I'll Be There Dreckly: Back To What You Know

Singapore (map)

In this blog: back to the developed world, hanging out with old friends, and a spot of hiking

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Marina Bay, Singapore

Imagine the relief a sailor might feel upon reaching land after five months at sea. In a funny sort of way, and without planning it, Singapore for me turned out to be pretty much that. Following five months in developing countries, Singapore was a revelation; a home from home. I was back in the developed world that I know, with orderly disciplined traffic, well manicured greenery, no rubbish, no hawkers, no rickshaws, no poverty, no cows on the street, proper pavements, western clothing, road signs, modern architecture, supermarkets, and everything else you expect from a developed country. I hadn't planned it intentionally, and I'm not saying I didn't love the chaos of India, but Singapore was a very welcome change.

Singapore for those who don't know, is a small island at to the south of Malaysia and both a country and a city. A British colony which was founded in 1819 as a free trade hub, it gained independence in 1965 and today is a very cosmopolitan place that makes it's money mostly from shipping and finance. Three-quarters of the population are Chinese, with the rest a mixture of Malaysian, Indian, and European expats, which this along with its colonial history gives the city a curious east-meets-west culture. With it's glossy architecture and public transport, world class attractions, perfectly kept roads, and green public spaces; it's visibly an extremely modern city in every way possible. It's also known for being extremely clean and tidy - the streets are completely free of litter and it's actually illegal to sell chewing gum, so no spotty pavements. All in all a very pleasant place.

Reunion

Nin and Adam Porter

I hadn't really planned to visit Singa at all on this trip but all the onward flights from India to south-east Asia seems to go via Changi airport, so remembering my good friend Adam Porter from university had moved there I decided to stop off for a few days. I flew from Trivandrum in south India - a four hour overnight flight - and with just three hours of sleep I blearily made my way to the fantastic eighth story flat Adam lives in with his wife Nin. We'd not seen each other in more than nine years, and I'd not met Nin before so it was really great to see them both, and to see a familiar face for the first time in many months. We spent the morning catching up, reminiscing about uni days and all the nonsense we got upto, and life since then, realising just how quickly life can pass by.

I'd been to Singapore before on my last big trip five years ago and had visited the main sights then, so this time with my pair of local guides I was shown a few other spots. We had a wander around Arab Street, one of the few original authentic streets of the city where some middle-easterners still call home, as well as nearby Chinatown, an area which seems ironic now given that most of the population is Chinese. After a break back at the flat, Adam took me to the Marina to see the nightly light show, where lights, lasers and water fountains combine into an impressive, if slightly tacky waterfront show. I'd been to this area before and couldn't believe how much it had changed in five years, with land reclaimed from the sea now developed into crazy looking museums, an Asian interpretation of the Eden Project, one of the biggest shopping malls I've ever seen and most impressive of all, the Marina Bay Sands towers - the world's most expensive building which has to be seen to be believed.

Pool outside Adam and Nin's flat. Just fantastic

The following day was much lazier. The lovely flat that Adam and Nin rent comes complete with a load of leisure facilities, so when Adam and I weren't sitting in the sun on the balcony we spent a chunk of the day hanging out by the beautiful swimming pool down below, a lifestyle I couldn't even comprehend a few days before in India. It was a great to be back to reality, well a reality of sorts.

Urban Jungle

Singapore was almost completely jungle-clad originally, and despite the massive urbanisation there's still a few natural spots left, so with a bit of guidance I took an early start and headed to McRichie National Forest the following morning. The hike was a bit different to what I've done of late; a very sanitised version of nature, what with the endless amounts of signposts, wooden board walks, gravelled paths and even a bridge sponsored by HSBC. It may have been unadventurous, but it was still nice, and I ended up doing a seven mile hike through original forest and around a reservoir. On one dirt path something quickly moved in the leaves by my feet. I did a hop-step to one side to see a well-camouflaged 3ft long monitor lizard walking up the bank, looking for insects. Harmless it seems, but a bit of a shocking sight when you've not seen one in the flesh before, nor were expecting to!

History

On my third day in Singapore I headed to the National Museum. Now I always think it's a bit dull to write about a museum so I'll keep this brief - it was excellent. It keeps the story of the country fairly succinct (unlike my blogs sometimes) and told the story of the city's days from fishing village, to British colonisation, Japanese WWII invasion, and intense post war development in a lively and interesting way. It also reminded me that fifty odd years ago it was anything but the world class city it is now.

Grub

Apart from the national obsession with shopping, Singapore is renound for it's food. Interestingly rather than cooking at home, a large amount of people regularly eat out at what are known as hawker centres. These are food courts where street food vendors were relocated in the sixties, which now serve just about every food you can imagine at pretty cheap prices. I went a time or two both on my own and with Adam, trying local dishes such as Chinese Chicken-Rice and Beef-noodles which are much tasty than their descriptive names might suggest. On other occasions we went to a famous local restaurant that serves a dish called Laksa, as well as a Turkish restaurant on Arab street. All very nice, and quite a contrast after months of Indian food.

Moving On

Three days turned to four, and on my last day I still had no plan for the next step of the trip. I'd met so many people over the course of my travels who advised me to go to Burma sooner rather than later, as it's changing quickly from it's old-fashioned ways, and I'd also been thinking to head to Indonesia with it's huge range of Islands. I also had to consider travel costs, lengths of visas, and other practicalities. In short, I had too many options, and not much time to decide. A luxurious problem I admit! This or that? A or B? Right or wrong? I did some reading, I looked at flight costs, I chatted to people, then finally decided any option was a good option. At 3am I finally booked a flight... for the following morning!

Singapore had been great, and in many ways I really didn't want to leave - it was normal, easy, comfortable and my friends were there. It was a bit soulless as a city, a common criticism, but for a few days it was perfect, a great antidote to the incessant chaos of India. It had been so nice to hang out with Adam and Nin, but I'd invaded their life for long enough so reluctantly I said goodbye and headed to the airport, bound for neither of the counties I mentioned, but instead Malaysian Borneo! Excited? Just a little.