Travel blog: 36 hours in Singapore

Singapore's Merlion (photo: Anna Kainberger)

Tuesday, 04, Mar 2008 01:54

Anna Kainberger is taking a year-out from her career to travel in south-east Asia, Australasia and the South Pacific, along with Hawaii and the USA. This month she is reporting from Singapore and New Zealand. Here is her twelfth blog entry:

The day had come to say my final goodbyes to south-east Asia, as I had to make my way down to Singapore to catch a plane to Sydney.

I have to say three months spent travelling in northern Thailand, Laos, parts of Cambodia and then southern Thailand just flew by.

It was one big colourful, exciting, life-changing adventure, with much to learn, great people to meet and if anything it only made me hungry for more of Asia and I promised myself that I would return one day with more time.

For now I had other problems to think about, as I had to make my way down to Singapore fairly quickly.

The options I had were either 27 hours on a train (which was rather expensive on top of being a very long trip) or 13 hours on a bus.

However, the first bus departure turned out to be fully booked and the next one would leave me with as little as 36 hours in Singapore.

In the end the bus option won, as the price - 340 baht (£5.80) as opposed to 900 baht (£15.30) - as well as the time frame was a lot more bearable.

I was also surprised when I got on the bus at midday to find myself the only farang (foreigner) onboard. I was also impressed by the huge, comfy seats.

As I had celebrated my last night in Thailand in style, namely singing Karaoke at a bar called Pubb - which operated an open mic theme - I was nursing a mild hangover and was thankful for my blanket, my water and the super huge seat I called my own for the next 16 hours.

We travelled fast and I spent most of my time starring out the window, trying to catch a glimpse of Malaysia.

However it was rainy season down there so I watched the very warm and wind-gushed rain hitting the windows, and me when we stopped for very much appreciated toilet and food breaks along the way.

The journey went smooth and the border crossing into and out of Malaysia went quickly, with no hold-ups until we reached Singapore at 02:00 the next day.

We were stuck at the border for a couple of hours and no it wasn't me, the foreigner, holding everyone up. It was immigration for the Thais.

We had to sit and wait for 2.5 hours and as much as I tried to get some more sleep it was not really possible. So we arrived in Singapore's Orchard Road at something like 04:00 in the morning.

I had debated with myself back in Thailand as to whether to book accommodation for Singpore beforehand and had decided against it, as I was certain that a taxi driver would be able to recommend a place to stay.

Little did I know that budget accommodation in Singapore is rare and often booked out weeks beforehand, so when I arrived I was not only tired but also stranded.

However, I did have a lovely taxi driver who took me to Little India and we tried no less than eight hotels before I found a place to stay for the rest of that night and the next night, before leaving for Sydney 36 hours later.

Singapore is a great place for shopping, eating, admiring architecture, more shopping and oh, have I mentioned shopping already?

Once I got a bit more sleep, I decided that it was time to explore the town, find that famous Merlion as well as check out Orchard Road, city hall, the famous China town and last but certainly not least: Little India itself.

The best way to get round in Singapore is via the very clean and super-efficient MRT underground system.

A card system very similar to London's oyster card pre pay operates and it is cheap, cool and quick.

I bought a S$10 ticket (£3.60) and grabbed my camera before heading out to explore.

The thing that struck me most about Singapore was how clean the place is. There is no littering. Huge fines apply if you eat or drink on the MRT System.

People are extremely considerate - they don't even touch you on a packed MRT.

I had to compare this with my time in London and how different things were there...with most people shoving themselves right in front of you, eating smelly foods and hardly any space at peak times available.

Singapore is certainly the complete opposite.

I found myself wandering the streets near city hall, walking down the Theatre Colonnade, crossing over a bridge and finally spotting the famous Merlion - spitting water at the harbour front.

I took lots of pictures and somehow enjoyed being in a modern city, still Asia but very different to any of the places I had visited only a couple of weeks before.

Singapore is really astonishingly westernised, with cricket fields and shops such as Top Shop and Accessorize available in most shopping centres.

The shopping centres would put Selfridges back in London to shame. There are around 17 such department stores available on Orchard Road.

From Salvatore Ferragamo to Gucci, Manolo Blahnik and Chanel, there is everything a fashionista could dream of - and for a third less than the European price.

I left my shoe fetish firmly back in London and just soaked in the atmosphere, modern architecture and some of the very good food available in Little India.

I had only 36 hours to spare before I had to make my way to Changi Airport on the MRT system to catch my plane to Australia and let's face it: a backpack only holds so many T-shirts and souvenirs.

Anna Kainberger