We woke reasonable refreshed at 7ish as we had a 9am train to catch from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore. I felt a little pang of something as we left Fernloft for the last time. In all we stayed a total of 14 days in KL. In my case all those days were spent in Fernloft Hostel, Sarah had four of them in hospital. That said we returned twice for a couple of days, but this last time was the last time. I'm not sure if we will see KL again and so I asked Sarah to take a picture of me leaving Fernloft for the last time. It isn't a remarkable hostel. The staff are helpful if you ask them something about travelling Malaysia, but they don't go in any strenuous sense out of their way. That said the sheets and pillows were clean and after the Pehentians, that has been a priority for me. Also I snapped Sarah on Pesar Seni LTR. I used that station so much it probably became as familiar to me as Archway Station in London was during the mid noughties.
The journey to Singapore was to take 7 hours as per the schedule and indeed it did, running a mere 15 minutes late as we pulled into Woodlands SG Train Station. As we left Malaysia I was wondering what form the immigration would take. Last time I crossed the Thai/Malay border by train and coach we had to get out and drag all our baggage past a customs booth then back onto the same transport and off we went. This time leaving Malaysia seemed easier. We remained sat and the Malay immigration came to us. We then crossed the river into Singapore and then a more formal immigration process as we left the station.
We found a hostel quite easily. Fernloft Singapore in Little India was full (we were chasing a loyalty discount by staying in Fernloft KL. Still the place 3 or 4 doors down was more that adequate. As we were checking in I immediately spied the Tiger on tap and took advantage. Being priced at more that £3 a mug it was 3 times what I've become used to in Asia so my drinking was limited that night.
My first impressions of Singapore were no different than what was promised in the guidebook and probably all you've read. It is a clean and neat city-state. Rules on chewing gum and littering carry harsh penalties if transgressed. Also your landing card says in clear red lettering: "Trafficking in drugs carry's the Death Sentence". It seems that all is being done to maintain the utopia or order Singapore wants. I guess I am very impressed and in agreement with this. As a city state on an island they are have an advantage in being able to create laws and order over a small population in a small geographical area and they do that. They limit car ownership, as a simple and effective tool against traffic congestion. The result is a liveable clean city. A city with parks and streets with air conditioning. Creation of beaches even if those beaches are metres away from a major shipping lane. Everything is taken care of for your enjoyment and relaxation. The trade-off is as a resident (or tourist) you are forced to comply in this order rather than asked nicely. We know in the west asking nicely to act toward the greater community has limited success.
I was so impressed by the place I picked up a copy of The Straits (a newspaper) and looked at the classified jobs. It seems I'm not the only traveller to look at this. Most adverts for vacancies clearly state "only Singaporeans and PR (permanent residents) need apply". Just as well it was only a 5 minute pipe dream anyway.
The first night in Singapore we did little as we were obviously tired from travelling all day. After a quick drink at our hostel, I was still thirsty but quenching that thirst with more draught Tiger was disallowed, and instead a Big Gulp from 7 Eleven did the job. Sitting on a veranda I finished my book, The Memory of Running by Ron McLarty. This is one of the most moving books I've read in ages, maybe ever and I'll cover it in greater detail in Chris' Travel Book Club.
Our dorm was quite comfortable I thought, of course there are some complaints but SGD20 for a bed is cheap for an expensive city. We woke after a semi good sleep had breakfast and set about exploring. My suggestion was heading to The Harbour and Mount Faber Park. The Singapore Tube is another excellent little subway and easy and cheap to navigate a big city with. The cost of a one way journey is about £1.20. You have this system where you leave a dollar deposit for the card which is plastic and shaped like a credit card. If you are travelling a lot in a day you can get an EZ all day card for SGD 10. This may work out cheaper, but we didn't use it. As we got out at Harbour Point stop we saw the cable cars bobbing along in the skies above us and decided this is for us. You can walk up to Mount Faber for a good view of the city, but in 30 degrees the cable looked a perfect alternative. We paid £35 for both of us to use the cable car for a day. Although at the time we only thought this was a round trip to Mount Faber and back.
