Last weekend, I went to Singapore. After thirty days in Indonesia on a tourist visa, which is how I entered, it was necessary to leave the country. My company has it set up so that they send their teachers to Singapore for the day. I got up at 4 am, so I could be ready when my taxi arrived at 4:30. My flight was at six and I met the agent in Singapore at ten. I had to give him my passport (kinda scary) and then I was on my own until 4 pm, when it would be time to meet him again to get my passport and my new, 12-month visa.
I decided to stay for the weekend, since it's unlikely I'll ever have the opportunity to go to Singapore again, so my first stop after meeting the agent was the hotel to drop off my bag.
Mostly on Friday, I walked around the city. Singapore has a well-deserved reputation for being clean. Nobody litters (and nobody chews gum). Orchard Road is one long row of malls. It reminded me of the Brentwood area of Los Angeles. All the trees and flowers were immaculately manicured and the only God present was the God of consumerism. I wasn't impressed. But there was a Starbucks.
Next, I went to Little India. There were rows of shops selling souvenirs and purses and incense and scarves and other colorful items. I walked away from Little India before I started looking for a place to eat lunch. Kinda dumb.
Before I met the agent again, I just had time to ride the Singapore Flyer, the largest Ferris Wheel in the world, so I could get a glimpse of the city from the air. Then it was back to collect my passport and back to the hotel for a little break.
Singapore is clean and pretty, but you don't get immunity from the heat. It's hotter than Jakarta, which I didn't imagine was possible, and last weekend it didn't rain at all. I learned to stick to the shade and protect myself from the sun as much as possible.
Last Sunday was Chinese New Year, so the entire city was decorated for the celebration. But nowhere was it more apparent than in Chinatown. There were open air stalls on most of the side streets where I wandered up and down, checking out the goods for sale. In addition to souvenirs, clothing, purses, and such, they were also selling all the food one needs to celebrate New Year in style. Everything, even the malls on Orchard Road, was open until one or two in the morning, so everyone could get their last minute shopping in. I've never in my life seen so many people in one place as I saw in Chinatown on Friday night. I stayed for a couple of hours, but I had to keep disengaging myself from the crowd to get air. Chinatown was as colorful as Little India, but all in reds and yellows and golds.
By the time I got back to my hotel, I have no idea how far I had walked. I took Singapore's amazing MRT all over the place and walked around a whole bunch of neighborhoods. My skin was thick with sweat and I was relieved to get a shower and air conditioning!
Pictures are up on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/p.php?i=695739736&k=4V12ZWPXST6G6BD1YA52WTSRZ6BAY2Y1PSBV&oid=1333521254588
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