I just spend the last two weeks in Northern Thailand awaiting my Chinese visa. During that waiting period, I decided to go to Pai and met some Singaporeans who educated me on all things Singapore and it’s fascinating. Over the course of our conversation I learned the below:
All Singapore males over the age of eighteen have compulsory military service, similar to Israel
Singapore is the shining beacon of capitalism in an almost exclusively Muslim territory
Malaysia is predominantly Muslim, they share a border with Singapore
This is significant because Malaysia is starting to become a haven for ISIS members, which makes the Malaysia-Singapore border very contentious. Making Singapore feel like they have to take even more precautions across the board.
Indonesia is the worlds largest Muslim country with about 12% of the worlds Muslim population
There is a huge wealth gap, think crazy rich asians vs. slumdog millionaire. It’s universe of difference.
There is a test kids take that determines what schools they can go to, what their career will be and a lot of other factors very early in life
Also they have quota on Indians that can be lawyers, apparently too many Indians are lawyers and they’re taking jobs away from others.
Asia Trip: Day 108 - Kuala Lumpur => Singapore (5/2/19)
Daily Highlights:
Woke up early and took the 8:00am bus to Singapore
Slept through most of the bus ride :)
Went through immigration and got detained
I didn’t have an address listed on my immigration card or the amount of time I was planning on staying or a plane ticket out of Singapore, apparently spontaneous trips to Singapore are a no go. SO I got brought up to a little room with other foreigners and got questioned and grilled for twenty minutes. After I booked a hostel and wrote the address on the immigration card, I was allowed to leave.
Walked around a mile to find the nearest metro station
I got rice triangles, cash and found my way to the hostel
Met some yoga guy from LA - I immediately stiff armed him and went to get Indian food solo. I could tell anything over five minutes spent with this ding dong was not going to be fun.
Singapore is very strange. It feels like it’s one of those futuristic, distoypian sci-fi movies where the government just keeps fucking with its citizens and all the people go oh okay. No more gum? OH okay. Now I am not allowed to eat or drink anything on public transportation and if I do I get fined $1,000? OH okay. PDA is not a thing now and is an offence punishable by being beaten with a cane? OH okay. Very surreal.
Asia Trip: Day 108 - Singapore (5/3/19)
Daily Highlights:
Slept in and felt great!
Got the free brekkie and wandered around all of downtown
Went to the Marina Sands Hotel
Went to to Art Sciences Museum, Gardens by the Bay, the Cloud Forest, Flower Dome and all around the complex
Met Yohanas, some German guy from my hostel, at the Indian restaurant and got food together
Then we went to see the light show at the Gardens by the Bay
THE LIGHT SHOW WAS TO THE STAR WARS SOUNDTRACK
Also v glad I do not smoke
The two guys I was with both smoked and commiserated over how bad it is for you, how expensive it is and how much they want to quit.
The photo’s below are from the Art’s and Sciences Museum.
The Double Helix Bridge
Gardens by the Bay
THE CLOUD FOREST - EASILY THE COOLEST THING IN SINGAPORE
Asia Trip: Day 110 - Singapore (5/4/19)
Daily Highlights:
Slept in and felt great
Edited pictures and worked on my blog from 10:00am to 4:00pm
Interspersed with watching YouTube videos in between
Went on a good 2.8 mile run and then did sprints after
Went to go get murtabak with a group and then we got some drinks
We were taking the subway back then we took the escalator up to the exit. I noticed a piece of trash on the escalator at the top. Then I said how that was the first piece of trash I’ve seen this entire time in Singapore. RIGHT AFTER I SAID THIS, a subway employee on her own volition and not hearing my comment, also noticed that there was trash and came over to clean it up, so wild.
Asia Trip: Day 111 - Singapore (5/11/19)
Daily Highlights:
Slept in until 8:30am
Got three things of PB and Jam for brekkie plus two cups of coffee
Blogged and edited pictures for four hours
ALL THAILAND POSTS ARE UP
Went to Chinatown and looked at a temple
Learned about the history of Singapore through a mural
Did a leg workout in the room
Gluteus medius leg swings
Squats - 5x50
One leg RDL’s 3x3 (hold for 15 seconds at bottom for balance)
One set of good mornings
Went to the rooftop bar at Marina Bay Sands
Snuck in and was totally worth it
Went to the mall to look for movie theater
I didn’t find one but I did find a huge exhibition giving free tastings of whiskey and wine
I got good and tipsy when I middle aged Carribean man came up and started talking with me. He got super pissed when I guessed his age correctly, he was 47 years old. He was pretty hammered, we went to a few tables and he got in trouble with management because he was too drunk, shouting and throwing a fit. So I slowly moon walked away, sipped a bit more wine and hopped on the metro to go home.
Asia Trip: Day 112 - Singapore => Jakarta, Indonesia (5/6/19)
Daily Highlights:
Woke up and had three slices of PB and J
Took the metro to the airport - SO EFFICIENT
SINGAPORE AIRPORT IS WILD
IMMIGRATION TOOK TWENTY SECONDS
You just scan your passport, scan your thumb and BOOM you’re out of Singapore - so futuristic
MADE IT TO JAKARTA AND INDO
I already can tell I will like it here - people are so chill and friendly
Got to the hostel and went to the rooftop area
Met a group of people, they were all dirt bags just drifting from place to place. Living for the moment and not really thinking of the future, not the life for me but v cool to be around for an afternoon.