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Singapore - First Impressions
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Arrived in Singapore at 6:45 in the morning, after an 11 hour flight with no sleep, despite being tired while boarding, drinking beer inflight, and taking a sleeping tablet. Changi Airport is impressive, but not as vast as it seemed when I visited it 15 years ago, and pretty much dead at that time of morning. Caught the MRT (tube/underground) across town, which was my first time on any such system. The first leg of the trip, the tube was essentially empty - interesting to look down it as the cars articulate as the track curves.
At the first stop, I had to "alight" (my friends from the UK I met later shared my enjoyment of this term, so I'm not just a weirdo, or at least not for this reason...),
and get onto another tube car, this time with no seats, and quite a few people standing. As I travelled along the East-West line, each stop more and more people embarked. Was amazed at how people could sleep-stand leaning against the walls.
As it got to the point where people were packed like sardines (which I found strangely fun), and people were getting jammed in the doors and being unable to get on (it was the morning rush-hour then), it occurred to me how introverted everyone was. I was the only westerner I saw on that journey, after the initial stop at the airport. My impression was that people are trapped in their own hi-tech little worlds (often with an iPod or Blackberry, mp3 player blaring) with little awareness of anyone else around them.
People tend to be nice/polite when approached, but are in such a hurry, they can be a bit rude on the stairs/elevators/"travellators" (another awesome word from the trans
port system). People are just very busy and self-absorbed.
The first thing I did when I got out of the tube station at Outram Park interchange (maybe 45mins trip from Changi airport) was look uphill, see some flights of stairs, a
nd climb them. Despite the 30+ degree heat, and 22kg of luggage, it was all good. Took a few snaps, cleaned out the singaporean airlines strawberry yoghurt that had burst in my bag (all over camera, etc), and misplace my keys under the park bench.
Singapore is a very clean place - Outram park was somewhat out of the way, and there was a significant amount of litter, but it was still well tended, and I imagine would be cleaned up shortly. Somewhat of a joke as a park. Middle aged women, and the odd youngster or couple would do laps - from my vantage point on a park bench, I noticed their lap time was less than 5 minutes walking.
I ended up at my hostel at 9:30, met the friendly couple who run it, had a shower and rested for 2 hours (still didn't sleep, even though I'd been awake for over 24 hours
). I'd specifically chosen a backpackers in the heart of singapore's Chinatown. Good food, great sights, nice atmosphere. Then at about 12pm, it was time to hit town.
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