Day 28: Singapore!

Augus arrives at 5:30am to take me to the airport, we are both looking like death warmed over. About 25 minutes into it, he says, "Oh, I'm sorry Mr. Deano" and makes a u-turn. I'm like, no big deal, he missed his turn, soon to realize, it was 15 minutes back. It's all good because I planned for some buffer time and arrived with time to spare.

So after napping on the flight we arrive. The airport is rather impressive, super clean and efficient, even immigration was quick and easy. Everything was running smooth until I get to the MRT (the subway). You see, I would rather buy a multiple day pass or an all day pass, neither of which are options. So I decide on a single ticket, and them it was challenge number 2. On a touchscreen map, you have to pick your exit, which actually is intuitive and easy, if you know the map. 30 long seconds later and with the line building, I locate Clarke Quay purchase my ticket, and follow the masses to the terminal.

I arrive at Rucksack Inn Hostel and am pleasantly surprised at the quality and cleanliness of the space as well the helpfullness of the front desk. They check me in, show me around the hostel, give me a map, and inform me of all the must-sees for my stay.

Side note: Before I continue, let me share with you a few observations that I have made about Singapore. Number 1 ... It's one big mall. Every stop I've been to on the MRT has exited into a brilliant white and exceptionally clean high-end mall. Even at the non-shopping stops like Clarke Quay ... exits to a mall area. Amazing. This explains why Lindsay was so excited about me stopping in Singapore. I have no clue how women can work in this town, seems to me they would all be distracted and broke. Number 2, there appears to be universal free wifi here, which you know I love. The problem however is this, when you sign up, it asks for your local Singapore phone number so they can SMS you a password for entry. It suggests if you do not have one, to purchase one ... Um, I clicked on "visitor" which should imply that I do not have a local phine or number. I think it's part of their strategy, make you buy a sim card, a phone card, and the costs here should compensate for any free wifi you will receive. Looks like I will be doing all my surfing at the hostel.

Ok, with that said, my first stop is Harbour Center to fix my ticket for Sunday to KL on the double decker bus. I exit the MRT into what else, a huge mall with everything from McDonalds to Tag Heuer. After wandering through the endless corridors and after asking a few people, I find the Aeroline bus office. I explain my predictament, that I bought the ticket for the wrong date and destination last week. I emailed customer service after the online solution was not working. The email responses and website told me to come to the main office at Harbour Center. Simple enough, save that now it's less than 3 days, and the change that should of been free costs me $10 ... Hmm, scam or coincidence, we will never know!

At this point, I had realized my belly was rumbling because I had yet to eat, at all, all day, and it was about 3pm. Now to be fair, I knew I had not eaten, but I needed to get certain things done. So I wandered the mall and stumbled upon some food that I never eat back in the states but is becoming somewhat of a staple ... McDonalds. I walk in, see some familiar items at familiar prices, and then see items with the word "Mega" in front of them. Like the Mega Whopper, which is not 2 patties, but 4 between the 3 buns - woah, my friends in Houston would be so jealous. I settled on the Mega Spicy Chicken Sandwich combo, which Is twice the meat, but of course. I upsize the fries and feast on my ridiculously fattening and delicious fast food feast, then headed back to the hostel.

There I met a number of other travelers, I won't go into all the names, but a group of us collected and decided to hit Orchard Road. Ok, so Rodeo, 5th Ave, you name it, they got nothing on this place. The entire mall is connected whether undeground or above, it's massive and spans for a good mile or two. Anything you could possibly dream of is found here, from the most exclusive and expensive boutiques, to the common place Nike and Prada. And then there's the food. Everywhere you look, there are cafes and food courts and smoothies places and sweets and ... Heaven for a fatty like me! Here's some video of the view from outside the mall on a busy street corner during the evening.

We get back to the hostel to make plans for the evening by 9:30pm, but I am wiped out. So I opt to watch the Break Up with some of the other travelers while uploading videos and pictures to the blog, which takes me until 5am, and I only get to Day 10. Craziness.

Nite nite via the iPhone Blogger