I had planned on posting a little more frequently than once in the first 10 days of this most adventurours of trips. But internet access, time and space all conspired against my best wishes. Okay, that's a lie. It's entirely time.
So we're left with the decision between a few closely timed, but specifically named posts, or a single large catchup post that covers everything we've done so far, complete with impressions, opinions, lies and, of course, heartache. No good drama is complete without heartache.
Naturally, I choose option 3, a vague catchup with some follow-up posts with attached pics from the flickr showcase of our visions.
Which brings us to, where we are now.
Ironically, in an internet cafe in Amsterdam (S.R.S@COM, in fact). This is of particular note as, of all the places we've been so far, this is the only one where we've had to resort to an internet cafe to get our fix, and the first time there's been a few spare moments to put fingers to keys (@blogger - pics get uploaded to flickr much more regularly :)
Looking back through the mists of time we can use our (liquid) crystal screen to examine how this quest began...
On the 5th day of July in the Year of Our Lord two thousand and seven we (and another hundred or more hearty souls) entrusted our very lives to the steel, plastic and polyester of that most loved of carriers Singapore Airlines. Crossing our fingers that we didn't end up marooned on a remote island with a bunch of psycho drama-queens, baby snatchers and general weirdness. Instead, and much to our relief, we were delivered in the comfort and attentive style that we now associate with Singapore in general. The flight crew were friendly and helpful, the seats surprisingly comfortable and the in-flight entertainment was, well, entertaining.
Being a virgin traveller (almost) I was dressed appropriately for the weather in my city of departure - Christchurch - where it was drizzling, windy and cold. Damn cold, even. Jeans, shirt, shoes, the usual. I found the flight a touch too warm at times. Then we landed in Singapore proper. Shortly after disembarking, say 30 seconds? I was fondly remembering the slight warmth of the cabin and wilting in the humid 30 degree (celcius) heat that was a regular Singapore evening at 5pm.
After an interminable wait at the Singapore Airlines Stopover counter (about 15-20 minutes) our shuttle appeared to whisk us away to our hotel. Okay, more lies, it arrived to pack us in to a minibus that sounded (and performed) as though it were powerd by a coffee grinder. Oh yes, did I mention I came down with a headcold the day before we left? It was in full swing by the time we boarded our flight, much to the joy of T (and, no doubt, the passengers surrounding us) as I proceeded to blow my nose through the entire 10 hour flight. And then for the hour or so transfer to our hotel. Ah, the joys of the human nose.
Anyway, where were we. That's right, we were grinding our way across the Singaporean high ways. Two things in particular struck me about this trip (beyond the lack of coffee being provided, despite the minibus' drivetrain):
- Singapore has signs.
Not, necessarily, earth shattering in and of itself, but they were all in English. Every single one. Road signs, street signs, apartment block numbers, business names. All of them. No sign of the expected culture shock, not even in english. - Singapore is green.
Everywhere. Or almost. The nice road barriers we all know and love that line highways the world-round are still there. Just most of them are covered by some nice pretty plant. Green plants, flowering plants, tree plants. Any sort of plant. There appears to have been a concerted effort to make the utilitarian highways less drab, grey and boring than they really are. From the barriers to the overhead walkways to the sides of fly-overs, most were covered in an attractive shade of nature. A few places had gaps which were likely caused by errant coffee grinders straying off the beans into gravel, but still. - Everything is clean.
Highways were fairly clean. Side-bits were clean. The cars were clean. And unscratched. And undented (indented? No, that's not right...) In the hour long journey I counted exactly two cars that had obvious scratches on them. And zero that had dirt. A few trucks that had the markings of actual use, but ye olde cars were shiny, clean, and fairly modern.
While the trip was interesting, after the 10 hours seated on a plane I really wasn't that enthralled with another hour seated on a minibus. The saving grace of this particular Mr Coffee was air-conditioning. Sitting under the nice cool breeze from the overhead vent was a nice way to begin.
Eventually we arrived at our hotel.
Now, we're not rich. We're not high flyers. We're barely even flyers. But the whole Singapore thing was Singapore Airlines fault, as they offer discounted rates on things if you fly with them to Singapore and take a day or two or three as a mid-journey stop-over. We took two nights on the way out (and two on the way back, as it happens, but the return journey flights mean we get nearly three whole days, rather than the out-bound one whole day) staying at the Hilton Singapore. We like the Hilton Singapore. All the staff are friendly, helpful and seem to genuinely give a damn. If it's an act for the clients, notify the academy 'cause we're sold. From the people who greet you when your minibus grinds to a halt (and take your bags off you - I got the feeling carrying my own stuff up the three steps to reception would have been taken as an insult) to the Reception staff who get you to fill out the random forms all places seem to like to inflict on their guests to the room service people who bring food all the way up to your lazy ass sitting on the bed in your room to the people behind the desk in the gym, everyone is helpful. Even, and this was the one that really impressed me, the guys who (among other things, I'm sure) clean the huge glass doors/wall that encloses the front of the gym after it, and the pool, have closed, are friendly and helpful. We know this as we went up to the pool and hung out for a bit (rooftop pool, at night, lights on, hot day - magic) then came back down to find the elevators didn't work anymore. Fortunately for us the elevators are in front of this glass door to the gym that I mentioned. Equally fortunately, being after hours, these nice guys were there cleaning it. They noticed we were pressing the elevator-call button (to no avail) and not only explained that the elevators were 'off' now (after 10pm) and that we'd need to use the stairs, but actually lead us through to the stairwell and down the flight to the next level (where the elevators worked - I do think this system needs improvement, there's no reason not to let you call the elevator from a closed floor, just not let you choose it once in the elevator. Anyway.)
So, Hilton Singapore: Friendly, helpful and in a genuine way.
It's in a lovely position at the end of Orchard Road, the rooms are air-conditioned and a godsend after the humid heat of the outdoors, they have internet access (wired and wireless, though you have to go wired first) which is responsive and simple, though not cheap - S$35 a day (actually S$0.85 a minute with a cap of S$35 in a 24-hour period). So fairly well spec'd. Unless you're silly enough to want to watch TV. A (to me) strange selection of channels with HBO for movies, a couple of sport channels and other stuff. No pay-per-view or several of the other things that were mentioned in the (supplied) cable listings-magazine. But then why watch TV when you can wander the streets :)
And the streets are good too. Again, clean, and with recycling bins! Lots of rubbish bins, which is good (and helps the lack of litter, I'm sure) but enough recylcing bins that I never had to walk too far with my empty coke bottle before I could deposit it into a sensible place, rather than adding to the landfill nightmare. 7-11s, McCafe/McDonalds every six steps (okay, maybe it was 8) and a whole bunch of labels that caused T to scoff at me when I expressed ignorance as to their significance (we were on Orchard Road). Even the staff in these stores were friendly. Sales reps that pushed their wares (some Clarins stuff, or something) but in a seemingly personable way rather than outright pushy. At least, that's what T tells me. I switched off :)
Spent most of our time there looking about the shops (all air-conditioned, though I assure you that had nothing to do with my entheusiasm about going in to them. No, really.) which was interesting. Not so many photo-ops, though.
Which about wraps up Singapore. Friendly people, I got over the worst of my cold, T got an N76, we approved the Hilton Singapore, I went to my first Hard Rock Cafe, and then we left for the UK stop-over part of our journey. Or at least the first of them.
And that, as they say, is that. At least for now :)
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