Our time in Singapore ends - and we are off to Bali this afternoon. We arrive on the eve of a major religious holiday, Nyepi, that we understand virtually shuts down the island for 36 hours. From what everyone who has been here tells us, whether their trip was years ago or recent, we are really looking forward to the next 2 weeks.

It is a very hot day today with the sun beating down through slightly hazy skies. No real schedule planned for the day but we walk down to Marina Quay and across to SunTech City, which is a huge shopping and office complex comprising 5 towers and miles of underground shopping malls and boutiques. More shopping! We are amazed that the Singaporeans all have long pants and shirts on. We are dripping in shorts and t-shirts and are happy to stick to the air-conditioned underground. We stay in the underground mall all the way back to Raffles, and use the washrooms in the hotel lobby. This is the closest we will get to staying here. But despite the fact that we are obviously outsiders, everyone is friendly and helpful when we go in to check out the lobby – no attitude whatsoever. We grab a quick sandwich at DeliFrance, which hosts the wireless network we are using and eat as we update the web, then head back to the hotel for naps. Huge thunder boomers roll in and a spectacular thunder and lightning storm drenches the city for about an hour. Perched in our room on the 17th floor with a clear view over Fort Canning Park, we have front row seats for it.

Singapore lies just 1 degree (about 80 kilometres) north of the equator, and as a consequence has days and nights of equal duration all year long, about 7:30 for sunup, and 7:30 for sundown. The Singapore Zoo has taken advantage of this and has built a 2nd, separate zoo, right beside the regular zoo, that houses only nocturnal animals and that opens at 7:30 every evening. We have been planning on going each evening we have been here, but have been frustrated by the rains. Tonight is our last chance, and by 6:00 p.m., the rains have cleared, cooling the day off. We head off shortly after, by MRT and then bus. Who knew that Singapore was so big? It takes us about 1 ½ hours to get there, by which time we are cranky.

We start our walk and quickly become wide-eyed. The Singapore Zoo calls itself “the open zoo”, as it does not use cages to hold the animals, and this is carried over into the night zoo. We walk along, coming face-to-face with a rhino, red pandas, leopard cats, fishing cats. We get to the leopards, who are located behind a glass wall, and one of them walks back and forth rubbing against the glass. Everyone touches the glass, hoping somehow to feel its fur. We pass the hyenas, actively watching the humans walk by, and we know that except for the moat they would be happily chowing down. When we get to the lions they are alert and posing – unlike their daytime sprawled-out sleeping. The giraffes are amazing – wolfing down their dinners while watching us intently – afraid we may be interested in them for dinner? The bat house door has signs saying “don’t provoke the bats” and “if you fear bats, consider not entering” – we enter and the bats are right there, hanging from trees, stretching their wings and preening. Someone slightly taller than us would need to duck to avoid brushing top-of-head to top-of-head.

Finally we emerge back at the entrance, and make our way back home, glad the rain happened earlier today, glad that we have done this. Somehow, the ride back to central Singapore goes faster as we talk about the things we’ve just seen.

The newspaper this morning, full of the aftermath of bombings and the fallout from the Spanish election, tells us that Indonesia, our next stop, has declared that its Dengue Fever epidemic is over – after close to 500 people have died. The paper also informs us that Singapore has been averaging 89 cases/week through 2004, although recently this has declined to an average of 81 cases/week. Deaths from Dengue in Singapore were not stated. We observe that insect repellent has replaced sunscreen since we got to Singapore. We also learn that the US NIH has committed significant dollars to finding a vaccine for Dengue, which has to be good news.

Every contact we’ve had with mother recently has included the advice to go to the Orchid Garden, and so we do. We take the MRT and then a bus and walk through the lush grounds of the Botanical Garden to the orchids. Families and schoolchildren are everywhere, and as we pass Swan Lake, many children are fighting to feed the lone swan in evidence. The koi and the turtles (grown up versions of those we used to keep in bowls when we were children) are the beneficiaries of this excess of zeal.

The orchids are startling in their variety and coloring – some are so pale whilst others are so bold, some are tinier than the fingernail on my little finger, others are bigger than my hand, some are single blooms, others are bracts of multiple blooms, some are scented, most are not. Having tried a few times to keep orchids at home, we are amazed at the profusion of blooms – until we realize that most of them are actually in well-disguised pots, and are brought out at the right time, then whisked back into hiding until their time comes again.


Orchids (mostly)!

The day is again threatening rain, and is much hotter than yesterday. The heat and humidity means that the simple act of walking through the Orchid Garden has left us drenched in sweat and enervated. We head to another hawker street, Newton, for a late lunch, and have noodles with giant prawns for about $3 each. (We admit that we are guided in our decision about which stall to patronize by the cleanliness rating each stall, and restaurant for that matter, has been assigned by the government.)

After lunch we nap, then do the internet thing. It finally starts to rain just as we are heading out to dinner. We decide to walk anyway, and head up to Little India. We walk through market after market, all thronged with people shopping. Shopping must be the national sport of Singapore. According to the map, we are in Little India, but it doesn’t look like much – until we turn a corner and it is like a curtain has gone up. There are the shops, the restaurants, and the crowds we had anticipated.

We spend an hour walking around exploring, before deciding on a particular restaurant. We take it as a good sign that most of the clientele appear to be of Indian origin, and settle in for a delicious feast. The couple across the way, very well-dressed, catch our eyes, and we exchange a few words. They guess we are Australians, a change from the more normal “where are you from in the US?” The husband is describing what a Blackberry is to his wife, and we all agree that he must resist as long as possible. He doesn’t think it will be possible much longer – his office is Blackberry crazy.

