Singapore

På grund af den lange tur til Australien gjorde jeg et kort ophold i Singapore. Singapore ligger i subtropisk område og derfor var det noget af en varm omvæltning, da Danmark jo var på vej hen i efteråret. Singapore er det femterigeste land i verden, når det gælder BNP pr. indbygger med helt moderne levestil med en stadig "on-going contruction" af moderne bygninger. I Singapore City har det stemningsfulde Chinatown, hvor jeg boede, overlevet landets moderniseringsbølge og bevaret sin charme på trods af, at arealet er blevet væsentlig mindre. Det er forbudt at tygge tyggegummi, og derfor må det heller ikke indføres i landet. Det er forbudt at spytte og smide affald på gaden, ryge på offentlige steder, undlade at trække ud på toilettet, gå over gaden uden for fodgængerfelterne og meget andet. Det straffes med bøde på op til 1000 S$ (det kan godt få en til at adlyde), og der er advarselsskilte alle vegne, men dem lagde jeg nu ikke så meget mærke til.

Jeg ankom sidst på eftermiddagen dødtræt efter godt 14 timers flyvning og et kort stop i Helsingfors.  Heldigvis regnede det, så varmen var ikke så uudholdelig.  Jeg havde hørt, at taxa skulle være billig i Singapore, så jeg fes bare hen og spurgte den første den bedste taxamand. Han skulle have over 40 SGD for at køre mig til hotellet – det var dyrt mente jeg og fik så at vide, at det var fordi han kørte i en stor dyr taxa og at man godt kunne få det billigere med de mindre taxaer. Jeg var træt, så jeg gad ikke begynde at skifte. Det var imidlertid ikke det værste. Da vi ankom til hotellet, gik han ikke engang ud af bilen, for at tage kufferten ud af bagagerummet. Jeg havde godt nok forhandlet mig til en max. pris på 40 SGD, men at han for at undgå at blive våd bare åbnede bagagerummet inde fra var lige i overkanten. Jeg måtte selv ud i en monsunregnen og hente min kuffert. Heldigvis holdt vi lige uden for hotellet, Bliss hotel i Chinatown, men jeg nåede da at blive gennemblødt.  

Regnen varede ikke så længe, så efter at have installeret mig på mit typisk asiatiske miniværelse, hvor man kunne se gennem glasvægge ind i det endnu mindre badeværelse (ikke sjovt, når man er to), begav jeg mig ud for at finde stedet, hvor man kunne købe billetter til sightseeing og en udflugt til Sentosa Island.  Jeg skulle først lige blive bekendt med MRT – undergrundssystemet, hvor man bogstavelig talt har et subkultur med butikker og restauranter m.m. i tempereret luft med air con – sikkert fordi at man jo lever i et subtropisk klima med en temperatur året rundt på omkring de 30 grader og høj luftfugtighed. Det var uhyre interessant og som en by under byen. En af de første indbygger, som jeg kom i kontakt med, var i undergrunden, fordi jeg spurgte om hvordan jeg købte billet. Det var en utrolig flink og hjælpsom ung mand, som gav mig penge til billetten, fordi jeg jo endnu ikke havde småpenge, som var nødvendig for at trække en billet. Jeg brugte nogle timer på at fare lidt vild i systemet inden jeg fandt stedet, som jeg ledte efter og som selvfølgelig var lukket, da klokken efterhånden var blevet 19:30. Jeg var imidlertid blevet nogenlunde fortrolig med hvordan det fungerede – fandt en billig Burger King i undergrunden, hvor jeg fik lidt mad – tog nogle billeder oppe over jorden og vendte træt tilbage til hotellet uden at have noget mad til næste morgen. Jeg faldt hurtig i søvn og sov så godt, at klokken var mange næste morgen, hvor jeg jo havde bestemt mig for at tage til Jurong Bird Park. Jeg havde ikke tid til morgenmad, så det var med en flaske vand at jeg skyndte mig til det busstoppested, som jeg havde læst mig til skulle have en bus direkte, men den kom i hvert fald aldrig der, hvor jeg ventede, og jeg måtte tage bybussen og skifte på "central busstation". Hele turen derud tog mig 1½ time – så undervejs bestemte jeg mig for, at den bustur ville jeg betragte som min sightseeingstur.

