Day 29: What the ... A Merlion?

I awoke to an empty room, literally, I was the only one in it. Considering there are some 15 bunks, 30 beds, that's quite a feat. I scrambled to find my iPhone and realized, morning had escaped me, it was 1pm. So I showered, dressed, and with map in hand, I headed out to explore Singapore on foot.

First stop, the Merlion. What?  Yeah, the Merlion. It's a statue that is half mermaid, half lion, and spits out water into the river. Why? Why not. Next stop, the Esplanade, which is the huge theater/entertainment complex that sits across from the Merlion. It's pretty su-weet looking, not gonna lie. I went out to their open air stage and that's where I got trapped in a thunderstorm. With no where to go and such a great view, I sat and relaxed and just listened to the rain, amazing. 

Once it lightened up, I started off again to my next site, The Fountain of Wealth.But before I got there I realized something, most everything you walk on besides the street are tiles. So where we have concrete sidewalks, they do as well but take it one step further. I would not have noticed, but when wet, those tiles become terribly slippery and with flip flops, it definitely became a cause of care. So after entering the mall across the way from the Esplanade, I knew I'd be out of the rain for the most part, as they all seem to link to one another. I reached the Fountain of Wealth, which apparently is the largest fountain in the world, though I think only at certain times. But the superstition here, is to make a wish, while walking around the middle of the fountain 3 times dragging your right hand through the water. We will see if there is any weight to it in 10days ... I was specific, lol. 

Later I stumbled into some strange looking building, so I took a picture and entered. Anyone want to fathom a guess what it was? Yep, another mall! The only interesting part with this one was that it had both Coffee Bean and Marble Slab inside! My last stop of the afternoon was Funan Digital Mall. 6 floors of electronics, each level specializing in different things. Basically, all the stores are individual, and many had the same products which you then bargain on price ... Crazy. I was considering a netbook, but could not come to terms with using a Windows 7 starter operating system. So It looks like I will continue the blogs on the iPhone and on occasion update with pictures and videos when I have access to a full computer. 

That night Steve, a bloke from London at the hostel, and I went to Chinatown for some grub. Because it is closing in on Chinese new year, the whole place is lit up and in a frenzy. We found a little place where the food was cheap cheap, but there were no tables on the sidewalk. No worries, they took a table, put It on the curb, and said, "you sit". Deal. So after 2 lemonades, 2 fried noodles with chicken and about $10USD, Steve and I took off for the next stop.

We had both heard of the Clarke Quay area for clubs and bars and such. It was literally 5 minutes walk from the hostel, so off we went. There we found the smallest 7-11 in history and a line trailing out of it. Apparently everyone buys their beers here, then sit on the bridge and drink before going to the clubs, where drinks are pricey. So we followed in suit, I got a slurpee, Steve a water, and we hung out on the bridge and just talked about life. After our drinks and a proper amount of chill time, we went off to see all the bars and clubs an such. It was a cool area, almost like an outdoor mall of small bars, each with it's own concept. My favorite was a place called Clinic, where all the seating was either hospital looking beds or wheelchairs. Crazy. Did not go into any clubs, just walked through the area soon to return back at the hostel around 1ish. 

Nite nite via the iPhone blogger.