Monday: After a Bus to Kuala Lumpur to catch the train to
Singapore, I was tired…but couldn’t possibly go to bed and sacrifice those
precious first hours in a new city. I
dragged a teammate outside to walk around the little mixture of Chinese and
India shops and restaurants near our hostel.
And then when sleepiness got the best of me, I returned to a hot shower
and cool bedroom (with a real bed!)
Tuesday: We woke and had continental breakfast (cereal and
milk, possible toast) and headed down to the metro to find our way to the
Marina Bay Sands structure. That is the
large building made of three towers supporting a ship on top. We got ourselves up to the top for photo
purposes, then split off into two groups.
We walked around the bay area for a bit before going into one of my old
favorite coffee places from my time in Korea; “The Coffee Bean and Tea
Leaf”. We found ourselves in the
historic district after that to tour buildings and a fireman’s museum. Our wanderings took us to the University,
where I was more than happy to buy Kimchi Jjigae for “linner”. We then rushed off to the Singapore Flyer,
the tallest observation wheel in the world (The London Eye comes in 3rd.) However, it was closed temporarily for poor
weather. So to pass the time, we ate
very delicious gelatos and got fish pedicures.
When that form of ticklish-torture was over, the flyer was running
again. While we were up it, we got to
enjoy not only the sights of the city, but also the lightshow that takes place
in the botanical garden. Then it was
time to wander back to the metro for our trip back to the hostel.
Wednesday: The theme of today was shopping! Everyone in my little group bought a dress,
or shoes, or shorts. But I did not. I have to be sold on something hardcore to
buy it. And there was only one object
that did that for me…but it was too expensive for what it was. From the shops at Orchard Rd., we went on to
Sentosa Island and Boardwalk on our long walk to the beach. I swam a bit, and hopped into a beachside
pool for fun…but then the rains came.
With my beach nap put on hold, I split nachos with some of the girls and
then we took off for our next little stop.
We were told by another guest at our hostel that the best views, better
than the Flyer, could be found at Singapore’s (and possibly S.E. Asia’s)
highest alfresco bar. It was ladies
night so they waved the $30 cover charge and we dressed in our finest clothes
(missionary rags compared to the other’s in queue). Unfortunately due to the weather, the rooftop
was closed so they only took us to the 61st level. The view was good, but the music loud, the
floor crowded, and the lights flashy, and we couldn’t spend more than 20 mins
up there taking photos before we ran off to Starbucks. That’s more my speed even if the view isn’t
as good. :-P
Overall, this was an expensive endeavor, but hopefully, this
experience has given me a little bit of the comforts of home. Good food, touring time, and getting to play
in shopping malls…though I hope to actually buy something one day…
That was the adventure that was Singapore. Now back to teaching.
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| Singapore at Night from the Flyer (highest observation tower in the world) |
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