Sunday in Singapore

Awoke at 4 am, couldn’t sleep any more. The bed that was here for my previous visits has been replaced by a sofa bed, kind of. Instead of having a bed tucked away within it, the back is on hinges and can be let down to form a “bed”. Unfortunately, there is a ridge in the middle when it’s a bed, and it is extremely difficult to sleep on–it seems like you’re on one side of Mount Everest and either rolling down the North Face or the South Face.

After catching up on my blog reading and having breakfast with BK’s housekeepeer, Enca, who is one of life’s great women–she has been working for BK’s family for several decades and now works for the Filipino Embassy here dealing with cases of domestic help who are in difficulties of one sort or another–I got in touch with , and we met at Bugis for lunch, then off to Sim Lim City for shopping.

Singapore never ceases to amaze me, as it seems to reinvent itself every time I return. Last time I was here, the top floor of Bugis Junction was a mass of shops. Now, it’s the food court, and another food court has sprouted in the basement. I had Singapore Chicken Rice, which was very good.

Sim Lim was a hotbed of people handing out flyers for various computer shops. For those who are not familiar with Singapore, Sim Lim is a large building, with 5 floors and a basement, containing many hundreds of computer and technology shops. There is a massive central atrium and shops surrounding it on every floor. Ascending on the escalators, you are bombarded by young people handing out flyers for shops, which flyers mostly consist of lists of products and prices, in very very tiny type.

I was looking for a couple of things, and managed to find them all. A cradle for SATA drives cost Sg$89 (GBP 34.90)–BK had one and I immediately coveted it. In addition, it has slots for memory cards, a USB port, and various other things. Extremely good, I bought it immediately. I got a “universal” electrical adapter, to ensure that I can plug things in when I get to Cambodia, and a cradle for my iPod with speakers. This was a mistake (it was cheap, and shows it); I think I will try to get a better one later on.

Then we were to go on the Singapore Flyer with our friends Leslie and Louie. Kevin accompanied me to City Hall Station and as we exited, who should be walking in front of us but HWMBO, who of course was coming too. So I gave him quite a start by sneaking up on him and putting my hand on his shoulder and saying, “Hi!”

It was raining buckets when we emerged. It wasn’t like London rain, which is like a very gentle garden sprinkler; it was as if God were throwing buckets of water at us. We huddled under a very inadequate awning while waiting for L&L. When they finally arrived, it was with some more friends: Joe, a Thai man with his English partner Norman, and their 10-year-old son, Nein (I hope the spelling is correct). Nein is quite the ham, and would make a good actor (he can pull faces with the best of them). We seemed to have missed the bus to the Singapore Flyer, so I bade farewell to and we made our way down the MRT again and walked there. It was a long walk. We got there at 6:10 or so, and were immediately ushered onto one of the pods.

The Singapore Flyer is, for now, the largest Ferris Wheel in the world. It is constructed slightly differently from the London Eye in that it is totally freestanding, while the Eye has a strut supporting it. The airplane trip motif of the Eye is preserved, however, as you are welcomed onto your “flight”, go through a metal detector and have your bags X-rayed, and then waved onto the pod, but not before a cheesy picture is taken of your whole group in a simulated pod, for collection later (at a hefty price) if you want it.

We got on the pod; Nein was amazingly rambunctious, fake break-dancing and generally raising Cain, after first falling asleep as we started. On a clear day you can see all the way to Indonesia; it wasn’t a clear day. I got some shots of the near skyline, and a tiny shot of the Merlion statue in the harbour. The pod was very dark, unfortunately, and as night was falling, the skyline lit up but it was difficult to see inside the pod.

After this we walked to a harbourside hawker centre which was a cut above the usual hawker centre, with fancier fare at a fancier price. I had chicken mee goreng and we shared satay.

After a walk along the harbourside, which seems to have been turned into a relatively dimly lit Lovers’ Lane, HWMBO and I parted from the rest and took the MRT home. There will be pictures as soon as I can get them uploaded.

A lovely evening–we enjoyed it thoroughly, and I enjoyed the day with immensely. Now for lunch with , even though it’s now bucketing down outside…anyone for dinner? Call 8370 5057 and I’ll respond soonest.

7 Responses to “Sunday in Singapore”

  1. runecircle says:

    Have fun!

  2. iejw says:

    Oooh! That sounds like so much fun!

    Food and gadgets! Yay!

  3. phornax says:

    I loved reading about this. You’ve brought me back to my own trip (in May 2007).

  4. chrishansenhome says:

    Well, thank you. Lots more to come, I hope.

  5. chrishansenhome says:

    Oh, defo more gadgets to come…watch out for today’s entry!

  6. iejw says:

    But Subway?!

  7. chrishansenhome says:

    What can I say? I slipped up. I hope it won’t repeat while I’m here…had Indonesian food for dinner and Northern Chinese food for lunch.