Singapore
by: Kristin
Got off our 8 hour flight from Brisbane to Singapore at 3:45pm and felt the heat right away (mid 30's and very humid)...We bought an EZ link card for the MRT (subway) which is like a credit card that you scan every time you enter and exit the train station and it will deduct the proper amount of money depending on how far you travelled. Found the MRT and hopped on with our bags and then walked about 15 minutes along the side streets of Little India to find our hostel. We were both exhausted and so opted for a western style dinner and had sandwiches! But since then we have had Chinese noodles and dumplings, Sushi, Indian curry that you eat with your hands, Thai chicken satay......and the food is fairly cheap...$3 (SGD) for the curry and the others around those prices. The exchange rate is about 1 USD to 1.55 SGD.
The second night we were here we signed up to go on a tour of Little India with our hostel (they organize an event every night) and we were introduced to some Indian desserts....0.80c each...and they are SO SO SO delicious. Mostly made with condensed milk...YUM.
We have spent the days exploring the city. Today we went to Chinatown and the shops there have some interesting things, clothing, souvenir type things. We have been to a couple of Hindu Temples also. Last night we went to the Night Safari which was super touristy....but the hostel was organizing it again and so we thought we would get involved. It was ok...we saw tons of animals~lions, tigers, and bears....oh my! And lots of others too....but a zoo is a zoo, I think.
Tonight we will go down to the water and see some fireworks and street performers as it is Singapore's birthday tomorrow (Aug. 9).
We have gotten to know the subway system fairly well...it is very easy to navigate and quite small....compared to Seoul, Korea (where I was last summer). But it really surprised me how many security cameras are in the sunbway stations.....one of the stations had 40 cameras all in the space of 10m by 5m...Also, the town is VERY clean and seems to be very orderly....there are signs everywhere along the street telling people where they can or can't cross the road. The places we have visited are busy with lots of people but not too busy...just very calm (in my opinion)....also there are trees and plants everywhere....Singapore is the "garden city" and it makes it really nice to have plants and trees all over the city streets..
Another thing that we have noticed is there are tons of stray cats around the city...
We plan to move on to Kuala Lumpur on Thursday and then up to the Perhentian Islands on the East coast of Malaysia and then up through Thailand.
Check out the pics.....
Apartment buildings in Little India...so colourful.
Getting henna on my hand.
Indian curry for dinner presented on a banana leaf. It was a pancake type thing that you dipped into the different types of curry. The white is coconut, the bright orange was spicy something and the light orange was a vegetable curry...mild and delicious.
Down by the waterfront...city buildings and the Merlion.
Got off our 8 hour flight from Brisbane to Singapore at 3:45pm and felt the heat right away (mid 30's and very humid)...We bought an EZ link card for the MRT (subway) which is like a credit card that you scan every time you enter and exit the train station and it will deduct the proper amount of money depending on how far you travelled. Found the MRT and hopped on with our bags and then walked about 15 minutes along the side streets of Little India to find our hostel. We were both exhausted and so opted for a western style dinner and had sandwiches! But since then we have had Chinese noodles and dumplings, Sushi, Indian curry that you eat with your hands, Thai chicken satay......and the food is fairly cheap...$3 (SGD) for the curry and the others around those prices. The exchange rate is about 1 USD to 1.55 SGD.
The second night we were here we signed up to go on a tour of Little India with our hostel (they organize an event every night) and we were introduced to some Indian desserts....0.80c each...and they are SO SO SO delicious. Mostly made with condensed milk...YUM.
We have spent the days exploring the city. Today we went to Chinatown and the shops there have some interesting things, clothing, souvenir type things. We have been to a couple of Hindu Temples also. Last night we went to the Night Safari which was super touristy....but the hostel was organizing it again and so we thought we would get involved. It was ok...we saw tons of animals~lions, tigers, and bears....oh my! And lots of others too....but a zoo is a zoo, I think.
Tonight we will go down to the water and see some fireworks and street performers as it is Singapore's birthday tomorrow (Aug. 9).
We have gotten to know the subway system fairly well...it is very easy to navigate and quite small....compared to Seoul, Korea (where I was last summer). But it really surprised me how many security cameras are in the sunbway stations.....one of the stations had 40 cameras all in the space of 10m by 5m...Also, the town is VERY clean and seems to be very orderly....there are signs everywhere along the street telling people where they can or can't cross the road. The places we have visited are busy with lots of people but not too busy...just very calm (in my opinion)....also there are trees and plants everywhere....Singapore is the "garden city" and it makes it really nice to have plants and trees all over the city streets..
Another thing that we have noticed is there are tons of stray cats around the city...
We plan to move on to Kuala Lumpur on Thursday and then up to the Perhentian Islands on the East coast of Malaysia and then up through Thailand.
Check out the pics.....
Apartment buildings in Little India...so colourful.
Getting henna on my hand.
Indian curry for dinner presented on a banana leaf. It was a pancake type thing that you dipped into the different types of curry. The white is coconut, the bright orange was spicy something and the light orange was a vegetable curry...mild and delicious.
Down by the waterfront...city buildings and the Merlion.
posted by Kristin and Brendon at 5:07 PM
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