This visit wasn't exactly a holiday (I was there to buy equipment that's much cheaper here than in Thailand), but that didn't stop me from enjoying those few days in the city-state on the Malaysian peninsula. Plus, it gave me the chance to visit a mutual friend of my wife's (one of her former Thai language students).
Landing in the Geylang district
I arrived alone on this first day, due to lack of initial planning, Jitima joining me only at the beginning of the afternoon (as it had worked out, she just couldn't take the same plane as me). For the sake of economy, I booked in the "famous" Geylang district, à 81 Princess Hotel.
The advantage was that it was right next to the shop where I needed to do my shopping. Otherwise, forget about the charm of Thai hospitality; here, strictness is the order of the day… But to be fair, given what I'd heard, the staff at this hotel remained reasonably courteous.
Little India Tour
After the air conditioning in the shops, a radical change of pace, heading towards Little India. Knowing that Singaporeans are a mix of Chinese, Malaysian and Indian cultures (and therefore the main languages spoken in the country are Mandarin, Malay and Tamil, in addition to English, normally spoken by most inhabitants).
After that, it was time for dinner, and since we were at it, we figured we might as well eat some good Indian food in the area (Indian restaurant, mind you, not the guy! Ooh, what a sense of humor!). And this time, it was in the purest traditional style: a banana leaf for a plate and our fingers as cutlery. You can always ask for cutlery if that really "disgusts" you. There are, of course, sinks to wash your hands before and after. And on top of all that, it was delicious!
After that, what could be better than a nice stroll to aid digestion? It's a chance to soak up the nighttime atmosphere, while people are still out shopping in the local grocery stores open at this late hour.
We continued this evening by passing through the lively district of Clarke Quay and its covered street of Read Street, where restaurants and bars line up in a good-natured atmosphere with all kinds of music in the background.
Marina Bay at night
Originally, we planned to settle down for a drink and soak up the atmosphere of Clarke Quay, but since I wasn't staying in Singapore for very long, I wanted to get out and about and see as much as possible. For once, I had my tripod, so it was also a chance to practice some night photography, and what better subject than the view of Marina Bay and its iconic, ship-shaped hotel?
After that it was time to go home. To keep it simple, we decided to take a taxi, here, no traffic jam, and 10 minutes later we were back at our hotel.
