Street art in Kampong Glam, Singapore
This morning I leave for Singapore by bus. I had a look when I was at the bus station a couple of days ago and there seems to be a nonstop super VIP bus that goes at 7.30am. The idea was to give it a go at getting there at that time but in the end despite all my best efforts I didn’t get to the bus station till 8.30am and anyway all the super VIP buses were fully booked till the afternoon so I opted for the first class instead. Honestly it’s not as grand as it seems in fact the super VIP just has a toilet onboard other than that they’re the same.
My bus was at 9am so I had a bit of time for breakfast and I have absolutely no idea what came over me but I ended up at MacDonalds! In the past the only thing I ever did eat from MacDonalds was the breakfast but I’ve not even had that for around 7 years, ever since that memorable trip to Yosemite. I have to say though it was rather yummy! I guess there’s a reason why people keep coming back huh?
Considering the journey was 4 and a half hours it was actually ok. We stopped on the way for a toilet break and then another hour or so after the fun began.
First we had to officially leave Malaysia so we all get off the bus and transfer through immigration to get our passports stamped and then it was back on the bus to go through a bit of a no-mans land before we have to get back off the bus again to enter Singapore. There are just 4 tourists on the bus and our driver tells us that we have to take all our luggage off the bus this time and we then have just 20 mins to get through immigration and if we’re not done in that time he has to leave and another bus will be along in an hour. Well having already made it this far none of us wanted to wait another hour and not knowing how long immigration was going to take we literally ran with our bags to join the queue. We really needn’t have worried though because it only took us 5 minutes and we were back on the bus again travelling on to the south of the island where we then get dropped off.
Singapore is a lot more expensive than Malaysia and Thailand for everything including accommodation but I did have a place in mind that said it’s only been open a couple of months, it looks really good in the pics and the reviews are looking good. I’m opting for a dorm room because a private room is totally out of the question price wise and the fact that the dorm here is 3 times more than a dorm bed in either Malaysia or Thailand is neither here or there.
The hostel is in Little India so from where we’re dropped off I need to first find and then negotiate the underground system and straight away I love it! What a fantastically well organized system, there are no paper tickets just recyclable cards, it runs on time and its spotlessly clean and every time the doors open a little voice say please mind the gap between the train and the platform…..the gap which is about 4 inches if that.
I find the hostel with no problem and after a couple of room changes I finally end up in a 6 berth mixed dorm with a Pilipino guy who has just run the marathon! Yep that’s right, this morning was the Singapore marathon what a shame I missed the entry deadline! ;-) He looked surprisingly good though for having just run all that way and all he had was a couple of blisters to show for it…and the tshirt of course.
After a quick shower and change I headed straight out to see what I could see.
First I headed through Little India and then on to Kampong Glam and then off to Chinatown. I really want to make the most of my time here and see as much as I can and because you can get everywhere by underground you seem to forget all the walking in between. Unfortunately the heavens opened while I was out and I had forgotten my umbrella so I wasn’t out for too long before I finally gave in and went back and got it.
Sultan Mosque
This evening when I headed out straight away I was faced with literally a solid wall of Indian men just hanging around on the street talking and seemingly just hanging out. I really have never seen so many people in one place doing nothing, they all seemed to be waiting for something but I have absolutely no idea what, I did wonder at one point if it was some kind of festival. I carried on walking for a while and eventually came across a group of security guards who I asked and apparently because its Sunday the men don’t have any work so this is the evening that they all get together to socialise and shop for the weeks groceries and also the time that they go to the money bureaus to send money back to India and I’m not joking, at every money bureau in the area had in excess of 50 men queuing to send money. To be honest it did seem a little intimidating to start with, I was the only tourist and only woman amongst hundreds and hundreds of Indian guys, no women anywhere, but they weren’t all that interested in me and were polite and courteous as I passed through the crowds.
Dinner tonight was in Chinatown, I think I’m going to go for how many different food varieties I can have during my trip. Hey I’ll diet when I get home!
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