Singapore - Day 2

I woke up at 3:30am, and try as I might, I could not get back to sleep. I read for a bit, then decided to bring my journal up to date. At 7am we headed downstairs for our free breakfast, which was very good, a mixture of western style breakfast foods: eggs, sausages, toast, juice and eastern: beans, rice, stirfry, nutella, tea.

This was my second introduction to chicken sausages. We'd had them on our flight as well. They are much like a chicken weiner, far too overprocessed for my liking.

I had previously decided that I should try to drink tea at breakfast instead of coffee, as my lactose issues prohibit me from drinking cow's milk. I had also read that many places in Asia don't pasteurize cow's milk, which can make them dangerous. When I saw the coffee there, I had no problem turning it down, it was like mud, thick and dark, and very unappealing.


First Stop: Sentosa Island

We took the MRT to the Harborfront station, then wandered around the Sky Park mall in search of the cable car over to the island. We must have missed a sign along the way as when we got to the Sky Park, we found that we could see the cable car way over on the other side. We had planned to take the monorail back and found we were close by it, so we changed our plans and went over that way instead.





Sentosa Island is like Singapore's answer to DisneyWorld. The first stop has resorts, Universal Studios, an amusement park, with a huge water park still being built. We skipped that stop and instead got out at the next stop. We "alighted" (a word that highly amuses us when we hear the classy British voice telling us to do this on all the public transportation here) and made our way past the enormous Merlion, up to the Imbiah Lookout.

This area has yet more amusements to spend your money on. The Tiger Sky Tower is a huge, round viewing booth that brings hundreds of elderly people up into the sky to see the view. The Images of Singapore appears to be a walking history of the city. There is a butterfly garden, and a skyride as well, but the amusement we were there for is the Luge ride down the hill to the beaches.

We found we were there 30 minutes before they opened for the day so we decided to sit down and enjoy a Starbucks Frappuccino at $8 each! Their special Christmas drinks are all Frappuccinos rather than the Lattes we have back home. It makes sense since it's so hot there, 34 celcius in the city that day, and 36 on Sentosa Island. Who would want a hot coffee? Harold had a mango passionfruit and I had a soy cranberry white chocolate mocha Frappuccino. So yummy!

The Luge opened promptly at 10am, and already a line had formed. They had a bunch of deals to get you to make multiple purchases. I figured, if it's that good, once should be enough. Harold countered, if it was good, we'd want to do it more than once. But I hate redoing things. We only have so much time in life, and even less on vacation. Why have the same experience over and over and waste the time we could be using to have new experiences?

Of course, it turned out to be great fun. Half way down, I called out excitedly. "Harold!" I exclaimed, "It's so much fun! Can we do it again?" He just shook his head at me.

 Instead, we wandered down the Silosa beach walk, which was exquisitely beautiful, but the perfection got on my nerves. The area is almost all man-made, done as if Disney created it, much too perfect to be real.

There was some sort of Indian Festival just getting started with loud music, women in fancy saris, and the smells of some very aromatic foods. By this time, the temperature was hitting the highs, and we had forgotten to bring along our SPF. We doubled back to a gift shop and were very excited to find they had 30 and 50 SPF lotions there. I had read it could be nearly impossible to find high SPF lotions in Southeast Asia.

We stopped outside to put the sunblock on, and I heard someone making noises behind me. Turning around, I found three Muslim Indian women sitting cross legged on the ground. They were dressed all in black, with robes that reached from neck to toes, and scarves covering their heads with only their faces visible. The woman making noises motioned down at my feet where I saw Harold had dropped his glasses. Picking them up, I smiled and said thank you. She smiled back and motioned to the food in front of them, then her mouth, and then at me. I shook my head, saying "No thank-you." but the other women chimed in, motioning for us to come over and share their meal. How could we not accept?

We walked over to them, and she broke off a bit of sticky rice, which she formed into a ball, then flattened a little bit before dipping it into her curry, and passing it to each of us. The rice was almost like dough balls, very fine, sticky, and a little sweet. The red curry was spicy, but very enjoyably so, very delicious. We thanked them profusely, telling them the food was wonderful and bid them goodbye.