Happy Birthday to Jeffrey George in Afghanistan, and to Suzanne Johnston, both on March 18!

The day starts with the ritual of finding an internet café where we can plug in our laptop. According to those we talk to, this is simply not done in Singapore. Finally we discover a wireless zone, and we’re off to the races.

Multiple coffees later, we head out to explore Singapore, despite the threatening skies. We walk around Fort Canning Park, past a huge and elaborate Hindu Temple and Istana, the Presidential Palace, to Orchard Road. We’re not sure what to expect, but we’re not quite expecting this – high rise shopping mall after high rise shopping mall. The closest we’ve seen is North Michigan Ave. in Chicago, but this isn’t quite the same – for along with the Pradas, Burberrys, and Vuittons (and there are multiples of each in different malls up and down the street) there are also the discount malls. Although we’re not really shopping, we take refuge from the intense thunderstorm that starts just as we arrive on Orchard Road, and we watch in fascination. This does not appear, based solely on appearances, to be tourist shopping – it has the look and the feel of daily life.

At the far end of Orchard Road we grab the MRT (the subway) back to our hotel. The subway is sophisticated and clean, once we figure out that the only way to get a ticket is to pay a refundable deposit on the ticket itself, in addition to the cost of the ride itself.

We walk to Chinatown and have dinner on Smith Street which is considered as one of the best hawker streets in the world. Hawkers are street food vendors, and Smith Street was teeming with families out for a cheap dinner, young professionals coming from work and, like us, the odd tourist out to see the real Singapore. Red brightly lit Chinese lanterns and strings of multicolour lights festoon the street. The atmosphere is almost delirious as we grab a spot to watch, listen, smell and observe the spectacle of the street.

We talk about obesity and wonder why no one here, unlike North America, is overweight.

The importance of social and family time evident in eating together appears so vital to Singaporean and South East Asian culture. Groups of parents, grandparents and children find time to sit down, even here, in the street at a not so fancy table, and enjoy the ritual of food and togetherness. The freedom to let your kids run around in the blocked off street and be kids amazes us.

The folding, wooden tables are set out in the street with small, movable stools, and cleaners come and clear and wipe down the tables, readying them for the next group of people to sit down, sometimes with others, sometimes without. You go to the stand of your choice and peruse the limited menu and your food is made in front of you. Dinner for two can be as low as $11 Singaporean dollars, which is the equivalent of $8 CDN.

Our conversation shifts at times to health and sanitary concerns but we see nothing that makes us overly concerned. Smith Street appears to be a common one way street during the blaring heat and light of the day. But for us tonight, it is what we expect Singapore to be – vibrant, magical, brightly lit and in its own way, strangely familiar.

N 01
E 103

Australia’s Best:
Eric, Graham, Leanne, Michael, Brian, Lynne, the woman at the Maui Campervan return who didn’t charge us extra, Graham’s Mum Elizabeth, Miss Pastie DeKline, Guy, Mark, Robert, and the generous citizens of Sydney. (Oh, did we mention Eric and Graham???)

Art Gallery: The National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Beaches: Bondi; Coolum, Back Beach, Southwest Rocks.
Beer: Draught Schooners of VB or Carlton
Bookstore: The Bookshop Darlinghurst
Bars: Manacle, The Columbian Hotel
Department Stores: David Jones, Sydney; Gowings, Sydney
Disco: Midnight Shift (Video Bar)
Dive Instructors: Leanne; Chris
Market: Central Market, Adelaide
National Park: Kangaroo Island
Pool: Cook + Phillip Wave Pool, Sydney
Restaurants: Adelaide: Lime + Lemon; Melbourne: Red Orange, Gluttony: It’s a Sin; Sydney: Yipiyiyo; Trinity Beach/Cairns: Trattoria L’Unico
Suburbs: Waterloo, Surry Hills, Mossman
Wine: All of them!
Wine Tour: Yarra Valley with Victoria Winery Tours in Melbourne

Books we read in Australia: Wicked, The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, by Gregory Maguire; The Turn of the Screw and Other Stories, by Henry James; The New Yorker and the World It Made, by Ben Yagoda.

I find it difficult to believe that we are no longer in Sydney and Australia. It feels like we are just out for the day and will be back at Francis Street this evening or meeting Eric or Graham for dinner or drinks. Or finishing off our Sydney must see list before we go. But we have left and are jetting off to Singapore for phase three of our trip.

Singapore Air gets the “best airline so far” award hands down. I mention to John that it doesn’t feel like we are in an airplane at all. Incredible service, beautiful staff and wonderful diversions to keep you busy. The eight hour fly just “flew” by. We arrive to low, threatening thunder clouds in Singapore and 36 degree temperatures. Yes, we are in the tropics again. Singapore is well manicured, lush and very cosmopolitan. We are preparing ourselves for the weather forecast of rain and thunderstorms for the four days that we are here. Our cab (clean!) drops us at the Peninsula- Excelsior Hotel and our room is a retro 70’s tribute to a by-gone era of splendour and luxury. We are only here for four days after all and it is air conditioned. We head out to do some exploring and shopping. We buy two Polarized lens filters for our camera we had been eyeing in Sydney. With the exchange rate, they are less than 1/4 of what they were in AU. We find a Szechwan restaurant inhabited by the locals and have a wonderful, spicy meal and a pitcher of Tiger draft for less than $40 CDN. We are going to love SE Asia!!

One final note on Sydney: We cannot thank Eric and Graham enough for unselfishly looking after us so well in Sydney. They never expected anything in return and their generosity and friendship will always be one of the incredible things that we will remember about our time in Sydney.

© 2004 Tobeeco Corp., all rights reserved | design by Artifex Design | powered by b2