The Wonderful World of Singapore

It's been a short trip (we just got here yesterday and we're leaving tomorrow), but Singapore has been pleasant at least.  We had a pretty good idea of what we were getting ourselves into in coming here.  We knew that it was more or less just another city, one of the cleanest we've ever seen, but a city none the less.  Our plan in visiting Singapore was mostly just to see my cousin whom I haven't seen in 8 years, so we didn't do too much sightseeing.

Yesterday when we arrived we were in for a bit of a shocker however.  We arrived at our hostel and the doors did not have any doorknobs.  There were signs all over the doors however, that informed us that to check in/out we needed to call a number and/or ring the bell to get in.  We rang the bell over and over and over again, and could hear people moving about on the other side of the door, but there was no answer.  We probably stood outside for a good ten minutes before Darren finally got the nerve to knock... while it got a response, it was not a pleasant response.  Apparently knocking is not acceptable here at the Sky Orchids Hostel.  The land lady/owner was not impressed.  Our greeting therefor, was a rude and unpleasant one.  She was very abrupt and short with us and chastized us for knocking.  When I told her that we did ring the bell, about "20 times", I was chastized for over-exagerating.  I told her it was definitely at least "10 times" and even that she didn't believe because apparently she was only out of the room for a short period of time.  Needless to say, we didn't exactly feel welcome.  "Oddly" enough, once we signed the check in form and paid for our two nights she seemed to warm up a little.  She gave us a swift run through of the procedures and goings about of the place and then left us to ourselves.  She did warm up over the course of the day, and today she was more than pleasant.  She even offered to let us have breakfast before our bus tomorrow morning, which is before "breakfast time" (7am to 10am).  Knocking must be a serious pet peeve of hers because she seemed like an extremely angry woman at first; but, if not for that I'd say she was nothing but pleasant.

Despite our rude welcome, we didn't really go anywhere or do anything upon arrival in Singapore.  We checked in and left briefly to get lunch and then we were back again watching movies with one of the other guests.  One of the great things about Singapore is the cheapness of the food, and the variety.  There's an Indian place down the street from our hostel and for S$ (Singapore Dollars) 3.80 we got a tray (like a baking sheet with a piece of brown butcher paper on it) with a heapful of seasoned rice, butter chicken, and vegetables.  Mmmm!  That was more or less the highlight of the day however.  We really didn't do anything else but surf the internet and watch a movie or two.

This morning didn't start out much differently.  Darren watched a movie with the same guest as the day before, and I surfed the internet.  Not all of what we did was fruitless however, a lot of our internet time was spent researching the next leg of our trip.  Once we finally got the motivation to get up and out though, we went back to the same Indian place, had lunch and then went to a transit area to buy bus tickets to Malaysia.  We basically then forced ourselves to go to Little India, where Darren was trapped by the wonderful smells of curries, and my eyebrows were drawn to some much needed attention.  From there (with some butter chicken and rice "to go") we made our way to the Singapore Botanical Gardens.  We walked around for a bit and then sat on a bench and had our little snack.  Other than watching a small, blonde, curly-haired child run awol from his nanny time and time again, and look at the pretty flowers, we just walked around aimlessly.  We eventually got a hold of my cousin Ester, once she got off work and headed to the ION Mall to meet up with her.

The ION Mall and all other malls in Singapore are basically located in one area referred to as Orchard.  This place is insane!!!  I heard there was good shopping in Singapore but I didn't grasp exactly what that meant.  There are seriously block after block after block of shopping malls; and, not just random boutiques but huge stores for Louis Vuitton, Channel, D&G, Emporio Armani, Rolex, and tons of other ritzy looking stores I've never even heard of!  It's actually mind boggeling how many malls and shopping complexes they have.  They even have one called "Lucky Mall" which more or less caters strictly to Filippinos!  We didn't do any shopping though.  The S$ is almost par to the Canadian dollar and Emporio Armani is not any cheaper here than it is back home!

Anyway, the highlight and purpose of our trip was that for the first time in 8 years I was able to see my Manang Ester!  We met her at the MRT (skytrain station) in the basement of the ION.  On the B2 level (I think) there is a massive "Food Hall" featuring all sorts of Asian cuisine (there's also a "Food Republic" featuring yet more Asian cuisine on the 4th floor as well).  Ester took us down there and we took our pick for dinner.  With the help of Ester, we picked well!  We picked Malaysian food coincidentally and it was excellent.  I like Darren's more than I liked my own and basically stole most of his sauce.  It was a spicy, prawn and noodle dish with a coconut milk based soup.  So rich and creamy and delicious!  We topped it off with some fresh coconuts both as refreshment and desert!  We more or less spent the evening chatting and catching up.  As I haven't been back to the Filippines in 8 years, and have only recently begun establishing contact with my extended (and very extensive) family, my time with Ester was more like a lesson in my own family tree.  There are so many aunts and uncles and cousins that I can hardly keep track of who's who and who's related to whom and how.  How Ester does it I'll never know.  It was great to see her though and Darren and I had such a wonderful time.  Ester is actually the first of my extended family Darren has ever met, and it couldn't have been better.  (Thanks so much for the great evening Ester and for the shirts!)  Hopefully, it wont be so long before he meets the rest of the family or before Ester and I see each other again!  2012?  Fingers crossed!

The visit was bittersweet in a way.  While it was great to see her, the visit really was too short.  Darren and I are exhausted though.  I think China wore us out.  (Yes!  I realize that I'm talking of being warn out from travelling, but it really is exhausting!)  We've had little to no motivation to sight-see, and there have been days where we hardly leave our room/bungalow.  Consequently, the very thought of staying in a city for too long is exhausting.  We're almost half way through our trip and the clock is ticking, but both Darren and I feel compelled to s t o p.  That doesn't mean leave and go home, but I think at some point we really need to just quit moving for a while.  We thought that was what Bali was supposed to be, but even then we never really stopped for more than a few days, and you're constantly thinking about and planning the next step.  I think what we really need is to sacrifice a week or two and just let go--get comfortable and slip into a mindless routine for a while.  The constant stop and go is getting to us and wearing us thin (we got here yesterday and tomorrow we're catching a bus at 6am for example).  The longest we've stopped has been just enough to get to know an area and start to relax and then we're right back on the road again.  We're losing steam and it's time for a little R&R.  Real rest and recuperation.  So we may choose Malaysia to stop, or maybe Thailand, or maybe we wont have a choice at all and our minds and bodies will just give in wherever they land next.  Who knows.  We'll figure that out when we get there.  Hope you don't all want to shoot us for complaining of fatigue, and hope you're all enjoying your summer!