Our Next Stop - Singapore

Our next destination after relaxing Koh Tao, Thailand was the bustling city of Singapore. We arrived in Singapore on Friday, April 7th after the longest amount of travel time we have experienced thus far between two countries – 39 HOURS of combined ferry and buses!! Suffice to say we are both sick of buses and can not WAIT until we get to catch our next flight to Beijing on the 15th of April.

The overnight ferry departing from Koh Tao was definitely nothing like the ferries back home. As we lugged our bags onto the ferry, we couldn’t help but notice the two rows of mattresses on either side of the deck to which we were all assigned a number. This was to be our sleeping quarters for the night. I overheard one guy laughing as he walked on board and said “This is so third world!?!” Needless to say, Chris and I didn’t have the most restful sleep as we were both squeezed amongst 30 other strangers. Although the conditions were not quite what we had pictured, our sleeping neighbors on either side of us were very friendly and made the evening enjoyable via interesting conversations.

When booking our tickets from Koh Tao, we were advised we would be picked up by a mini van at the ferry dock and taken to Hat Yai (where the Thailand/Singapore border is) and from there we were to catch a large VIP air conditioned bus (with a toilet) to take us directly to Singapore. However, as we have come to learn on many occasions, what you pay for is not always necessarily what you actually get.

We arrived at 4am in the morning at the ferry dock in Surathani to be hustled via an awaiting tuk tuk (not a mini van) to an awaiting travel agency. There we waited for an hour where we got new bus tickets and then were told to accompany a man in his pickup truck to where we though the mini bus would be waiting for us. We were wrong. We were taken on numerous mini car rides through this town by 3 different pickup trucks, were taken to two more travel agencies and were given more vouchers for the bus tickets in exchange for what the last travel agency had given us not even ½ hour earlier before we finally reached our mini van. At this point in time, we weren’t sure what was going on or when we would actually be on the mini bus but we took it all in with ease and surprisingly were not thrown off or angry by this. We realized then that travelling has helped us to cope with unknowns that we can’t control and to just “go with the flow”. At our last stop before getting on the mini bus, we met a very nice couple from Bangkok – Rob and Winnie. Rob is originally from New York and now lives in Bangkok as a retiree who is in free lance photography (must be nice!) and Winnie is his girlfriend who is from Burma but also lives in Bangkok and works for the US Embassy. We started talking with them and realized that they too had gone through the same ordeal as we had to get to this point.

After 5 hours of travel, we finally arrived at Hat Yai where we “thought” we were going to change buses and get our bigger and better bus. Do you think this happened? For those of you who have been reading our blog religiously will know the answer is NO!!  We were told we were not going to be changing buses until we reached Butterworth, a small town in Malaysia. We arrived there after another long 5 hours in the mini van and were looking forward to getting onto the more comfortable bus which we were told in Koh Tao would be departing at 6pm. We were dropped off at the bus station in Butterworth at around 5pm and were given yet another voucher for the next bus trip which we were told was not leaving at 6pm but at 9:45pm. So with some time to kill, we ventured around the surrounding neighborhood looking for dinner. The bus station was quite isolated and there was not much around but we made the best of our time there and were ready to depart at 9:45pm. Unfortunately, our bus company did not have the same idea in mind. We were told our bus was now departing at 11:30pm instead of 9:45pm. After 5 hours of waiting around already, what’s another 2 we thought??!! That was until the rain started….and when it started, it didn’t let up at all….we experienced rain, down pour, lightening, thunder, and more down pour in those last 2 hours. It became quite miserable for us as we were waiting underneath this old ratty wooden shelter and it was actually quite cool out and we were all getting wet as well. It was nice to experience some rain as we have actually missed that part of Vancouver a lot but not necessarily in those circumstances after 25 hours of travelling and waiting combined.

The bus arrived on time (luckily) and we gladly boarded eager to get to Singapore and get a good night’s sleep (side note: there was no toilet on the bus as promised…surprise, surprise!). We were hoping to sleep right through to Singapore but of course were awaken when we arrived at the bus station in Mekala, a historic town in Malaysia. Here we were told by the bus driver to get off and wait for yet another bus as he was not able to drive us all the way to Singapore. No explanation, no nothing, he just told us to wait until 7:30am when the next bus would take us to Singapore. So we waited yet again, this time in a comfy, air conditioned bus station. The next bus trip was the LAST thankfully. No more stops (except for the two stops at the border crossing into Singapore) before we finally reached Singapore (hallelujah!!) at 11am on the 7th.

After not really sleeping for 2 nights in a row, we were eager to find a place to call home. We were told in advance that Singapore is a lot pricier than what we have been accustomed to thus far in South East Asia. We had not booked a hotel in advance but knew the area to hit for budget accommodation was either Little India or Chinatown. We made it to Little India and found a small hotel, Hai Sing which offered tiny rooms with private washroom for $50 Singapore dollars (equivalent to $37.50 CDN) but luckily it was in a good central location which was close to downtown Singapore and the staff were very friendly and helpful.

Singapore has always been the melting pot between the east and the west. It is evident through the building typologies of the west with the cultural and culinary delights of the east. In addition to the local Singaporeans, Singapore is a multi cultured country with a very large Chinese community along with Indians, Muslims, and Malaysians. We spent two full days wandering around the city to discover its architecture and its many different districts (i.e. Chinatown, Little India, Orchard Road, Clarke Quay, Boat Quay, Financial District, Esplanade, and famous Raffles Hotel).

Singapore is a very green city in the sense that boulevards and minor streets are lined with trees and shrubbery. This is not only evident in outer districts of the city but right downtown as well. Their use of exterior spaces allows the people of the city to enjoy these pockets of public space to their advantage whether it’s enjoying lunch in the park or taking a few minutes to sit and relax in one of the many exterior green corridors. For us, it made walking around Singapore very enjoyable and easy. The city is also very clean and let’s just say that Singapore has no shortage of MALLS. If you’re looking to shop, this is the place to come although you won’t find too many sales here and bargaining does not seem to exist much at all however electronics seem to a better deal here than back home.

Although we only had 3 full days in Singapore, we used the time to our full advantage and saw all this beautiful city has to offer. It reminded us a bit of home which is always a delightful thought.

Here are some pictures of what Singapore has to offer for those of you planning your next vacation…. enjoy….

Our intimate sleeping conditions on the ferry from Koh Tao

View of Financial District from Chinatown

What you would find in the man room? (only certain parties will understand this comment – you know who you are)

Small shops lining an alley way

Thought we’d take a picture together

An example of useful space at a public plaza

One of the many examples of creative architecture in Singapore

Why can’t we find this kind of architecture in Vancouver?

The Concourse – office building

Hustle and bustle of Orchard Road, a larger version of our Robson Street

Check out this entrance

Singapore Management University in the heart of the downtown core

Chambers of Commerce

Revolving restaurant at Boat Quay

Enjoying a beer and the famous “Singapore Sling” at the Boat Quay

Playing with the locals

The Esplanade – a performing arts theatre in the shape of the durian fruit

Singapore city skyline

A little thirsty after a long day of walking (At the Merlion – symbol of tourism)

The view from Clarke Quay

Raffles Hotel – one of the 1000 things to see before you die as noted in a book

The colorful restaurants and bars of Clarke Quay

Public Library