Something About Singapore

Well I'm back from my trip now. Actually I arrived in Korea Thursday afternoon. This is really the first chance I've had to sit down and relax. I had a great time. On our plane we had personal video displays that allowed us to watch movies, follow the plane on a map or play computer games. I chose to watch "Sideways" and "Undertow." Sideways was okay, but not the great movie like everyone says it is. At the end I thought it dragged on too much. Undertow was a movie I had never heard of but turned out to be one of the best movies I've seen in a very long time. When I got to the airport I needed to catch a cab into the city. As soon as I stepped out of the security area some guy starts saying "sir, need a cab? Right this way, sir!" I was physically exhausted and just wanted to go to my hotel so I followed him. Turns out he doesn't have a cab but his friend, who owns a bus, would arrive in 20 minutes. Something was up. I asked him how much the trip would be to my hotel and he told me 100 SIN, or about 70 dollars US. I knew from Lonely Planet that a cab should cost at the most 35 US after midnight. I eventually made my way over to the regular cabbies. This guy would not leave me alone, and was very angry that I wanted to go with someone else. The other cabs at the airport were charging 35 US to get to any hotel in Singapore. I told the first guy to forget it, which prompted him to curse me up and down. So, my first 10 minutes in Singapore weren't the best. Driving into the city I felt like I was in an episode of "Miami Vice." Everything was clean, there were palm trees everywhere; it was just a really nice drive.

On Tuesday I went on a dragon boat cruise around Singapore Harbor and then to an island just of the coast. On the boat were people from many different countries. I ended up talking to a guy named Ralph from California. We ended up eating lunch together at a Chinese restaurant. In the afternoon I went to Chinatown. I really wish I was Chinese. Really. It is such an amazing culture. The first little shop I went into had souvenirs that were "3 for 10." Not as cheap as China but pretty close to it. I'll show you what I bought when I get home. Tuesday night I met up with Ralph again in Chinatown. It was the eve of the Chinese New Year and there was going to be a big party. While we were hanging out we met two Americans that had recently moved to Singapore to work. They were pretty cool. The party had dragon dancing and fireworks. We were there from 7:00 - 1:30. I have never seen so many people in my life. There was a point where I thought I wouldn't be able to move until the whole thing was over.

Wednesday morning I took a boat ride down the Singapore River. My hotel was at the top of the river. It was pretty cool. In the afternoon I walked around "The Raffles Area" of Singapore. A guy named Raffles founded Singapore. I think he was European. Anyways, all the buildings in this area were usually white and were very European in design. After this I went to Little India. I thought it was boring. At night I went on a Night Safari. I was supposed to meet up with Ralph but somehow missed him. The Night Safari had lions, tigers, cheetahs, elephants...you name it. There are no cages. It kind of reminded me of "African Lion Safari" but here you could walk around. Pretty cool.

Thursday was my trip home. My students thought I was in Canada...how do I explain a sun burn on my forehead? On the way home I watched perhaps the stupidest movie I have seen to date. "Catwoman" is so dumb. I stopped watching it about halfway through. I had an excellent trip. In a way I wish I could have spent maybe two more days there. I do have a problem, though. I took over 200 pictures with my digital camera. The last time I looked at them was at the airport in Tokyo. When I went to upload them onto my computer my camera says that the memory card cannot be read. Yikes. I think I know a way to get around it but it means you'll have to wait for pictures. So sorry. Anyways, I'll post more about the trip at a later time.