Singapore Days 1 & 2
Thursday was solely a travel day. The cab came earlier than the specified time (around 10:30am) so we had barely just finished packing our things and getting ready. Once at the airport we sped through security and customs and ended up walking around the airport mall for a few hours. At this point we'd been in Asia for almost 2 weeks, so even we were craving American food. While I was a bit more picky (and still full from eating my way through Thailand!), Jonathan got Burger King and we sat around in the food court before our gate opened up-there was actually a barrier in front of the walkway to our gate, so you had to wait until they were about an hour from boarding!
I was determined not to fall asleep on the plane (it was only about 2 hours to Singapore) but we sat on the runway for about 45 minutes, and I passed out quickly. When I awoke, we had already been in the air for 30 minutes :P
Flight time aside, Singapore is an hour ahead of Thailand, so we landed at about 5:30pm and took a few minutes to get through both customs and baggage claim. Every suitcase (including whatever you carried on) had to be x-rayed before you could leave. We had actually gotten our things first so not only did we have to wait for the machine to warm up, but they put my suitcase through it *3* times. Not that I had anything illegal in it, but I started to get kinda nervous. Eventually they just gave it back to me and didn't even open it up. I have no idea what they thought they saw in it, but I did a runthrough when we got to the hotel to make sure it hadn't been tampered with by someone behind the scenes at the airport after that @_@.
Our cabbie to the hotel was more than nice. He asked us all about our stay, and when he realized it was our first time in Singapore he started to point out major buildings and give us brief summeries of their history. It was REALLY cool! Not only that, but they have an entire street of bookstores: One for selling books in every major language ::DROOL:: Our hotel was on the busiest street, Orchard Rd, which is known for it's MEGA shopping and Christmas light display (it was Xmas Eve when we landed, so it made sense at how packed it was.)
After checking in we went for Pizza at CPK (Don't judge me! I was craving it!) and walked around as much as we could before the crowds became too much. The malls here are like a mix of the malls in the rest of Asia: Upscale, Gi-normous, and about 15 floors above ground, with another 3-4 sub basements that stretch for over a mile and a half down the road. Also, they're attached to the subway stations, which make transportation a lot easier.
Friday we got up early but lounged around in the Executive room for a few hours to have breakfast and read the newspaper. There are more than enough skyscrapers with loft apartments and condos that are high profile, so I was interested in seeing the prices. Singapore is a lot like Hawaii mixed with New York and Florida. It's very obviously a vacation spot for Asian tourists, but the weather is tropical and was most likely a rain forest before modernization hit. Everything is also labled in British English, since this once was a British Colony, making it the predominant language around here. Amongst all that, you have one of the cleanest cities in the world, expensive real estate, shopping for miles and miles, and a melting pot of cultures.
We started our day in Little India, which not only was a cleaner version of the country itself, but made me want to go there to visit someday. I very nearly bought a Sari while we were there, but figured I'd have no where to wear it to :) The area was less developed than Orchard Rd, which means the buildings along the streets were still only 2-3 stories and colonial style from the mid to late 1900's. There was also a hawker area with fresh fish, veggies and fruit. Not to mention an entire Bazaar of clothing! There was a whole BUILDING with Asian CDs and DVDs from just about every movie, show and artist ever created. I could have spent all day there, but we're already closing in on our weight limit at the airport, so I restrained myself from buying anything again :P
On our way back to the station we ran into a woman who caught us looking through our map and offered some advice on places to eat. She convinced us to go to Chinatown, which we weren't so sure about since we've seen like, 3 Chinatowns (including Hong Kong itself) already, but once we got there we realized WHY it was such a popular sight to see! From Little India, about 3 stations away, we really were suddenly back in China! There were 100's to 1000's of people packed in the hawker station and food that literally had our mouths watering. The street vendors had everything from Indian saris to chinese silk dresses (I bought a wrap for the beach!) and the area stretched for another half mile in both directions at the least! We walked and ate at the various stalls (roasted chestnuts, Takoyaki, real fruit juice blended in front of us and Soup Dumplings-aka Xiao Long Pao!) before we realized the sky had darkened to a rain cloud covered terrace. We went back to the hotel and arrived at the doors just as the first few drops hit the ground.
We took in the afternoon at the lounge and made reservations at Jumbo, which is known for it's Chili Crab. At around 6pm we head over to Clarke Quay and sat down for dinner. It was OMG SO YUMMY!! I can't wait to post photos, because no amount of description will do the food there justice! It was an entire crab boiled in Chili/Egg soup. AN ENTIRE CRAB! After dinner we went back to Orchard Road to see the Christmas Parade and walk through the underground mall before turning in for the night.
I already have half of today's story to tell, but I rather write everything up per day instead of a half, so Look for more updates, hopefully tomorrow! Then it's off to Malaysia: 1 day in Melacca and 3 in Kuala Lumpor