Flying blind

I left my notebook where I write everything down at my host's, so I'm kind of flying blind here, but that's ok. (My host in Singapore doesn't have internet, so I'm at the mall across the street using free wifi. As long as you have a local SIM, you can register for it. There are also internet cafes around, but you might have to search a bit.)

Ok, so after Green Drinks, I caught my bus at the airport-bus terminal and started the relatively short journey to Singapore. We left at midnight and got to the Malaysian border at 3:30. (This journey is not conducive to sleeping.) We were crossing the Singapore border by 4:00, and arrived at the final stop just before 5:00.

I asked around for the nearest MRT (metro) and waited for the gates to open (around 5:40). I hadn't withdrawn money or gotten a SIM card yet, and unfortunately, there was no ATM at this particular MRT station, so I wandered around for a 7-11 (which doesn't take long) to get cash and a SIM card. The SIM cards here are really cheap. They cost S$8 and come with S$10 of credit. You also get 75 free international texts (to other Southeast Asian countries and China) after the first five (15 cents each) each day. (It resets at midnight.)

After that, I got to my host's place near the Ferrar Park MRT station, and his complex has amazing facilities. (The only reason he doesn't have internet is because the previous tenant took the router with him or something, and they haven't tracked him down yet.)

I took a nap and had a shower, and set off on what would turn out to be a LOT of walking. My first stop was lunch. I stepped into a random street cafe and ordered roti prata and a roti john. My boyfriend, who went to high school in Singapore, is always raving about roti prata and complaining that they don't have it in China. At this place, it was only mediocre, but that was true of the other food here as well, so I think it was more the place than the dish. It does tear a bit different from roti canai though; it almost looks the way mozzarella cheese does when you're separating a slice of pizza from the rest of the pie.

Roti prata (or just prata). There are a lot of variations on this as well, like cheese prata or mushroom prata, etc.

Roti john

Roti john is basically an omelette with meat and onions in a piece of bread. I didn't realize this when I ordered it, but in hindsight, I think it's probably just something geared towards Westerners. The "john" probably should've tipped me off, but I didn't really take notice at the time.

And now for some random pictures of buildings from my walk:

Traditional Singaporean shophouses

Fabric store in Little India

I assume this is publicly subsidized housing, because the guidebook said there'd be a lot of these buildings, and there are.

Possibly the only synagogue in Singapore

School for the Arts

I also passed this one jungle-themed restaurant, and the guy handing out flyers by the front door asked me where I'm from. When I told him I grew up in the States, he asked if I could help him get a job to immigrate there. I thought that was really funny. As if every random person from the States can help you immigrate there. (Although I did used to work for an immigration lawyer, so he just so happened to be correct.)

I walked way out of Little India and kept going until I got to Dhoby Gout, which is where the major MRT lines intersect. From there I took the MRT to Raffles Place to get to Merlion Park. You have two choices at the MRT. You can buy an ez-link pass (which also works on buses) for S$12, which is broken down into a S$5 non-refundable fee and S$7 of credit, or you can stick to standard single-ride tickets. If you get the single-ride ticket, the fare includes a S$1 deposit that you get immediately after you finish your ride. Just go to the automatic machines where you got the ticket and select "collect refund" (or something like that) instead of "purchase standard ticket." It will take your card and give you a dollar back.

Esplanade

After arriving at the park, I looked around for the Merlion for a while before realizing it was in this thing of scaffolding. So evidently there's this temporary exhibition done by this Japanese artist in which a single hotel room has been constructed around the Merlion statue. The idea is to allow people to have much closer interaction with the national symbol. Rates are S$150/night, though it was booked full far in advance. There is free visiting during the day.

I would not personally want to be spending the night here, since visitors all have to remove their shoes before entering, which makes the whole room smell like feet. Also, why do I want a huge fountain behind my bed? I don't get it.

Tip: Do not pay for water in Singapore. You can walk into any coffee shop or restaurant and get free ice water. Which is what I did at the Coffee Bean by Merlion Park. The water is usually not behind the counter, so you don't need to wait in line either.

From Merlion Park, you can see Marina Bay Sands, which is a new resort/casino/restaurants/museum/entertainment complex.

The thing at the top that sort of resembles an alien ship is a park. There's an infinity pool, which is pretty cool since it's so high up. It costs S$20 to go up, so I don't know if I'll go, but we'll see.

From here, I walked all the way to Arab Street, which is quite a distance and takes about an hour with intermittent picture-taking. More random pictures:

I believe this is the Supreme Court. Because it is on Supreme Court Road or Lane or something.

The pink bag held by the guy in camo at the bus stop says "Am I becoming a shopaholic?" on the other side.

Courtyard in Raffles Hotel

Straight, eh? In any case, this is where the Singapore Sling was first served.

National Library

An interestingly designed mall

Parkview Square

Note: Singapore has a lot of malls and hotels.

I met up with Mikel, a CouchSurfer I had met in Bangkok, and we had dinner near the Sultan Mosque at this Moroccan place, and it was amazing.

Sultan Mosque

Left: lamb couscous, Right: chicken tajine

The lamb was so tender and juicy but without making the couscous weirdly soggy or anything, and the chicken had a very different texture than it usually does, which has to do with the way they prepare it. The tomato-based sauce was really good too, with just the right amount of tangy-ness. After the food, we had some mint tea, which was very good as well, because mint tea with fresh mint is very, very different from mint tea in tea packets you can get at the supermarket (which tastes like you've been chewing the same stick of gum for about 2.3 hours).

Finally after all this walking, I took the bus back to my host's, and met up with a friend from NYU (who is the link between me and my host). She's quitting her job and starting something up with her boyfriend, and apparently, there is a lot of funding in Singapore for start-ups, since the government is trying to encourage entrepreneurship. We also talked about cleanliness in Singapore, particularly that Johnny (my host) has found that Singaporeans treat messes the same way we treat traffic accidents - spill a cup of coffee here, and people will start gathering around wondering what happened.

I've got a lot of food recommendations and places to visit, so you can look forward to more pictures in tomorrow's post.