No Reservations....

I'm Alexis Smith.
I study.
I travel.
I eat.
And I'm hungry for more.

Singapore.... no reservations [cue crazy music and screeching]

Anthony Bourdain anyone? Anyone? Hmmm.

Well, last week it was Temple's spring break. And I, in an entirely impulsive and spontaneous act, asked for two days off of work and bought a ticket to Singapore for a long weekend. You know, crazy, adventurous Alexis heading off to a city that rivals only Tokyo in terms of cleanliness and safety. I am a real rebel. I don't really know much about Singapore except that they cane people for doing bad things. I seem to remember some scandal from when I was young. I also know that it is 'near' Japan and I could get a cheap and direct flight from Narita. Sign me up. Turns out Singapore is actually a 7 hour flight from Tokyo. Would I hop off to California from Boston for a long weekend? No. Why I thought it would be a good idea to have a quick jaunt to Singapore from Tokyo, I am not sure... except that all of the Temple students were going to some crazy and exotic location and when in Rome.....

My plan is to arrive in Singapore on Wednesday night and then meet up with Lacie and Jenni, who had already been traveling around Thailand and Malaysia for about a week, on Friday. I arrive in Singapore late Wednesday night and head right to my hotel. On Thursday, I wake up to over 90 degree weather and palm trees as far as the eye can see. Not so bad. Coffee is a must and head out of my hotel in search of some sort of Anthony Bourdain inspired local food. However, my plans are foiled as I see a Starbucks in the distance, appearing like an Asian Mirage (see Lacie's blog post on Nikko re: American chains appearing as Asian Mirages). A large iced coffee and blueberry muffin later, I am off on the day's adventure. Turns out that the hotel is in an excellent location so I head to Orchard Road to wander around and do some shopping. Then I hop on the subway (yes Singapore's subway is as clean and efficient as they say) to go to Chinatown and do more wandering.

Buddha Tooth Relic Temple
My goal was to find the Maxwell Food Center and eat Singapore's famed dish, chicken rice. This was a highlight of Anthony Bourdain's Singapore show so it was a must-see for me. I easily found the center and then I easily found the famous restaurant by looking for the longest line. I also picked up some red plum juice and dug right in. Chicken rice is an aromatic dish of rice and slow cooked chicken with various sauces. Simple but delicious.
The Maxwell Food Center, one of Singapore's famous hawker centers where you can buy a meal for less than US$5. My chicken rice was SGD2.80 and my juice was SGD1.50. That is about US$2.85 for a delicious meal.
On the roof of the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple, there was a lovely orchid garden. Singapore is known for their orchids and they are all over the city and lovely.
Inside the temple
It was a hot day so after wandering around for a while, I stopped in to have some kaya toast and tea. Singapore is also famous for its kaya toast- layers of toasted bread with butter and some sweet spread on it.
I also walked down towards the Esplanade to see Singapore's famous, "Merlion". This was apparently a special time to visit because it had just been reopened after having been hit by lighnight in February. The Merlion is half fish, half lion. It was installed in 1972 and quickly became a symbol of Singapore. From the Singapore Tourism website: "The fish tail of the Merlion symbolises the ancient city of Temasek (meaning “sea” in Javanese) by which Singapore was known before the Prince named it “Singapura” (meaning “lion” (singa) “city” (pura) in Sanskrit), and represents Singapore’s humble beginnings as a fishing village." By this time, it was getting really hot and I had wandered all over the city so I decided to enjoy some of the pathways that lead between the city's underground shopping malls to get out of the sun and try to find my way to "the Fountain of Wealth". This fountain had a serious identity problem. It was the Fountain of Wealth. It was the largest fountain in the world. If you circled it three times with your hand in the water, you could make a wish.
I circled the fountain three times praying for wealth while enjoying the grand size.
For dinner, I decided to head to Golden Mile Hawker Center which was located a short walk from my hotel. I made a new friend there, an old man selling cane sugar juice, who recommended the beef noodles and, of course, cane sugar juice. Spicy and tangy, the noodles didn't disappoint and the cane sugar juice was delicious as well. I decided to head to the Singapore Flyer after dinner to ride the world's tallest ferris wheel.
On my way to the ferris wheel, I passed the Raffles Hotel, where the famous Singapore Sling was invented. I didn't have one there but the hotel is really beautiful on the outside and there were always lots of tourists outside taking pictures. The Hotel was right next door to our hotel so we passed it many times. Once the girls arrived, I liked to relay all of my knowledge of the two days that I spent in Singapore and especially enjoyed inventing random fun facts about the hotel for the other tourbus tourists to overhear and tell their friends back in Boca. "Did you know that the Singapore Sling was invented by Mr. Raffles Sling at the hotel in 1850?"
View from inside of the ferris wheel
To prove that I was there
Another ferris wheel view

On Friday, I am supposed to meet Lacie and Jenni who are coming in from Malaysia. I expect them in the morning time but when I check my email, I realize that they are not coming. Jenni's purse had been snatched the day before in a drive-by snatching. All of her money, ID, camera and passport are gone. They are trying to figure it all out but I am pretty convinced that they will not make it to Singapore. 　My vacation with friends has just become a solo mission. Not ideal but not the end of the world...

I decide to take the bus to Sentosa Island, a small island off of the coast of Singapore. Sentosa can really only be described as the Disneyworld of Beaches. The whole island is covered in color coded trams and buses, all included in your SGD3 admission price to the island. There are three beaches to choose from- Silosa, the Beach Volleyball Beach, Palawan, the Family Beach, and Tanjong, the Hip Beach. You can swim in the dolphin lagoon, ride the luge down the side of a hill or take a cable car across the bay. I headed for Palawan mostly because it was the closest spot to the place that I arrived. Singapore is hot. Very hot. And as such, lightning storms are common. Wouldn't you know, as soon as I spread out my towel, the thunder and lightning started. So I packed up, purchased myself a magazine and a Slurpee from Seven Eleven and found myself a shelter to relax and read under.

The beach from under my shelter Reading under the shelter
Once the storm had passed, I took a tram to the other side of the island, passing some monkeys along the way. I have not really liked monkeys ever since one stole my glasses in a pet shop when I was 8. I especially do not prefer monkeys that are so tame that they pull food out of trash cans.... so I kept my distance.
I went to the Butterfly Park at the top of the hill on the island.
Butterflies!

After the day's adventures, I headed back to my hotel, ate some delicious Vietnamese food at a restaurant near my hotel and settled in for the night.