Singapore - Day 1

We arrived just after 5am local time, to a very beautiful, comfortable, clean, and organized airport. We quickly raced ahead of the crowd, breezed through Immigration, picked up our packs, withdrew cash, and headed to the MRT, Singapore's subway system. The first washroom I hit, was so pristine and smelled wonderfully welcoming. I felt I could have eaten in there, but I suspect that would not be okay.

Entering the MRT station, you are welcomed by a high class British voice, of the type you hear in all high tech futurific movies. The voice tells you that eating, drinking, and smoking are not allowed anywhere in the station or on the trains. She also warns you of the danger of terrorist attacks and to always keep your items in hand and report any suspicious activities.

The MRT cards are made of a very hard cardboard, and carry a $1 deposit. You select the station you wish to go to, and enter the amount noted. You scan the card on the way in and then again on the way out, before heading to the machine to hand in your card and receive your deposit back. It's a great system, with no waste at all.

Going down the escalator, we quickly surmised we were to stand on the left side, not the right, as is expected back home. It was so pleasing to see everyone so neat and ordered, all walking and standing on the left, and also standing back until everyone exited the train, then filing in. Younger people stand up to allow older and less able people to sit, and there is absolutely no garbage at all anywhere in the stations, or trains.

We definitely felt very at ease from the moment we arrived. Everything is so clean, calm, and organized. There appear to be little to no homeless and no one begging. It appears to be a perfect society.

Our hotel allowed us to check-in early but they only had a room with two single beds. We decided to nap for 2 hours since it was so early and we were so tired, but after a half hour, we got up. We were just too excited to lay in bed.

First Stop: China Town 

We headed to Chinatown where we visited a number of Buddhist temples, one Hindu temple, and a Mosque. First was one of Singapore's oldest, Thian Hock Keng Temple, a red and black lacquer and gilt Chinese temple, built in 1841. It was under reconstruction and parts of it were unviewable, but it was definitely worth a visit. The original wood and thatch 'Joss house', was built 20 years before the temple, by Chinese immigrants who wanted to pray for safe passage to the patron goddess of sailors.

Next we took a peak into the Jamae Mosque, one of the earliest mosques in Singapore, built in 1826. This mosque is also known as Chulia Mosque, Maideen Mosque and the Big Mosque among the Tamil Muslim community in Singapore.





A block away is the Sri Mariamman temple, built in 1827, with an ornate tower called a gopuram, completed in the 1860's. The Hindu temple is dedicated to Sri Mariannan, the great Mother goddess of health and prosperity.

In the mosques and temples, it is necessary to take off your shoes and be dressed modestly. This means that shorts and bare arms are not allowed. It's surprising how many tourists don't take note of this, which is why many of the temples have shawls and scarves for them to borrow and be allowed entry. I found that with my pants that zip off into shorts and my shirt with sleeves that roll down, I was fine no matter what we came across.



Just another block down Mosque street is the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple, a Buddhist temple dedicated to Maitreya Buddha. The temple has six levels with museums, a rooftop garden, tea house and gift shop.

We shopped in the bazaar where I bought two hair clips and a bracelet, after choosing and re-choosing many others.

All of a sudden, the skies opened up and rain poured from the sky in torrents. I was so thankful Harold had reminded me to put my umbrella in my daypack, but even that couldn't stop us from getting soaked.



Our last stop in Chinatown was at a famous Bak Kwa store, Lim Chee Guan, where we ordered BBQ pork, chicken, and beef strips, that are much like jerky, but so much tastier and tender. We sampled our chicken bak kwa, and saved the others for later.

A Chinese woman came out of the store laden down with bags of items she told us she was taking back to Hong Kong. She told us this was the best Bak Kwa store in the world, and people come from all over to purchase there. I'm so glad we stopped.

Second Stop: The National Museum of Singapore 

This museum comprises two main fixed galleries and a changing gallery that houses temporary exhibits. Built in 1887, it was extensively renovated a few years back. It is all white, very airy and monumental in a tropical, flowing, neo-colonial style.

We only made it through the History Gallery as there is just so much information, it took us a long while to get through it. We missed the Living, and temporary galleries altogether. I wish we`d had more time.








