Singapore Aint No Ghetto
Trip Start
Sep 20, 2007
1
57
85
Trip End
Sep 20, 2008
Singapore,
Singapore
Friday, June 27, 2008
First impressions of Singapore were excellent. We'd been told a few horror stories but the city was the cleanest we'd ever seen. There's even a ban on chewing gum so the streets are immaculate (Dublin City Council take note). Not knowing much about the history, it was clear to see this one time British colony had taken the best of the Western influences and infused them seamlessly into an Asian metropolis. Most people were fluent in English and Malay and the city just had an energetic go get em feel.
Main negatives were the price of everything (nearly as expensice as Oz) and the humidity definitely lived up to its fearsome reputation. However, as the main activity in Singapore appeared to be shopping in air condition malls, we knew we'd survive.
With four days only in the country we were happy to kick back after the carnage of Kuta. Wake up, go for a gym, swim, grab some brekkie and then wander around was the main order of the day.
Craig went to see the infamous Raffles hotel (an old haunt for the British aristocracy). A Singapore Sling at 25 dollars a pop was a bit much though, even for us flashpackers. That night we decided to head into Little India for a slap up feed. It was some Hindu religion so when we arrived we were a little overwhelmed by the sheer number of people flooding out of the temples. It was amazing how we felt like we'd transported to Calcutta, spot the pasty micks!!
As usual the Lonely Planet was very outdated and the restaurant we'd aimed for was gone. Luckily, we stumbled across a gem called th Banana Leaf where aptly enough your food was served to you on a banana leaf. It's fair to say that what went down can only be described as a gorge fest, we had to sit there for an hour after just to digest... great food and nice Kingfisher beers (from India Clive).
Next few days took a similar tone with gluttony and shopping occupying our time. Clive and Craigo purchased portable DVD players in anticipation of all those monsoon days in South East Asia. Thought it would be rude not too with all the pirate DVD's floating around.
Anyway, good time had by all, Singapore was definitely a welcome surprise. Next stop good ole Bangors (Bangkok) and the start of our Thai adventure. Thank be jesus we had our own personal tour guide (the Donnie Lad). He promises to warn us off lady boys, we'll see!!
