Singapore

Day: 33

Countries: 4
Stops: 10


Arrived in Singapore at around 2pm and took the airport shuttle to the Hangout @ Mt Emily hotel. Checked out the lounge and the rooftop lookout, and decided to stay in and plan the next few days (with a quick trip for dinner at the food (hawker) centre at Tekka Centre in Little India. Essentially, there are all these stalls of various food items (or a selection of them), each for under $5 SGD, and you just pick one, line-up (if necessary) and get your food, find a table and eat, then when you're done someone comes and takes your food away. Drinks and dessert are usually separate from the mains...you have to get buy those from different stores. Really cheap lunch or dinner option, although they always try to talk to me in Chinese....


The next day, I went to the National Museum of Singapore, where they had a special exhibit called Dreams + Reality, with some selected artwork from the Musee d'Orsay Paris. Spent 2 hours at the exhibit, had lunch at the museum cafe since it was pouring rain by this time, then spent another 2 hours at the permanent exhibit about the history of Singapore, which I thought was really interesting as well. By this time it was 4pm, so I scrapped my plans to check out the rest of the Civic District (Asian Civilizations Museum, Supreme Court, Parliament House, etc.) and headed for a slow walk down Orchard Road, where I was supposed to meet an old friend from elementary school, Donna, for dinner at Din Tai Fung at Wisma Atria. Ended up shopping, naturally, buying a waterproof watch at OG Department Store, and some acupressure wrist bands that are supposed to work for motion sickness (I have yet to test this out). Also stumbled into where all the Filipinos in Singapore apparently hang out, Lucky Plaza. In less than 24 hours, that's got to be some sort of personal record! Anyway, I had a great time catching up with Donna and answering all her questions about Canada (hahaha), and afterwards we took a bus to Marina Bay Sands to check out the waterfront water/light show and the major landmarks such as Helix Bridge, the Merlion, and the Fullerton Hotel. 

Helix Bridge, with Marina Bay Sands in the background

The following day, I meant to check out Little India and Kampong Glam (in the Arab Quarter), but instead got stuck in Bugis Village and Bugis Junction because of the rain. Also popped in quickly to Sim Lim Square, where they had several floors of computer and electronic shops, before heading back to the hotel. I made up for it the following day, left the hotel early to walk up Serangoon Road in Little India, passing by Little India Arcade, the Sri Veermakaliamman temple and Mustafa Centre all the way to the Sri Srinivasa Perumal temple, where they had an exhibit on Vishnu worship throughout Southeast Asia. Then, I walked east on Syed Almi Road to Beach Road, then south on Beach Road to Sultan Gate to check out the Istana Kampong Glam, which used to be the official residence of the Johore Sultans. Unfortunately, much of it looks like it's under renovations, so I ended up just walking down Kandahar Street and into Muscat Street to check out the Sultan Mosque and then Arab Street, with all the carpet and silk shops. Then, I quickly walked down Beach Road again all the way to the War Memorial Park, the Padang (cricket fields), and then Esplanade Park, where I took photos of all the "usual" Singapore landmarks. Then it's back over to High Street for the Arts House (the old Parliament), Asian Civilization Museum, and the new Parliament House. By this time, the skies are getting dark again, so I headed over to Clarke Quay to do a 30 minute river cruise, which took me to all the same sights, except on the river this time. The boat ride ended just in time, as it started raining as I was walking back. I had a quick lunch at the food court at Bugis Junction, then back to the hotel to check in again (I had to check out of my dorm this morning, and check in for the room I'm supposed to be in for the Intrepid tour) and rest for a couple of hours before the tour group meet at 6pm. 

Bugis Village

Sim Lim Square

Sri Srinivasa Perumal temple, Little India

Sultan Mosque, Arab Quarter

Clarke Quay

This morning, we left the hotel at 7:30am, taking the bus through Singapore Immigration and then on the other side of the causeway, the Malaysian Immigration, before going on the 3 or so hours on the expressway to Melaka, which is where I currently am. More on that in the next post!