In the merlion's domain

The opulence of Little India

I really enjoyed Singapore, perhaps because I had very few expectations and because I didn't stay for too long. My main reason for going to Singapore was for the food and because it was nearby so I might as well. However, I knew how expensive it can be, so I didn't want to stay for too long. One evening and one full day ended up being perfect.

I had printed out a few itineraries/walking tours for the city, and I picked out the parts that appealed to me. On my first evening I did the evening portion of a full-day walking tour. This started me out on the riverside, where I saw a historic bridge and the Merlion. I detoured a little and got a closer look at the Esplanade, a building known for it's resemblance to a split durian or a pair of bug's eyes. From there, I could also see the famous Marina Bay Sands complex and the Lotus museum. All year in Vietnam, there was a commercial about Singapore that aired at almost every commercial break on the channel I watched most often. I and the other ETAs got to the point where we had memorized most of the narration of the commercial, and now that I was in Singapore I could hear the voice actress's eager description of many landmarks playing in my head. I walked back along the riverside and was surprised to find myself in front of a familiar face. The bust of Ho Chi Minh was one among many busts of notable leaders that gazed over the riverfront.

In front of the merlion

Marina Bay Sands complex

I found the statue of Sir Stamford Raffles, the founder of modern Singapore, and had a long-deliberated dinner along the Boat Quay. I say long deliberated because this sort of riverwalk area was covered in restaurants and I was overwhelmed by the number of options as well as by the number of western white collar workers who had flooded these establishments for their happy hour. I was also slightly overwhelmed by the prices, though I had already mentally prepared to spend $20 on dinner. I chose one place but they didn't choose me, and after about twenty minutes, until the end of a soccer match, when I still hadn't gotten any service, I decided to go to my second-choice restaurant. Second choice might have been best. It was an Italian restaurant that exceeded my expectations and fit within my budget. The hostess was confused as to why I would be going out for dinner alone. By the time I left dinner it was dark out, and I enjoyed the lights of Clarke Quay before I called it a night and went back to the hostel.

City lights over the river

The next morning I started with a tour of Chinatown. The main sights were a Hindu temple and the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple. The second temple really amazed me. It was big on the outside, but I had no idea how ornate and impressive it would be on the inside. When I can upload pictures you will see what I mean. By the time I left, it was high time for lunch. Fortunately, that was part of why I had made Chinatown my first stop. I went to the famous but nondescript Maxwell Food Center, a sort of collection of food stalls. I had to have the famous local specialty, Hainanese Chicken Rice. At least half of the stalls served this. How was I to choose the best one? I had been advised to choose the one with the longest line, but most poeople were already eating so I chose the one with the most people sitting in front of it. After I ordered I noticed that they had a picture of Anthony Bourdain endorsing their particular stand. Good choice, I guess. It was good, but honestly it didn't taste notably different from the chicken rice I had in Penang.

Top of the hindu temple

Buddhist Tooth Relic Temple

Inside the temple

Anthony Bourdain approves

One last look at Chinatown

My next stop was the botanic gardens. They are huge! The maps posted throughout the grounds give estimated walking times to different parts of the garden, ranging from 10 to 30 minutes. I visited the rainforest area, and was thrilled to see an elusive monitor lizard climbing a tree. I also visited the National Orchid Garden, the only part of the gardens you had to pay for. Among other things, there was the VIP garden, which housed special cultivars of orchids that have been named after various dignitaries who have visited the gardens, like Nelson Mandela. Another garden I liked was the ginger garden. I learned that the ginger family includes many different kinds of plants, including bananas. I spent several hours at the garden, partly enjoying it and partly killing time before my next destination.

Monitoring the monitor

Speckled orchid

On a recommendation, I went to the Ion Mall for dinner. I didn't end up going to the place recommended because it wasn't open yet and was out of my price range, but I found another dim sum place in the food court. I realized that dim sum doesn't work as well when you're eating alone, but luckily my appetite is big, and I had three different sets of dumplings. I was still hungry after that, and looked over my options to see what might fill me up. I saw that they had these crispy things filled with durian and shrimp. This is not something I would have every been drawn to before, but I figured I needed to give durian a chance. I'd had it in things before and while it was never a positive experience it had ceased being a negative experience. Either way, the dish would end the meal, either by filling me up or taking away my appetite. It did a little of both. The plate came with three pieces, and the first one was ok. The second was also ok, but I was just unwilling to have the third. Meal completed.

Now it was time to visit the art museum. It is free every Friday from 6 to 9pm. There was an exhibit called Panorama, featuring the work of contemporary Asian artists. I didn't like the first few pieces I saw, partly because they resembled so much contemporary Asian art I've already seen, and partly because I just didn't like them, but when I moved to the next room things took a turn for the better. I ended up really liking the show, largely because the highlights shone so bright even with the smattering of lowlights.

On my last morning, I made one last trip to Chinatown, back to the Maxwell Center, for dumplings that had caught my eye the day before. A quick lunch and then I rushed back to the hostel to get my things and go to the airport, so I could get to Thailand. It's crazy to me how easy it is to forget that casually hopping on a plane/train/automobile to another country or even to another city isn't really a normal part of daily life for most people.

"Ulysses by the Merlion" by Edwin Thumboo
I have sailed many waters,
Skirted islands of fire,
Contended with Circe
Who loved the squeal of pigs;
Passed Scylla and Charybdis
To seven years with Calypso,
Heaved in battle against the gods.
Beneath it all
I kept faith with Ithaca, travelled,
Travelled and travelled,
Suffering much, enjoying a little;
Met strange people singing
New myths; made myths myself.
But this lion of the sea
Salt-maned, scaly, wondrous of tail,
Touched with power, insistent
On this brief promontory...
Puzzles.
Nothing, nothing in my days
Foreshadowed this
Half-beast, half-fish,
This powerful creature of land and sea.
Peoples settled here,
Brought to this island
The bounty of these seas,
Built towers topless as Ilium's.
They make, they serve,
They buy, they sell.
Despite unequal ways,
Together they mutate,
Explore the edges of harmony,
Search for a centre;
Have changed their gods,
Kept some memory of their race
In prayer, laughter, the way
Their women dress and greet.
They hold the bright, the beautiful,
Good ancestral dreams
Within new visions,
So shining, urgent,
Full of what is now.
Perhaps having dealt in things,
Surfeited on them,
Their spirits yearn again for images,
Adding to the dragon, phoenix,
Garuda, naga those horses of the sun,
This lion of the sea,
This image of themselves.