon we were in the taxi and on our way to where they live, and to my guest quarters that it next door to their apartment building. It was about 11:30 at night. Traffic was busy but moving. It seemed a bit chaotic, and many time I say cows wandering alongside the street. After a 30 minute sometimes bumpy ride we arrived at the ICF Guest Quarters. I had a room on the first floor. Very large room, and a very large bathroom. After dropping my stuff we walked next door to their apartment. It is on the 4th floor. The housing here is all owned by ICF, which is the employer of A. After some conversation we agreed that I would come over in the morning for breakfast, and then we would go out in the afternoon after A came home from the hospital.
They walked me back to the room, and we said goodnight. It was about 1:00AM local time, or 3:30AM SIN time. I was in bed within 15 minutes, and asleep soon thereafter.
Today I my last day in SIN. I fly to India tonight. After breakfast (pancakes at McD, the coffee and fruit at the hotel café), Then I take the bus (no. 174, uses the same stored value card as the MRT) to the India embassy (called the India High Commission). Per their instructions from the other day, I pay them $120S and leave my passport. I will have to come back and pick-up my visa and passport late this afternoon. I then take the MRT back to the hotel and get packed up. It takes a while. How did I ever accumulate so much stuff? I will leave 2 bags here at the hotel (my large bag, and a small one of books and papers), and take two hags with me (computer, and clothing).Check-out time is 12:00 noon, and I finally get downstairs at about 12:15. OK, no problem. My flight is not until this evening, so the hotel will keep my travel bags until later in the afternoon no charge. The other bags will cost $2S per day per bag for storage. After checking my email, I take the MRT to Little India and have lunch at the same place as yesterday. At 2:00 PM S meets me there. After she has lunch we walk to Sim Lim Tower. This is another electronic and electrical goods mall (but not computer or IT). She is looking for a Laser Disc player for her mother. This is an old format and I tell her I don’t think they are manufactured any more. She does find some places that have used ones, but she is not sure she wants a used one.
We then take the MRT to the India embassy, and after a few minutes wait I pick-up my visa and passport. Then its back to the MRT to the hotel. I get my bags and we go outside to hail a taxi It is about 5:15 PM. Many taxis pass by, but all are taken. Standing next to us is a young woman that has also just come out of the YMCA. Her name is A, she is from Zurich, and she is also going to the airport, so we agree to share the taxi ride. We are not having any luck, and so we walk to another corner a half-block away. No better hear. I see the taxi phone number on some of the taxis passing by, so I call it and order a taxi. About 5 minutes later it has arrived and we are one our way. We first go north and drop S off at her house (she lives with her mother in a nice quiet neighborhood, no high rises). A and I then continue in the taxi to the airport. The total cost was $25S. I pay $20, and ask A to pay $5. It is about 6:15 PM, and my flight leaves at 9:25. I certainly have enough time!
I find the check-in counter for my flight, but they will not open until 7:00. So I just sit and wait. The SIN airport is very spacious and open and light. I am near Counter No. 1, which is for Air India. There are two flights that will be checked-in, one to Delhi, and the other to Chennai. There are several families with small children. The kids are very cute. One young girl, 14 months, keeps wandering away, her father following her and retrieving her when she gets too far! She just keeps doing it over and over again. I think she is excited that she can walk so quickly!
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