Singapore

The overnight train was great. We had our own compartment with en-suite including a shower (Have you ever had a shower on a train?!) and TV. It was pretty noisy but we have earplugs, so it was fine. We were rudely awakened in the morning by a bloke who gave us some customs cards to fill in, and then rudely awakened again when the train stopped for customs, another new experience. Cue panicking and rushed dressing, and hastily filling out the customs cards, and dashing halfway down the platform, to be told that we needed to take all our baggage with us - cue dashing back to our bunks to cram everything in our bags and then rushing to the customs building, where we joined the back of a very long, very slow-moving queue! Oh well. Apart from that excitement, the journey was most enjoyable.
Singapore train station is a bit old and dilapidated, but then, with six arrivals and six departures a day, all to Malaysia, I don't suppose it gets much use. After asking directions from the inquiries man (who was very nice and gave us a map) we strolled out into Singapore.
First impressions - very developed. The raised highways and wide roads were similar to KL. I think if we hadn't just come from KL I would have been more impressed, but to me it seemed like it was all very modern and new a few years ago - although it's still very efficient, the concrete's a bit dirtier and the kerbs are a bit more scuffed. Although we've all heard about it, it was still wierd that, because the crossing-the-road man was red, no-one crossed, despite there being no cars. Apparently Singapore has relaxed its no-jaywalking laws (or enforcement), but most people still obey them.
After a short but tiring walk, with our bags, we arrived at the metro station. Singapore's metro is called the Mass Rapid Transport system, which I think is awesome. What's wrong with "metro", I have no idea, but still. Mass Rapid Transport. It sounds like something from Total Recall.

The metro's very efficient and easy. We bought multiple-use passes that you charge beforehand and then just wave at the ticket readers (still in your wallet, if you like), which I, of course, never tired of. Dotted around the stations and trains are screens showing how you should be vigilant for terrorists (in a rather sensationalist fashion...I can't believe that a similar film in London would actually show a train exploding). "Who is this man? What is in his heavy bag? Is he acting suspiciously or nervously?" As we were foreigners with huge, bulky bags, we felt slightly nervous. Which, of course, incriminated us even more. Still, when we got off the MRT we remembered all our bags, thankfully, or they would probably have been detonated in a controlled fashion...

The hostel was easy to find once we got out of the station. Our room was comfortable. It was brightly coloured and air conditioned. We rested for a few hours, and then headed out to Little India, a couple of stops down the line. We found a hawker centre and ate brunch (or maybe lunch) and then wandered on to a couple of cramped malls dealing exclusively in technology and gadgets and things. Which, of course, interested me more than Alex. To be honest, some of these malls are nicer to spend time in than others - the big chain shops are very western and let you get on with it, but in the older, more cramped malls, if you stop or show an interest in anything they will start talking at you. Still, it's not as in-your-face as India. Wandering on, we eventually found ourselves in Chinatown.
Chinatown, Singapore is very much like other Chinatowns we've seen - maybe not as crowded, but still full of T-shirts, watches, cufflinks etc of dubious authenticity...this time, we didn't buy anything (except a dragonfruit juice each). Eventually, Chinatown spat us out the other side, and we wandered East again, ending up in a collection of modern, huge malls. Of course, we were compelled to wander through them, casually heading towards the cinema. We watched The Bourne Supremacy - we're rapidly finding that the attraction of cinemas isn't just the film, but also it's a nice, air conditioned place to sit down for a couple of hours!
We emerged and headed downstairs and out, where we were confronted with a huge, brown floating donut-type thing, allegedly the world's largest fountain, the Fountain of Wealth. Neither of us was particularly impressed by it, but there were benches and I think we bought a juice of some sort. We were more impressed by the booming and cracking and the colourful reflections, off shiny skyscrapers, from fireworks that were being set off somewhere nearby. Eventually, they turned the fountain off and people started walking up to the middle and going round it multiple times. It turns out that it's meant to bring you wealth, or something, but as it was built about ten years ago, I don't know quite how that superstition got started!
We decided that as we weren't far away, we'd head over to Raffles Hotel for a Singapore Sling. Along the way we got caught in immense crowds through the malls that we walked through (in Singapore, often the easiest or only way to get somewhere is through a mall; this is especially true of MRT stations) but eventually we made it, and after wandering around the hotel (which, unsurprisingly, is also a shopping centre) we eventually ended up in the Long Bar (where the Singapore Sling, a cocktail, was invented). It's a really quaint place, all dark oak and high ceilings, with a spiral staircase. And, strangely enough, loads and loads of peanut shells on the floor, from the peanut boxes on all the tables and the bar. There was a pretty good live band, but we only stayed for our drinks (we couldn't afford any more, the two drinks cost more than two nights accommodation) and headed back, on the MRT, to the hostel.


I'm getting worse, only one day this time! I'll write some more as soon as I can, gotta go. Take care!