Making our way back, we took the the chairlift up to the lookout. Half way up we passed a chair full of young men.

"Where are you from?" they called out to us.

"Canada!" I yelled back, "Where are you from?"

"Pakistan!" they replied, "Goodbye Canada!".

To which we both responded "Goodbye Pakistan!"

Once at the top, we had to walk inside the gift shop to find the ever elusive cable cars, which took us back to the mainland. Down below us was a spectacle of American proportions, Universal Studios, resorts, huge amusement rides, and the half finished water park. Then we were over the harbour, with 360 degree views of the harbour, city and massive shipping yards.

Back on the mainland, we found ourselves in a mall next door to the one we had been in earlier. No wonder we hadn't been able to find the entry to the cable cars. We were very hungry by this time, but had our hearts set on having lunch in Little India, so we stopped at a small grocery store to buy some fruit. We picked up some bananas that were already very ripe, and some jackfruit.

Enormous and prickly on the outside, jackfruit looks somewhat like durian. Cracking one open, you will find pods or "bulbs" inside, a kind of fleshy covering for the true seeds or pits, which are round and dark like chestnuts. The fleshy part can be eaten as is, or cut up and cooked. When unripe (green), it is remarkably similar in texture to chicken, making jackfruit an excellent vegetarian substitute for meat. In fact, canned jackfruit (in brine) is sometimes referred to as "vegetable meat".

The jackfruit we purchased were ripe bulbs, ready to eat. I almost liked it, but there was a taste I just couldn't enjoy so after a few bites, I left the rest for Harold and enjoyed a very ripe banana instead.

Second Stop: Little India and Kampong Kapor

We exited the MRT station in Little India to find a completely different view of Singapore. Little India is a community of narrow, colourful streets, alive with the scents of Indian spices and incense. It was much less unkempt than the other areas of Singapore we'd been to, but this added to the charm. Bangles, saris, scarves, brassware, jewelry and knickknacks all vied for our attention, with shopkeepers calling out to come view their wares.

We walked through Little India's arts belt with ornately detailed shophouses painted bright colours and the Little India Arcade, a 1920's set of rowhouses saved in the 1980's now a cramped, packed market.

The traffic all over Singapore is very chaotic. Crossing the street, even at crosswalks feels like you are taking your life in your hands. One road in particular, in Little India was thick with cars, and none of them would stop for pedestrians. We followed the lead of the Indians crossing, weaving our way through one lane and the another. A man saw us following him and told us, "In Singapore, it is very important to never run across the street, or the drivers will try harder to hit you and you will be blamed for the car damage!"

Campbell Lane is where a bazaar is held during Deepavali, the festival of lights. We had just missed the festival by a few weeks so there were signs all over still, but the lane was quieter. The lane is where the garland sellers are located. they thread jasmine, marigold, rose petals and buds witn banana leaf fibres. They are bought and placed on statues of deities as prayer offerings and are also used in Hindu wedding ceremonies. They are so beautiful, if I lived there I'd want to buy them for my home.

Masjid Abdul Gafoor, a mosque built in 1907, has  a large sundial at the entrance. It replaced a wood and tiled roof mosque that had been built in 1846. When we got there, many Muslims were arriving for midday prayers. We walked around the courtyard, up to where everyone was leaving their shoes, but didn't feel right going inside while they were all inside.





We stopped for lunch at a vegetarian shop, Komala Vilas, with all the signs of a good ethnic restaurant: busy, full of people who appear to belong there, and the aromas were so enticing. Founded more than 50 years ago, they serve South Indian vegetarian food.

The interior decor was very plain, looking much like a cafeteria, with long formica tables and plastic chairs filled with Indian people enjoying their lunches. Downstairs was completely full, so we made our way upstairs, where we were directed to place our orders. I chose a meal consisting of rice, dhal, sambar, kulambu, rasam, thairu and dosa served on a banana leaf. Harold chose the vegetable biryani which was served on a metal plate with rice, chappati, curry, kuruma, and dhal. They both came with raita, payasam, appalam and pickle. We paid at the cash register, then washed our hands at the sink on the wall, before being lead to our seats.

