We arrived in Singapore after our flight from Manila and immediately noticed the difference from the rest of Southeast Asia: clean streets, clean air, drinkable water, European prices, and a much more heterogeneous population (4 languages are prominently spoken: English, Mandarin, Malay, and Tamil). We made our way to the outskirts of Little India and arrived at our hotel, which suspiciously was only marked with a sign that said "HOTEL" out front. It certainly wasn't cheap, even by U.S. standards, but sure enough, we ascertained by the sketchy men and hookers in the lobby that we had managed to book ourselves in a "rent-by-the-hour" place. But they had a cool fat calico cat and free internet, so we stayed anyways. :)
The following day we took public transit to the Singapore Zoo, which has a reputation for being one of the best in the world, and it did not disappoint! Moats are largely used for animal containment, eliminating most of the need for cages, and the animals have large natural habitats to roam around in. They also have a lot of specialty animals that are rare to see in most North American zoos, such as False Gharials (a large fish-eating alligator-like creature), Proboscis Monkeys, Pygmy Hippos, White Tigers, and more. Our favorite was the rainforest exhibit, which allows you to walk through a contained rainforest amidst the free-roaming animals (which is how we got this close-up picture of a lemur just 'chilling' on the path!). Once darkness fell, we ventured next door to the Night Safari, which is essentially a 'nighttime zoo' that features nocturnal animals. We took the tram tour and walked the trails, where giant bats, flying squirrels, and enormous mosquitoes were swooping overhead - pretty exciting!
The next day we had our first of many meals at Komala Vilas, a prominent Indian vegetarian fast food outlet in Singapore. Here is a picture of their mascot, a giant dosai. :) If only they would franchise in the U.S.... then we would have an alternative to Taco Bell when we are on the road! After lunch we took the MRT (subway) to Orchard Road, the famous upscale shopping district. We looked like we just fell off the turnip truck compared to most of the people there, but it was still fun to browse in the 6-story malls full of Louis Vuitton, Prada, Jimmy Choo, etc. And they were air-conditioned!
 Orchard Road |  Orchard Road |
 Huge Mall |  At Night |
After getting our fill of 'window shopping', we took the MRT down to City Hall, where we walked to the Singapore Flyer, a 540-foot tall ferris wheel overlooking Marina Bay. There are 28 cars that hold 28 people each (according to the audio tour, it's some feng shui thing), and one rotation takes 30 minutes to complete. It was even recently featured in a stunt on this season's Amazing Race!
That evening (it was a busy day!) we journeyed over to Chinatown for a guided tour of the area and of the 'brothel history'. We saw odd foods, Chinese medicine shops, old sewage doors where nightmen came weekly to remove the pail from under your toilet, old brothels, and even some current brothels (identified by their red and white lighted signs - see pics).
 Chinatown |  Sewage Door |
 Brothels |  Brothel Sign :P |
The following day we headed to the Changi Museum, Chapel, and Prison, which memorializes the Japanese Occupation of Singapore during WWII. From there, we took the MRT to the Singapore Botanical Gardens, which are free to enter and are extremely popular with the locals and visitors alike. We saw similar activities as are popular in the U.S. - a couple getting married (see pic), random people dressed in newspaper costumes acting out scenes (see pic), kids learning to ride their bikes, runners, etc. It was the most "American" scene that we had come across in Southeast Asia! Here are some pictures:
 Newspaper Costumes |  Wedding |
 Rainforest Fig Tree |  Ginger |
The next day it was time to say goodbye to Asia and take off on the long flight to LA, with a 6-hour layover in Beijing. :( We had intended on heading to New Zealand at this point to do some hiking, but of course family matters became more pressing and we needed to head home. Our seats on the flight were just a couple rows behind the giant TV screens, so when the lights were dimmed for 'sleeping time', I put my black blanket over my head to block out the TV lights. And of course, in usual 'Susan' fashion, I wake up, the cabin lights are already on, breakfast is being served, and everyone is staring at me for having a blanket over my head! I wanted to just put the blanket back on to hide my embarrassment, but at least I will never see any of those people again, haha. In the next few days I'll post some pics of the odd signs we saw around Singapore - all the rules, instructions, and warnings that the country is so famous (or infamous) for.
We saw these signs in a lot of places, but I really think the whole 'caning' thing works a lot better as a crime deterrent than our often lenient jail sentences. We never felt like we were in any danger, and since the standard of living is so much higher in Singapore than in the other places we visited in Southeast Asia, there weren't even people trying to rip us off at every corner!
Here is an example of the 4 languages on most signage in Singapore: English, Mandarin, Tamil, and Malay.
No durians on the subway! (a very stinky fruit popular in tropical Asian countries)
Illustrated instructions for using this public restroom:
A FANTASTIC dynamic parking sign, letting you know how many spaces are currently available in each of these lots!
And another fantastic sign, this one at the bus stop, letting you know which buses will be arriving and when.
Need a hip joint? These were for sale at the pharmacy down the street from our hotel.
Giant boat on the roof of Singapore's new casinos.
Odd things for sale at a booth in Chinatown... shark fin, frog, giant lizard, etc.
And now by reading the ingredient list of these pills in Chinatown, we can see where those items above would be used...
Another stand in Chinatown, "The Last Sausage Kiosk Before the Equator":
We had quite an appetizing selection of desserts to choose from in Chinatown:
Brian chose this mango ice thing (that dark area at the bottom turned out to be a core of baked black beans). I was kinda glad I had the vanilla ice cream!
Lightning counter on a tree at the Singapore Botanical Gardens - this tree has been struck 4 times already!
And the last night we were in town, we came across a group of Asian line dancers doing their thing right outside our subway stop. Kinda made us feel like we were back at home in Texas. :)
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