singapore dec 23 24

Singapore.
People said three-four days was far too much for Singapore, and if they were talking about the impact on the budget they were right – but in terms of running out of stuff to do; not a chance. You could spend a whole week in Changi International Airport, it has free internet, cinemas, wildlife parks, swimming pool, fitness spa etc etc. I think it was designed to give you an impression of what Singapore is all about, and it succeeds; Singapore is all about futuristic high tech luxury and class. Five star hotels adorn every corner in the marina area – leading to a pyrotechnic skyline the highlight of which is the insane Marina Sands resort, 3 huge towers connected by what looks like a bizarre shipwreck across the top – which we later found contains a park and swimming pool!
It isn’t only high tech and business orientated though, underneath the clean and polished exterior there is a distinct Chinese culturalism bursting out, with street after street of stalls selling amazing foods like turtle soup and pig’s intestine broth, just as a couple of examples. The overall effect is a beautiful city, not in the way of European cities like Bruges or Vienna, but in a truly unique and modern-futuristic way and one which is made all the more amazing given its situation among many less developed counterparts.
23rd December
We head to the Up-Market Marina area without any plan or direction. We find the MRT system so easy to follow, everything is sign posted – your station lights up on the tube map when you reach it, and then led lights indicate which side the doors will open on when you reach there, then on the way out you will be advised exactly which street your exit will take you too with options ABCD indicated on a map. It’s a million miles from India with its chaos and disorder.
We wander past an amazing white cathedral and round to city hall and soon realise the heat here is intense, not what we are used to, but a murky cloudy stifling heat that has you panting and sweating after a few steps. We still aren’t 100% after our illness also, so it takes it out of us. Therefore we just wander with a plan to take it easy today. We stumble across the Esplanade Theatre, a vast spiky mirrored building that reflects the light like a futuristic sonic the hedgehog. We get lost in the vast building with its modern art exhibitions and shopping arcades round every corner. Eventually we reach the roof top and take in the amazing skyline.
We carry on wandering through the afternoon, making a reservation for Christmas dinner and taking pictures whilst dodging tourists at the water spitting lion aptly named the Merlion. We slowly make our way across to the previously mentioned 3 tower shipwreck that we later find is the marina sands. It is quite a mission and we find it costs 20$ each to enter so give it a miss, but we see amazing sights on the way. We pass through a shopping centre on the scale of the Trafford centre, which absolutely oozes spaciousness; unlike any other shopping mall I have seen it has no walls or floors separating the space, just a continuous body of vast emptiness – within which the architect has allowed the odd shopping arcade or elevator. It is elegant to say the least, reminding me of art an art gallery more than a mall. Children ice skate at the bottom of the first building while a river runs through the second – we start to realise this kind of surprising stuff comes as standard in Singapore.
We head back across the bay along the technical marvel that is the double helix bridge, a mass of twisted steel and led lights that is modelled on nature’s greatest achievement a strand of DNA. We eventually get back to the Esplanade where in the amazing outdoor arena we catch a free show by a very unusual band. The chicken shack revival is an all Singaporean blues ensemble with ukulele bass and a mean harmonica, they rock the place and it’s great fun to watch them sing a few Christmas classics.
We head back to our hostel in the Geylang region, which is a colourful area with many amazing food stalls and oriental super-markets. We also see many flush locals getting drunk (pretty extravagant when it costs 10$/£5 for a beer) – there are many strange clubs with big closed off doors the purpose of which we can’t quite decide, maybe it’s nothing but they all seem quite seedy – especially given that scantily clad women seem to hang outside them! We later decide this must be the red light district as lots of provocatively dressed women adorn the street corners. Unfortunately due to our dodgey stomachs we can’t sample the food and have to make do with a burger king! What sacrilege, I can’t wait for my digestion to get back to normal.
Dec 24th
Christmas Eve and we get up and head out downtown once again. I brave some spicy noodle soup for breakfast although Kath’s stomach is still churning – at least Singapore is the best place in the world to have the squits, there are perfectly clean toilets everywhere. We don’t do a great deal this day; check out a lot of the same areas as before really. First thing we head to the train station (quite a mission) to book our night train tickets to Kuala Lumpur which we box off at 40$ each. Then a failed expedition to the beach leads us to Chinatown where I buy a beer from the shop and smuggle it into a coffee shop to save money, No way I’m paying 10$ for a pint! Chinatown is impressive to look at from the outside with amazing pagodas and colourful streets, however look past this facade and you will realise it is over-commercialised and unauthentic – with stall after stall selling tacky fans and I heart Singapore t-shirts: also not a single food hawker in sight, just proper sit down resteraunts at tourist prices.
We check out boat quay by the riverside on the way back and are reminded of Amsterdam or Paris with little cafes and coffee tables covered by verandas, however before we can take much in we are caught in an intense down-pour and people start running for cover. We get our first taste here of Singapore’s erratic and heavy storms, as we instantly become surrounded by a torrent of water. The rain pelts off the plastic coverings and creates a cacophony of sound, it feels like were inside a washing machine on spin-cycle. Reluctantly we bite the bullet and get a beer at the red dot cafe for 8$ (360ml!) I’m not happy, but it is quite romantic as we drink our beers and watch the rain hammer down upon the river – the majestic Fullerton standing across the water.
We head back to the marina once the rain stops and check out the famous Raffles hotel. Smaller than most it makes up for size with grandeur and old fashioned classiness, looking as if it was lifted straight from 1920’s high society. The interior matches the facade with opulent boutiques and a resteraunt which is clearly beyond our price bracket; we also check out the long bar which again looks like some 1920s Victorian bar, however I’m not wearing my smoking jacket so we give it a miss.
Across the way we find a beautiful white church slap bang in the middle of a shopping mall – only in Singapore right – then we try to reach the bar of the Swiss Hotel in order to soak up the view. Unfortunately short sleeves and short legs are apparently a no go and we are refused entry. Oh well, we catch some more live music (Christmas jazz) down at the theatre again and head home early to have a few beers. We catch up on the apprentice via the wi-fi in the hotel and it makes a welcome reminder of home at Christmas time.