The waiters came around to pick up our orders, then brought us utensils, and proceeded to set each of us up for our meals. Looking around, I saw everyone else eating with their hands, and realized we had been given the utensils since we were foreigners. We were having none of that, instead watching and mimicking those around us. Why would anyone choose to eat with utensils when it's the custom to eat with one's hands?

From what we could see, the correct way to do it was to use only your right hand to bring small amounts of the differences sauces over to mix in with the rice, then eat with your fingers. I loved the freedom from cutlery but having my hand so dirty got a little on my nerves. It was a small issue however.

The food was wonderful, and we greedily ate it all, only to be confronted with the waiter asking us if we wanted more. There was just no way we could eat anymore, so we made our way to the sink to once again wash our hands and head back out to the street.

After lunch we wandered down the road to the Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple. This Hindu temple, built in 1881, in the style of South Indian Tamil temples, is dedicated to the goddess Kali, who is very popular in Bengal, Northeast India, where the labourers who built the temple came from. There are images inside showing the goddess wearing a garland of skulls ripping out the insides of her victims. Unfortunately, we never got to see anything inside as the temple is closed every afternoon.


We turned the corner onto Belilios Lane, named after J.R. Belilios, at one time the dominant cattle baron in Singapore. There seem to be differing accounts as to where he originated from. He was either a Venetian Jew, or a Jewish Indian from Kolkata. A few blocks down we came across a large park and were disappointed no one was playing cricket there. It was now about 4:30pm and we were to meet the others in our group at 6pm. We just happened across a subway station so we jumped at the chance to head back and  refresh ourselves.

Meeting the Group and dinner at the food carts



Harold and I are used to travelling alone, and have never done any travelling as a group before, other than business travel. All of our personal travel thus far has been in places where it is very easy to get around on our own. We passed the idea back and forth about joining a group. The company we had selected, Gap Adventures, is a Canadian company that is all about adventure. Mostly catering to a young clientele, the onus is on small groups, dealing with local people, taking local transportation, and being immersed in the local cultures. My parents had used them when they went to the Galapagos Islands and Machu Picchu and with the amount of travel they have done, and the type of travel they enjoy, I felt I could trust their judgement.

Our fears were that we might be too old for the group, or it might be too controlled. But there was just no way we'd be able to fit so much in, and get to many of the places if we did it on our own. We'd recently spent a long weekend cruising the San Juan Islands on a big schooner and had really enjoyed the cameraderie of the group. We hoped it would be the same for this trip.

My first thought, when we got downstairs to join the group was, Oh man, they are all so damn young! They all looked like kids to me, with most of them definitely in their 20's. Then I saw a couple definitely older than us, and that made me feel better. They may be very young, I thought, but I'm immature!

It turned out that of the 15 of us, the breakdown was:

Germany - 8
Switzerland - 1
New Zealand - 2
UK - 1
Portugal - 1
Canada - 1 (me!)
US - 1 (Harold)
Thailand - our CEO (Chief Experience Officer)

We discussed the trip ahead of us, and the next day's plans before heading out for dinner at the local food carts. We had passed these carts a number of times and Harold kept talking about having the Pig Intestine Soup, but once we got there, he settled on a stirfry instead. I was so disappointed. After dinner, we purchased a bottle of wine from 7-11 and headed back to our room to rest. We were exhausted and the trip was only beginning.


Hotel: Hotel Bencoolen
47 Bencoolen Street, Singapore, 189626
+65 63360822 http://www.hotelbencoolen.com/
This was a middle of the road hotel, clean and well supplied, even disposable toothbrushes. It is in a good location, a short walk to the Bras Basah MRT station, National Museum of Singapore, shops and restaurants. They charge for Internet and you should beware of free Internet wifi in the area. We had issues with our netbook and my Gmail account was compromised after logging in through a free Wifi from our room.