Jurong Bird Park var en dejlig oplevelse – et smukt sted i udkanten af det centrale Singapore med en masse eksotiske planter og fugle. Jeg tilkøbte mig til en on and off "tram"tur, da parken var rimelig stor og ville have krævet en masse benarbejde. Først der fik jeg lidt at spise – i det hele taget var mit ophold i Singapore præget af, at jeg ikke havde tid til at sætte mig og få noget mad. Heldigvis fandt jeg den sidste dag en "public food Court" – et af disse asiatiske samlinger af madboder er billige og man får rigelig med god mad.

Efter Jurong Bird Park, hvor jeg kun havde nogle timer måtte jeg skynde mig tilbage til hotellet, fordi jeg troede, at hotellet havde skaffet mig en billet til udflugten til Sentosa Island kl. 14.30. Det viste sig imidlertid, at man ikke kunne være mindre end 4 personer, hvis man skulle hentes fra hotellet, så jeg måtte selv lave udflugten, hvis jeg ville se Underwater World og ”verdens største” akvarium. Det viste sig, at være temmelig dyrt, da selve øen nærmest er en slags entertainment park og en slags badeby for turister, så jeg købte blot billet til turen og akvariet.  Det var næsten som at komme i en slags luksus set up. Et rigtigt ferieparadis med overdækkede områder. Akvariet var måske stort i areal, men nu havde jeg jo været i Dubai og set det kæmpe store akvarium i Dubai Mall, hvor der var vand bag glasvægge i op til 3-4 meters højde (jeg nåede jo desværre ikke der at komme ind i akvariet på Palm Tree Island, hvor man kunne svømme med delfiner). Turen i akvariet var rigtig spændende og jeg så bl.a. en olm blæksprutte og rørte ved en søstjerne. Jeg fik også lige Singapores bedste kop kaffe – en baljefuld til 4-5 SGD. Jeg vendte tilbage til hotellet efter mørkets frembrud og nåede lige en kort tur i Temple Street tæt på hotellet, hvor der jo var det sædvanlige kinesiske marked med al mulig billigt skrammel. Jeg ville have været ind i et tempel, men det var desværre blevet for sent, da jeg så opdagede en lille biks, der solgte noget der lignede kontinental morgenmad til en billig penge, og lovede mig selv, at gå derhen næste morgen. Føj – det kunne jeg godt have undværet. Efter endnu en god nat gik jeg næste morgen til stedet, hvor jeg havde udset mig min morgenmad. Jeg fik godt nok noget ristet brød med lidt honning, men kaffen var frygtelig og så fik jeg et halvråt æg, som man bare havde smidt ned i en kop med kogende vand. Der skulle det så ligge i ca. 5 min. hvorefter det blev slået ud på en tallerken, og så lå hviden der og sejlede sammen med æggeblommen.

Efter morgenmaden var det hurtigt afsted til den sidste oplevelse inden afrejsen. Gardens By The Bay ligger tæt ved vandet ved Marina Bay og udløbet af Kallang floden er et imponerende anlæg af blomster og planter og ikonagtige kæmpe trækonstruktioner med en luftbro, som jeg gik på trods min højdeskræk.

Det blev lige til en sidste hurtig tur mere i kvarteret omkring Temple Street, hvor jeg  købte et nyt omslag til min mobil samt noget hårpynt og fortrød senere, at jeg ikke købte 5 tørklæder for 10 SGD.

Da jeg skulle flyve kl. 20, kørte jeg til lufthavnen omkring kl. 16 (inden myldertiden fandt jeg ud af ellers havde jeg måske haft svært ved at få fat i en taxa). Der var taxaholdeplads lige over for hotellet, hvor der også var MRT station. Denne gang blev det mindre end 20 SGD for turen til lufthavnen, hvor jeg købte gin med til Robert og Lesley i Australien.

ENGLISH VERSION:

Due to the long flight to Australia I made a 3 days stop in Singapore. Singapore is in the subtropical zone and consequently it was a warm change from the Danish weather getting into the autumn season. Singapore is the 5^th richest country in the world when it comes to GNP by citizens and it has an up-to-date lifestyle with an on-going construction of modern buildings. Chinatown is one of the few areas in Singapore city, which has survived the modernization expansion of the country and kept its charm in spite of a decreasing area. Chewing gum is forbidden and you cannot import it. It is also forbidden to spit and throw garbage on the street, smoke in public places, fail to flush the toilet, walk across the street outside crossing areas and a lot of other things. The fine is all up to SGD 1000 (that will make you obey) and warning signs are everywhere, but I did not really notice them.

