Singapore…the land of big buildings!
Trip Start
Apr 12, 2010
1
64
88
Trip End
Jul 16, 2010
Singapore, Singapore
Monday, June 14, 2010
Anyways, in the morning we were feeling a bit lazy and we were hanging out with our new friends so we did not leave our place til noon. Finally, it was time to explore Singapore…the land of big buildings. For those of you who don't know much about it…Singapore is a tiny island country that is basically one big city. It is definitely the most developed place I have ever been to, much more than the US! Since they have limited space, they have built upwards…a lot! It’s very impressive. Everyone lives and works in a high rise building!
The beauty about a small city is that you can build great public transport…so we set out on the MRT (subway) to the riverfront (the quays…pronounced the keys) where there are many things to see. We saw the financial district, the Quays, the Esplanade (building shaped like a durian fruit, also known as the stinkiest fruit ever but it’s a delicacy in Asia), the Merlion (mer=mermaid/lion), and many other impressive buildings and malls. We treated ourselves with Subway (Travis was mad they only sold 6 in.) for lunch at one of the malls…it was nice to have something from home.
As we were starting our walk (using a book with a route), the book required us to cross a very large, busy street. Unfortunately, the overpass was closed for construction and we heard that there is a $1,000 fine for j-walking so we were unsure what to do. It nearly took us an hour to figure out that you have to cross the streets through underground tunnels because usually there are no crosswalks on the streets. It was quite frustrating and embarrassing…we are not city people! After that though, we never had problems crossing the street :)
After our walk around the riverfront, we were ready to go back to our place and just relax. On the way, we went to the grocery store to get some things to prepare pasta for dinner since we also have access to a kitchen. It was nice to cook for myself for the first time since we left home… I really miss cooking! That night we hung out with our new friends at our place where we had deep conversations til really late at night. It is so interesting to talk to people around the world about politics, economics, and life in general! It really opens your mind to new ideas and changes your thinking…
