Randy in Singapore

This woman really gets around. Starting in Canada she has now visited five countries in two weeks (Canada, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia/Bali, Singapore). If we count four hours in the Shanghai airport we could make it six.

Friday evening we left KL Sentral, the main railway station, at 10:00 PM. We each had an upper berth which was humorous to say the least. Getting in and out was real adventure. The rocking of the train was soothing but the air conditioning was cranked up and the car felt like a meat locker. our muscles were cramping up it was so cold. In the middle of the night Randy got up to look for the club car and a little warmth. She said that the other sleeping cars were quite comfortable. We were just unlucky, I guess. At 6:30 AM the porter woke everyone to pass out immigration cards for Singapore. We all got up and filled them out because it was warmer than the available alternatives. We were checked on the train by Malaysian officials and we disembarked on entry into Singapore territory for their immigration check. Afterwards we decided to sit in the club car and drink hot coffee rather than return to our berths.

On arrival we cabbed it to the hotel and left our luggage with the concierge. We had breakfast and by then our rooms were ready so we checked in and went for a walk in Chinatown. Randy and Kim drove some hard bargains and came away with a pile of gifts and souvenirs. Randy was worried about us repeating tours we had already taken but we had not been to Chinatown.

We returned to the hotel for a rest and refresher. At 5:00 we took the hotel shuttle to Raffles Hotel. This is where they invented the Singapore Sling and Bill temporarily suspended his non-drinking policy to enjoy the flavour. The hotel is a later 19th century establishment that retains the glory of colonial Britain. It still maintains many of the policies of the day including no shorts for gentlemen. We could never afford to stay there.

We travelled to Clark Quay, which is one of our favourite places. We took a 45 minute river tour on a bum boat and followed up with a dinner at a patio restaurant cantilevered over the river. We then took a walk to the far side of the river and discovered to our surprise that our hotel was adjacent to the river. We walked up to the Fullerton, another old and expensive hotel that is housed in the former main post office building. This again was a throwback to British colonial days but less so than Raffles.

We had a cab drop us at Orchard Road. We were in luck because this was the first night of the Christmas lights. This is a big celebration here and Orchard Road is the shopping capital of Singapore. The street was ablaze and the crowds were immense. We walked for an hour and had our heads on swivels. Apparently the same thing happens in Hong Kong and they leave the lights up until Chinese New Year during the first week of February.

We were up early and had breakfast before checking out. We left our luggage with the hotel again and took Randy on a short tour of the Singapore subway system. This is a sleek modern system that can certainly teach Toronto a thing or two. We caught the Hop On Hop Off bus and toured the whole circuit (about an hour and a half). Then by over to Sentosa Island. This is a Singaporean holiday resort. In terms of distance it is like Torontonians going to Centre Island but it has been developed into a major resort area; and the growth continues with several major projects. Kim and I were thrilled to be able to get back to the Images of Singapore display. This is a wonderful review of the history and culture of the city-state. Afterwards we took the cable car back to the mainland to get a bird's eye view of the city.

We caught a lunch in the plaza across from the hotel and then took a cab to the bus depot. Five hours later we were back in KL and the difference in cleanliness was apparent to our noses...we were home!