I arrived late in the afternoon very tired after 14 hours in the air and a short stop in Helsinki. Fortunately it rained which made the heat less unbearable.  I had heard that cabs were cheap in Singapore and hurried to the first taxi I saw to ask the price. The cab driver wanted more than  40 SGD for driving me to the hotel – I pointed out to him that I found it pretty expensive and he told me it was because his taxi was an expensive one and that there were cheaper taxis. I was tired and did not want to bother about finding another taxi. The price was not the worst part of the experience but the fact that the driver did not even get out of the cab when we arrived to the hotel. I had made a bargain with him for a max. price of 40 SGD but did not know that it excluded his help getting my suitcase out of his car when we arrived to the hotel.  He only opened the trunk from the inside by the pavement and I had to get out into the monsoon to get the suitcase myself. Luckily we were just in front of the hotel, The Bliss Hotel in Chinatown, however I still got soaking wet.

The rain did not last long, so after having had a quick wash in my small Asian mini room, where you could see through glass walls into the even smaller bathroom (not so funny if you are 2 persons), I went on my way to find the place where I could buy tickets for sightseeing and a trip to Sentosa Island. First I had to make myself acquainted with the MRT – the underground system where they literally have a subculture of shops like a town under the city. One of the first inhabitants that I spoke to was an incredible nice and helpful young man, who gave me money for my ticket, because I asked about how the system was working and yet did not have any small change, which was necessary to get a ticket in the machine. I spend a couple of hours getting lost in the MRT before I finally found the place I was looking for, which was of course closed as the time was 7:30 pm. Anyway I became familiar with the MTR system and found a Burger King there – took some pictures above ground and returned very tired to the hotel without having any food for the next morning. I fell asleep quickly and slept so well that it was later than expected before I woke up the next morning.  I had decided that I would go to the Jurong Bird Park. It was pretty far away so I did have any time for breakfast and hurried along with only a bottle of water to the bus stop, where I expected to take a direct bus. It never came so I had to take the city bus and change at the central bus station. The entire trip took me 1½ hour one way, so I decided that the bus ride had to count for my sightseeing tour.

Jurong Bird Park was a very nice – a beautiful place in the outskirt of Singapore and with a lot of fantastic and exotic plants and birds. I bought an on and off tram tour, as the park is fairly big and it would have taken a lot of walking. I was able to grab a small warm pie – my stay in Singapore was altogether influenced by the fact that I did not have time to sit down and eat.  Fortunate for me I did find one of those public food courts on my last day – these Asian places with food stores are cheap and you get plenty of food at a reasonable price.

I only had a couple of hours in Jurong Bird Park because I thought that my hotel has got me a ticket to Sentosa Island, so I had to hurry back. It turned out however that the tour company would not accept less than 4 participants if you were to be picked up at the hotel, so I had to do the excursion myself.  I wanted to see the Underwater World and the world’s largest aquarium. It was very expensive just to go the Island, as it was a kind of an entertainment park Island and a beach area resort for tourists, so I bought a ticket only for the aquarium. It was almost a luxurious setup – a real holiday paradise. The aquarium was perhaps big when it came to space but I have been to Dubai and seen the huge aquarium in Dubai Mall, where there is water behind glass up to 3-4 meters. The aquarium was however very fascinating and I saw among other animals a nasty looking octopuss and touched a starfish. I probably also got the best cup of coffee in Singapores – a entire bowl at 4-5 SGD. I returned to my hotel after dark and just managed a short walk in Temple Street close by the hotel, where you could find the usual china marked with a lot of cheap garbage.It was my intension to visit a tempel, but it was too late, but I spotted a little shop advertising breakfast looking like continental breakfast at a very cheap price and promised myself to go there the next morning. Ugh – I would have been better without. After a good night’s sleep I went there the next morning to get my breakfast. Right, I got some toasted bread with a little honey, but the coffee was awful and then I got an almost raw egg, which was put into a cup with hot water and had to lie there for about 5 min. after which it was emptied out on a plate so the white was in mess with the egg yolk.

After breakfast I had to hurry again to the last event before departure because of the scarce time available. Gardens By The Bay is next to Marina Bay and the mouth of the Kallang river. It is an impressive garden with flowers and plants and huge iconic tree constructions with a skywalk, which I walked in spite of my fear of heights. A last walk in the neighborhood of Temple Street and I bought a new cover for my mobile and some hair assessor  on the marked and later on I regretted not buying 5 scarves at 10 SGD.

As my flight was at 8 pm I headed towards the airport around 4 pm (luckily before rush hours I realized – otherwise it would have been difficult to catch a taxi). There was a taxi rank just across the street of the hotel, where there also was a MTR. This time I only paid less than 20 SGD for the ride to the airport, where I bought a bottle of gin for Robert and Lesley in Australia.