I arrived late on the eve of the unlucky day and found myself a pod in the Wink Hostel in Chinatown. I was chuffed to be staying in the hostel of my Mums maiden name as we had joked I might settle there before I left. Its a concept hostel with pods and all the latest technology - and complimentary Cocoa Pops so it made me very happy.
The next morning I woke early to start the Big Adventure off on a good start. It was Friday 13th what possibly could go wrong. Equiped with my camera and beaming rays of sun I started to get trigger happy at the local construction as I walked towards the river. And low and behold 4 blocks from the hostel my jandal broke (thats flip flop for all you Brits)....so I had to reverse back to get the travel sandals I had reluctantly bought in Melbourne.
Round two of departure and not short of emotion...these jandals have taken me everywhere. From London to Ibiza, Israel, Canada, USA, NZ twice, Italy, France,Turkey, Albania, Macedonia, Germany, Austria, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Poland, Budapest, Spain, Serbia, Egypt, Jordan, Greece and Portugal. They were awesome and I miss them already. Poo you Friday 13th.
I set off again, this time getting further. Along to the river and the site of Mr Raffles first landing in the 1800's where he set up Singapore as a free port to help fuel the British empire in the Australasian region. It was pretty outstanding to see some of the old school colonial buildings on the river dwarfed by the high rises of the city. I was cornered by a school group of maybe 10 year olds all with their cameras all firmly pointed at me...the European Tourist in their home town! And unwittingly followed them on their day trip along the river looking at monuments of Singaporean influences from Ho Chi Minn to a man & his abycuss - ask a kid today what one of these are
they will need a school trip to understand it!. I enjoyed seeing the high rises and the vast construction technologies of the city with love it or hate it architecture... personally I loved it . Until I rounded the corner to see the Moshe Safdie masterpiece that is Marina Bay Sands. From the angle I saw it at it looked like a sad stranded ship. Or maybe I just like my boats in water. I am sure the perspective is different from the top. Particularly from the infinity pool!
I wandered on through the Colonial district to find me some Raffles Hotel - it was before noon so I couldn't justify sitting down for a Singapore Sling. Reasoned only by the idea I can call into Singapore when I actually have nice clean clothes in my bag and my motley crew of a wardrobe wouldn't put me to shame in a formal setting. Please note I am aching to get to Asia to have some clothes made! On I strolled street markets sipping fresh Pineapple juice which tasted suspiciously like Pear and reading about my Chinese New Year fortune. Continuing on through the tech savvy "lifestyle malls" and investigated prices for external hard drives (around £105 for a WD Passport 1T) and tried to hunt out a kindle. I had reasoned a Kindle might be a great addition to my trip but it seemed like this was not something Amazon has released to the general makret....which I thought was odd as you can buy them in the computer stores in the UK and NZ. Hohum.
A short pitstop for some dumplings in a Hawker market with people in business suits, saris and construction hats. All for a decent feast for a decent price. 3 hearty Prawn dumplings cost me about £1.10 (or NZ$2.20).
Then onto Little India where the smell of India was undeniable. I felt like getting on a plane straight for the authentic stuff there and then! Alas I have a few ports before now and then. I enjoyed the stroll and coming across a van packed with boxes all marked "produce of India". Now that is an authentic style Little "insert country name" if ever I saw one. I made my way to the Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple - the goddess known as the Destroyer of Evil. The temple was closing so i didn't get to mill around inside but admire I sure did. I loved the entrance door with its bells. Not to be beaten I strolled onto the next hawkers market for some Pakora and more people watching as they all chowed down on Indian, Malay, Thai or Chinese foods. It really was lovely to break up my feasting to experience a few of these markets.
After a siesta and skype with the Invercargill family and booking flights up to KL the following day I made for Orchard Road the fancy shopping st...with one goal; Jandals. After hunting down the Haviana store they didn't have my size! KL would have to be my saviour....please!
Back home through Chinatown I took in the bright lights and long queues for some famous pork. The village was packed for the up coming Chinese New Year celebrations for the year of the Dragon. Adding a few of red decorations to my Xmas tree collection.
A great start...now off to KL for some jandals...