Third Stop: Goodwood Park & Orchard Mall

My parents had told us this hotel had the most wonderful High Tea they had ever had, so we planned to eat there instead of lunch and dinner. We arrived by MRT to a high tech, flashy area, Orchard Mall. We wound around and around the underground passageways that seemed to go on for miles, one high-end store after another. Climbing outside we found a high end shopping area to rival all the best such shopping areas of the world. It was bright and fancy and we could have been in any city in the world, all the expected high fashion names were available.

We made our way up to a very beautiful, older, classic hotel named Goodwood Park. The sign outside the restaurant gave the times and prices and said they were serving High Tea, but when we went inside, we found only an Asian buffet. No scones, no tiny sandwiches, no pastries, or clotted cream, and the only tea they had was "Lipton" from a carafe.

There was no way we were going to pay $38 each for Asian buffet in a high scale restaurant when we could have even better for a fraction of the price at the food carts around the city. Harold made an excuse to the waitress about feeling ill and asked to settle up for the coffee and tea, that we hadn't had even a sip of, and she charged us $13 ... I felt ripped off.

Fourth Stop: Clark Quay & Boat Quay

Clark Quay was named for the 2nd Governor of Singapore, whereas Boat Quay's name came from the road that runs parallel to the river. Boat Quay soon became crowded by Chinese immigrants because the shape of the river there resembles the belly of a well-fed Carp, a sign of wealth and prosperity. It's a touristy area along the Singapore river, lined with restaurants and bars of all ethnicities.




We chose a SE Asian restaurant, and sat right out on the water. I once again had curry. This time, a red chicken curry that was just wonderful. Harold had a dish of noodles and seafood in broth that was very close to what he'd had in Shanghai, though he swore they were different. Wine was expensive, so we decided to only have a glass, and instead stop at the wine bar by our hotel on the way back.


After dinner, we wandered down river to the site where Sir Stamford Raffles first landed on January 29, 1819. There is a big white statue of him alongside the river and behind him is City Hall, Old Parliament House, the Supreme Court and other buildings of Singapore's colonial core.

As we walked down alongside the river, we saw an apparition appear in front of us. It looked like a huge ship on top of three highrise buildings. My tour book said nothing of it, and I couldn`t wait to get back to the hotel to find out what it was. It turned out to be the Marina Sands Hotel & Casino built in February 2011 by the Las Vegas Sands Corp.

The river walk is lined with stores, restaurants, and bars and the river is alive with all sorts of boats. Statues depicting important historical scenarios are interspersed along the way.

Fifth Stop: Cavanaugh Pedestrian Bridge and the Fullerton Hotel



We crossed the Singapore River over the Cavanaugh pedestrian bridge, built in 1867, and made our way to the Fullerton Hotel. Originally built in 1928, at the mouth of the Singapore River, as the Singapore General Post Office, but was later turned into a beautiful, and luxurious hotel.







Wandering around inside, we saw many groups of people enjoying afternoon tea, the very kind we had hoped to find at Goodwood Park. Unfortunately, we were already full from an early dinner, so it was now out of the question. Next time in Singapore, we`ll definitely have to try it.







Last Stop: In search of wine

After a bit more wandering around the area, we headed back to to a wine bar we`d seen that morning,  right beside our hotel. Inside, we found we were the only patrons, but it was still early.

Back home, calling an establishment a wine bar means a bar catering to a variety of wines. We selected a Cabernet Sauvignon, but were told they were out of it, so we chose a Shiraz. They didn`t have that either. What about the Merlot? we asked. No, that was also not available. At this point, we decided it might be easier to hear what they did have ... they had one red wine, a French wine we were fairly certain we wouldn`t like. We were now wondering how they could call themselves a wine bar. We excused ourselves and decided to frequent the Irish Pub down the road, Molly Malone's, all the while ridiculing ourselves.



An American and a Canadian go into an Irish Pub in Singapore and order an Australian Cabernet ... and it was well worth the ridicule.


After enjoying our Australian Cabernet, we headed back to our hotel, where we watched a Taiwanese soap opera, with English subtitles. I had enjoyed watching similar shows when we were in Hawaii, and this one was just as dramatic. Party animals that we are, we were fast asleep by 8:30pm Singapore time.

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.