There isn't much at the top of Mount Faber apart from the view, but the ride in the cable car gives you the views you need. There seem to be so many cars that having one to ourselves was easy everytime. After buying the ticket you take the lift to floor 15 and in you climb and you leave the top of a skyscraper and bob along at a dizzying height. After Mount Faber we took the cable back the other way to Sentosa. Sentosa is another island (Singapore is also an island) which was previously a British fort but was handed back to Singapore to use in a way which Singapore does best, provide leisure space. Once there you have much offered to you. Zip lining, museums, more ski lift type rides. All this of course costs money and we just wandered. What is free is a beach. Yes Singapore made a beach out of imported sand and you can have a dip. It has a major shipping lane as a backdrop and sitting on the beach seems difficult. Of course you can use the bars along there to sit, and of course that will lighten your wallet. We found a step to sit down and take in the ambience before we walked back.
The icon of Singapore seems to be a Merlion. Its as it suggests a lion crossed with a fish, like a mermaid. I don't get it either. There is a huge one of these overlooking the harbour. You can climb to the top, for a price. We didn't.
Next stop Raffles Hotel. Stamford Raffles was the founder of Singapore. A clever Brit who saw that this marshy jetty at the end of Malaysia could one day be an amazing city of immense trade importance. He was right and it became that. Essentially I'm not sure why it wasn't spotted before. Two great empires jossled for Malaysia. Roughly speaking modern day Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore was under the British Empire, and modern day Indonesia was the Dutch Empire. The remnant of this being that Dutch will stagger off for Indonesian food after a night of drunkeness as Brits do for an Indian Curry. With those two trading routes established I'm not sure how brilliant it is to say "heh that bit on the end, could be good for ships to unload I reckon". So not a genius of foresight just a colonial with a bit of cash. Anyway founder of Singapore he is and if you want to take a quick step back into colonial Singapore, pop along to Raffles Hotel, nearest tube stop is City Hall. Obviously a meal or a night there is way out of our price range but you can grab a drink there in the courtyard. Drinks are about SGD 20 - 30 which coming from London I think is excellent value. Some of the cocktails were designed or the favourites of celebs. Noel Coward, Charlie Chaplin, Ava Gardner all sat there and had their drink of choice. Of course we didn't but we took a wander around the grounds as much as we could. Looking at the white cast iron chairs which look a century and a half old, you look at them and think which one did Chaplin park his arse on. In all you can wander quite a bit of the hotel area for free which is always my favourite price tag.
Food beckoned us come the evening and being in Little India and my tummy fully recovered. Also I recovered my food confidence again and we headed off to the Indian Restaurants. We ended in a Vegetarian Indian Restaurant and had great meal for very cheap. We were the only white people in there which meant that this would be a different Indian food experience than The Red Rose Tandoori in Mossley. The food was very spicy but balanced and it stayed down so my food tasting mojo is back. I was getting sick of sandwiches and fries, so just as well.
The following day I think Sarah was driving and we took a walk through Little India and the markets. The architecture of the small shops and houses, with upstairs with shutters in elaborate patterns are so colonial Asian. With the skyscrapers hovering in the background you have the perfect juxtapose of the old and new. The restaurants looked so inviting, I'm so glad my taste buds have returned in gusto. We popped into a Hindu Temple and took a few snaps. Hindusim is a rich religion and the temples have an adornment of whacky gods. That said I don't feel it like Buddhism. Maybe I'm so ingrained in my monotheism I can only cope with the Buddha as a point of focus, so a variety of elephant thingies and women with tongues out killing enemies, I get a little confused and wonder what is needed from me.
We continued via the tube to Chinatown and into a Chinese Buddhist temple. A ceremony or service as we in christendom would call it, was in full swing. The monks were chanting from written verse. At first sight and hearing it seemed so monotanous, but I'm really feeling my Buddhism again and I loved it. I loved those chanting along and getting lost in something. I firmly believe all lifes problems are in the mind. Well they aren't all in the mind, losing your job and getting evicted from your home two weeks after your wife has run off with a sailor is very real. How we react to this is totally in the mind. Samsara; that word which has no English equivalent, just clutter and crap in your mind is the scurge of western society, any society. The chanting and challenge to that mind clutter provides real meaning for me. I was in a bit of a funk for a few days, and the few minutes of chanting, even though I was there only as an observer was a little helpful.
That was our two days in Singapore really, the following day we were heading off to Bali. Checking out at 11am and needing to check into our flight for 1pm that afternoon our day was mostly spent in transit.
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