The next morning I woke early to start the Big Adventure off on a good start. It was Friday 13th what possibly could go wrong. Equiped with my camera and beaming rays of sun I started to get trigger happy at the local construction as I walked towards the river. And low and behold 4 blocks from the hostel my jandal broke (thats flip flop for all you Brits)....so I had to reverse back to get the travel sandals I had reluctantly bought in Melbourne.
Round two of departure and not short of emotion...these jandals have taken me everywhere. From London to Ibiza, Israel, Canada, USA, NZ twice, Italy, France,Turkey, Albania, Macedonia, Germany, Austria, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Poland, Budapest, Spain, Serbia, Egypt, Jordan, Greece and Portugal. They were awesome and I miss them already. Poo you Friday 13th.I set off again, this time getting further. Along to the river and the site of Mr Raffles first landing in the 1800's where he set up Singapore as a free port to help fuel the British empire in the Australasian region. It was pretty outstanding to see some of the old school colonial buildings on the river dwarfed by the high rises of the city. I was cornered by a school group of maybe 10 year olds all with their cameras all firmly pointed at me...the European Tourist in their home town! And unwittingly followed them on their day trip along the river looking at monuments of Singaporean influences from Ho Chi Minn to a man & his abycuss - ask a kid today what one of these are
they will need a school trip to understand it!. I enjoyed seeing the high rises and the vast construction technologies of the city with love it or hate it architecture... personally I loved it . Until I rounded the corner to see the Moshe Safdie masterpiece that is Marina Bay Sands. From the angle I saw it at it looked like a sad stranded ship. Or maybe I just like my boats in water. I am sure the perspective is different from the top. Particularly from the infinity pool!I wandered on through the Colonial district to find me some Raffles Hotel - it was before noon so I couldn't justify sitting down for a Singapore Sling. Reasoned only by the idea I can call into Singapore when I actually have nice clean clothes in my bag and my motley crew of a wardrobe wouldn't put me to shame in a formal setting. Please note I am aching to get to Asia to have some clothes made! On I strolled street markets sipping fresh Pineapple juice which tasted suspiciously like Pear and reading about my Chinese New Year fortune. Continuing on through the tech savvy "lifestyle malls" and investigated prices for external hard drives (around £105 for a WD Passport 1T) and tried to hunt out a kindle. I had reasoned a Kindle might be a great addition to my trip but it seemed like this was not something Amazon has released to the general makret....which I thought was odd as you can buy them in the computer stores in the UK and NZ. Hohum.
A short pitstop for some dumplings in a Hawker market with people in business suits, saris and construction hats. All for a decent feast for a decent price. 3 hearty Prawn dumplings cost me about £1.10 (or NZ$2.20).
Then onto Little India where the smell of India was undeniable. I felt like getting on a plane straight for the authentic stuff there and then! Alas I have a few ports before now and then. I enjoyed the stroll and coming across a van packed with boxes all marked "produce of India". Now that is an authentic style Little "insert country name" if ever I saw one. I made my way to the Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple - the goddess known as the Destroyer of Evil. The temple was closing so i didn't get to mill around inside but admire I sure did. I loved the entrance door with its bells. Not to be beaten I strolled onto the next hawkers market for some Pakora and more people watching as they all chowed down on Indian, Malay, Thai or Chinese foods. It really was lovely to break up my feasting to experience a few of these markets.
After a siesta and skype with the Invercargill family and booking flights up to KL the following day I made for Orchard Road the fancy shopping st...with one goal; Jandals. After hunting down the Haviana store they didn't have my size! KL would have to be my saviour....please!
Back home through Chinatown I took in the bright lights and long queues for some famous pork. The village was packed for the up coming Chinese New Year celebrations for the year of the Dragon. Adding a few of red decorations to my Xmas tree collection.
NO WAY!?! Am also grieving for your jandals...
ReplyDeletePlease tell me you didn't throw them away - there are certain tricks you can employ to squeeze just a bit more life out of them... alternatively, you could have framed them!?
ren
Long gone - into the Singapore waste process now. There are new shoes to be worn in and new places to be seen. Although precious memories withstand the time. (curiously I don't take as many pics of my feet now and work on conventional facial self photos instead)
ReplyDelete