One last post from my trip, at least while I'm on the trip -- I'll send summary / retrospective posts when I'm home.
We had a cloudy day to explore Singapore. It was actually spritzing, though it was such a light rain that it actually felt nice in the heat. We hit a few main areas of town.
First, we met Alison at the the Fullerton Hotel, a hotel built in a former post office overlooks. Alison is my friend's sister who was visiting Singapore from Hong Kong. It was lucky happenstance that had her visiting at the same time as us. She's the person in the picture.
Outside the Fullerton is an old footbridge that has a sign that still proclaims a weight limit of 3cwt and that no horse or cattle may pass. Nearby, the Merlion fountain spits water out into the bay. The Merlion (think half-fish, half-lion) is the symbol of Singapore. I was coerced into taking a classic tourist shot where, through clever juxtaposition, I appear to be "swallowing" the flow.
To get there we took the subway. It really is quite easy to take (although the system of operators to get change (but not sell tickets) and half-working ticket-dispensing machines was grossly inefficient). It's a fast, clean system that's relatively cheap -- about $1 to go anywhere in the center part of town. Although, the single use tickets come on RFID cards that require a S$1 (about 75¢) deposit that you have to get back from the machine after your ride. It's a pain because you can't add money to these cards. I think there are other cards that you can but it was a pain for us with these cards. I am, however, convinced that the subway is the way to go to get around the city. It might even be the best way to get from the airport. We arrived at peak hours and had to wait 15 minutes for a taxi. Albeit, we were heavily encumbered.
Back to the subway, it's supposed to be an engineering marvel because the tunnels are built in some ground unsuited to tunneling. There was also a cute picture proclaiming a S$1000 fine if you bring... hedgehogs on board. Huh? No, no.. Those are durians, remarkably stinky fruit. Someone characterized them as eating strawberry ice cream in the midst of a smelly toilet! I never had the opportunity to even see one (though I did try starfruit, jackfruit, snakefruit, Malaysian oranges (green on the outside, orange inside), small bananas, and dragonfruit).
(If you're wondering why I'm particularly loquacious today it's because I'm on the first leg of my trip back home, first to Tokyo.)
Our next stop was Chinatown. This was marked by streets with small stores/stalls that sold small items ranging from classic tourist chintz to fancy chopsticks, silk batik shirts, and Chinese fans. There were a few camera stores that admired my 16-35mm f2.8L lens. I think equipment was the same price or slightly more expensive as in the US, although it was hard to tell with the 10% VAT that would be refunded and the 1.3:1 exchange rate. Additionally, I think you'd relinquish any warranty. So probably not worth it, even if I was tempted to get something to fill the 50-200mm range. Anyway, despite the interspersed chintz, the street market feel made it nice to walk around. There were rabbits put up to celebrate the upcoming Chinese New Year (Year of the Rabbit).
Our next stop was Little India. This wasn't quite as energetic as it was more of a set of stores on a street rather than a walking street market. There were lots of sari and jewelry stores. We are at a very traditional Indian restaurant. Food was served directly on a banana leaf. We didn't use our hands, though, and went with a spoon and fork. There was a potato dish, a yoghurt raita, a spinach dish, and a biriyani with chicken on the side. Julie quickly declined any food; it would have been a place I, too, would have avoided except it was on the tail end of my trip. The food was good, although a touch spicy.
Not much of note happened over the remainder of the day. I did get talked into trying a 30 minute Thai massage, although it didn't do much for me. I'm never that tense, I guess...
We met up with some of Alison's former colleagues. You really felt that Singapore was a cosmopolitan crossroads -- Singaporeans (Indian and Chinese), Aussies, and an Indonesian.
Dinner was sushi -- no worries about food here. I did drop intoa Marks & Spencer to get some of my favorite tea.
So now homeward bound. It'll be so nice to get out of tourist mode.
