Singapore Day 1: My Intro to Asia

First View of Japan from Plane

After a little over a one hour delay, I arrived in Singapore and was greeted at the airport by my beautiful lady. I was exhausted but had some trouble getting to sleep – lingering discomfort from 20+ hours of travel or a little bit of excitement? I’d like to think the latter. After breakfast, Kim left for work, and I decided to explore a bit of Singapore by foot.  My non-audacious goal: get to Chinatown.  I love seeing a new city by foot just to get a real feel for local life.

This is my first trip to any Asian country (I guess I won’t count Orange County or any American Chinatown), and, truthfully, I’m a bit giddy. I’ve watched and read so much about this area of the world, and I’m thrilled to have such a great excuse to come and see it! Kim is staying in the Intercontinental Hotel on Middle Road. I left the hotel and walked through the connected mall towards the nearby Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Station. They love their shopping in SG! I walked through the mall and through the enormous food court towards the MRT. (Quick aside: I love the variety of food available here…even in a freaking mall food court!!! )

Armeniam Street

The Crazy Leaf

When I arrived at the station, I decided I’d rather get out and enjoy some fresh air. I found Queen Street and walked towards Fort Channing Park and the nearby Dhoby Ghaut MRT station. The rain was nice to walk through (with umbrella), and the park was nice. Total stoner thought: I saw this crazy leaf during my stroll that literally no water stuck to. You know how it usually beads up on leaves? The water just appeared to disintegrate when it hit the leaf’s surface. I’ve never seen anything like that!!  I hopped on the MRT and exited at the Chinatown Stop.

My Lunch

Chinatown is full of small shops and food stands like I expected from my No Reservations education. I roamed the People’s Park food court in search of a meal. Out of the hundreds of stands, I finally found a dish to my liking (well, actually there were about 50 dishes to my liking, but I’m only one man…) – Pork Rib Noodle Soup. The hot soup was a strangely perfect accoutrement to the humid, rainy weather. I enjoyed the food and the sights at my perch in the food court. Although my friends would make some smarmy retort, it was great being the only semi-white person in a sea of many different Asian cultures.  And thanks to Kim for handing me some tissues as napkins were not available at the food stand.

I continued my trip through Chinatown, window shopping through the various stalls. I came to another market and wandered through the fruit, vegetable and meat stand area. Being a foodie, I was so excited to walk through this market full of exotic items – it was even great (and extremely apropos) seeing the meat vendors selling their products with no shirts on.

Chinatown

I enjoyed a dragon fruit juice and stumbled upon the nearby Buddah Tooth Relic Temple. It was a very pretty. I listened to the chanting for a bit and then took the elevator up to the roof-top garden. The garden was calming and idyllic – I was actually a bit upset I didn’t know more about the customs and traditions of the worshipping Buddhists. I’ll have to read up on it for my next visit.  

Interactive MRT Map - Suck it BART!

My trek through Chinatown led to a MRT station to head back to the hotel.  The MRT is pretty amazing. It’s prompt and clean. The stops are well-marked, and there were even little maps inside each car telling you what stop you were at. Genius! The stations are cavernous! They remind me of European subway stations (which I love); they are one of my favorite childhood memories. BART: you’re on notice. This is how you run mass transit.

That was my day so far. I’m sure Kim has a few more surprises in store.  Happy Travels!

KM