Singapore

My latest (and most likely last, since I'm broke) trip was to Singapore.  Our flight left Taoyuan on Friday around 9:00 pm and we arrived in Singapore at about 1:30 am.  I sat next to a Singaporean guy named Eugene so we chatted for the entire flight, causing me to get no sleep whatsoever.  It was worth it though because I learned a lot about Singapore from him and he was a lot of fun to talk to.  We cleaned up and got McDonalds in the airport before taking a taxi to where our hostel was (the red-light district).  We should have slept in the airport.  Our hostel was the sketchiest thing I've ever seen, especially at 3 in the morning.  The cab driver even tried calling the hostel for us, to make sure we would be let in, but no one answered, so I said screw it and went up to check anyway.  The manager eventually opened the door, but he didn't have a room for us, since technically our reservation didn't start until later that day.  He said we could split up and sleep in separate rooms if we paid for an extra night, but we didn't feel comfortable being apart, so we slept on the couch that night.  Eva, bless her, stayed awake all night to keep watch so that Mami and I could sleep.  When I woke up in the morning, I kept watch so that she could sleep a little.  So that first night we dealt with some extreme exhaustion.  Our check in time wasn't until 2:00pm, so I poached a shower while the manager was out and we took our stuff and headed to Arab Street.  We looked at the shops and the large temple, and also got some lunch.  I got some extremely spicy Nasi Goreng, and drank some Teh Tarik.  We then walked around the neighboring streets before returning to the hostel to properly check in.  We finally got put into a room, which we shared with two girls from France and two guys from Indonesia.  It was nice to have a bed.  We cleaned up and got ready for our evening activities.  We met up with a friend of mine from UNC, and her friend from high school, and ate dinner with them before we split up and explored Clarke Quay, which was very beautiful with the water and night lights.  We met back up with Kathleen and her friend and had a drink at a bar in Clarke Quay before we left and went up to the bar, Ku De Ta, on top of the Marina Bay Sands casino and hotel.  The bar was disappointing since the cover was $38 and we only got one drink ticket, and it was filled with old people, but the view was pretty awesome.

On Sunday we did quite a lot.  Especially walking.  We started with the Merlion Park, where we got some cool pictures of the Merlion statue and the surrounding bay, despite the pouring rain.  Next we went to Chinatown and walked down the many streets full of vendors.  We ate Laksa for lunch at the Maxwell food center, and later bought matching "I <3 Singapore" shirts (which fit horribly, by the way).  Later, we checked out Little India, which was pretty shady.  Finally, we headed to Orchard Street so that Mami could hit up the malls.  Eva and I got dinner in the food court while she shopped, freaking out about how much money we were spending.  We met back up and then took a bus to the Singapore zoo, where we were going to experience the night safari.  I had been pretty skeptical about how active the animals could be at night, but this was actually probably my favorite part of the trip. The animals were all quite active and in some cases, very close to the tram.  The zoo also had a Ben & Jerry's, something we've greatly missed since coming to Asia, so we blew $6 and bought small cups. We then took the bus and MRT back to our hostel.

Our last day, Monday, was devoted to Palau Ubin, a very small island just ten minutes off the mainland. We took a bus to Changyi ferry harbor and had lunch in the hawker center there.  I ate some Nasi Lemak and drank Sugarcane juice that I watched the vendor squeeze from the actual cane with a crusher.  We then went to go board the tiny boat, which we could only do once 12 passengers had arrived.  On the island, we rented the world's crappiest bikes and rode around the island.  It was incredibly hot, and we got a lot of ant and mosquito bites, but it was a cool contrast to the city.  We saw some quarries, lakes, beaches, and a pretty chill monkey.  By the end of it, we were completely exhausted.  We returned to Changyi in the late afternoon and ate at the hawker center again.  This time I ordered Beef Ho Fun and Pineapple juice.  After eating, we took a bus to the nearest MRT station and rode it to the Gardens by the Bay, where we enjoyed the beautiful light trees and night view of the city. From there, we headed back to the airport.  After another McDonald's feast, we boarded our plane at 1:30am, eventually arriving back in Gongguan at about 8:30.  I returned to my room, showered, and passed out for a couple hours before class.