Tidbits from Singapore

Two hours after landing in Singapore, my sisters and I headed towards Johore Bahru, Malaysia. We purposely planned to arrive in Singapore, have lunch or snacks at JB, Malaysia then go back to Singapore the same day. So right after settling our luggage at the hotel, we took the MRT to Kranji station. And from Kranji station, we found several buses going towards Jahore Bahru. The whole trip (from the ride to the immigration) took only about 2 hours and 4SGD per person. With a map, we trotted towards Sultan Ibrahim Building and Sultan Abu Bakar Mosque in our heels. We later learned that it’s better to take a taxi to go around Johore Bahru. It’s cheap and much faster. At around 6PM, we headed back to Singapore and straight to Chinatown station using the MRT. Chinatown was lovely… There were Chinese lanterns decorated in the streets. Chinese goods, cheap souvenirs and food were scattered along the road.

We started our second day at the Singaporean Flyer. It is the largest observation wheel in the world. The ride costs about 30SGD and gives you a breathtaking view of Singapore. I recommend you go around the city first before taking the ride to be able to appreciate the structures you’ll see. After the 30-minute ride, we made our way to the National Museum. From food to fashion, the museum provides a look of Singapore’s unique culture—a mix of Indian, Malay and Chinese. From the museum, we walked towards Istana Park. This is where the president of Singapore resides. Opening only a few times a year, we were just in time to have viewed the park.

At night, we went to the night safari. Be prepared to have a camera that has night mode. We could take pictures of the animals but camera flash is not allowed since this can hurt the animals. The highlight of the night safari is the 45-minute tram ride which will give you a glimpse of the animals. The tram ride already includes a guide. For a closer look of the animals, there are walking trails that you can get on.

After shopping around the malls at Orchard Road, we decided to stroll around Clarke Quay. We stayed there until sunset and until the lights around the place lit up.

Food

75% of our time in Singapore was spent eating. We devoured everything from Indian to Chinese.

Mango-Avocado Ice Kachang from Chinatown. Amidst the hot weather, we cooled down with Ice Kachang, dessert made of shaved ice, sago, fruits and condensed milk. You can find this everywhere but my personal favorite is the one in China town. Another dessert we tried is Robour Cha Cha and Fruit Combo Sago from Kopitiam. Robour Cha Cha is a hot dessert made of fruits, milk and sago. Fruit Combo Sago is similar to Ice Kachang.


Some must-try’s are the Satay and Laksa. Satay is like a barbeque served with peanut sauce. The meat can be mouton, chicken, beef and many more. The thing I love about Satay is the peanut sauce—definitely makes your ordinary barbeque tastier. At the National Museum, Laksa was mentioned as one of Singapore’s dish so we had to give it a try. It’s a spicy noodle soup; make sure you have a large soda while you eat this!

The Coffee Connoisseur (TCC). While roaming around Singapore, we noticed that there were several TCC here and there. So, on our last day, we decided to try it. It’s a Singaporean coffee shop and they have several branches around the city. The food is okay… it’s worth a try.

Bangkok Trip

I’ve always wanted to experience a low-budget travel…just carrying a backpack, staying in crabby inns or even a tent, and meet the most amazing parts of the world. Although I’ve already had my own share of travelling before, it was always in the comfort of a luxury hotel and a cab. Now 21, I’ve already gotten my degree and a dose of the corporate world, I decided it’s time to start travelling to places I’ve always wanted to go and just experience the different cultures in the world and their landmarks. I had put up a list of places to go to before I reach 30 and I decided to start with Bangkok.

Bangkok

I planned the trip with two of my friends from high school—Kate and Gill. The trip was just a short one, 4 days and 3 nights, on the weekend of Valentine’s. Since we basically only had two full days to go around the city, we made a flexible itinerary of all the places we wanted to go to: one day for sightseeing and one day for shopping. So, with a small luggage and a 3.2 megapixel Sony Ericsson cybershot phone, my Bangkok trip began.

We stayed at Soi1 guesthouse, which reminded me of my college dorm. The rooms had a locked door and private shower but we had to share a toilet with the other guests (I survived!). It did not exactly meet my standard of cleanliness but for a guesthouse, it was relatively clean with a few small roaches at times. They do have hot showers 24/7 (which I found helpful after a whole day of walking), free wifi and guests have free use of internet for 20 minutes between 10PM to 6AM. Although in the midst of an Asian country, we found ourselves staying in a houseful of Caucasians that it seemed like we were the odd ones out. Nevertheless, the guests were mostly young travelers—no creepy weirdos—and seemed nice enough.

Condoms and Cabbages

Our first official Thai meal was at Condoms and Cabbages. It was highly recommended by the mum of Gill’s friend who recently went to Thailand. It’s a nice restaurant, located in Thailand’s population and community development association building, and the food was quite good. The concept, condoms and cabbages, is a unique one and the big tarpaulin that promoted safe sex and family planning was quite amusing. They also have several mannequins’ impressively dressed in condoms. The proceeds from the shop and restaurant are used to fund the population and community development association. It was certainly a good place to start our trip.

Transportation

We tried everything: water taxi (in the canal), river taxi, MRT (subway), BTS (sky train), tuktuk (tricycle) and a hell lot of walking. I learned that I had the best stamina (or rather tolerance to pain—from the heat and from walking) among the three of us. I guess I’m more in shape that I thought I was. I found the water taxi in the canal most interesting--they had a mechanism to lower the ceiling of the boat whenever it passes a bridge. As for the tuktuk, we’ve already been fairly warned that tuktuk drivers tend to trick foreigners. True enough, a tuktuk driver who claimed to be government tuktuk, said that the grand palace was not yet open (yeah right!) and offered us a ride to three temples for only 30BHT (10BHT each). Fully aware that it could be a scam, we gamely allowed ourselves to be tricked and see what happens. The tuktuk did bring us to the three temples that he promised but then brought us to a store that sold gems. I don’t know if it was really a scam or not, but 10BHT for almost an hour’s worth of ride isn’t bad. And we didn’t have to buy any gems anyway.

Sight Seeing

Thailand is beautiful. Well, Bangkok is. I’m very particular with the metro/trains of the different countries I’ve been too and theirs is clean and well organized. Their infrastructures are well built. And the people, although not very fluent in English, are helpful and friendly.

A few hours after arriving in Bankok, we made our way to Erawan shrine. It was already night time and we were not prepared to meet a smoky atmosphere from the incense lighted for the four-faced Hindu-god Brahma. We were fortunate enough to have witnessed a Thai dance, which was a prayer offered by one of the locals. We ended the night early to prepare for a strenuous next day.


We started our second day by taking the water taxi to the Golden mount. We climbed the 300 steps (I didn’t really count, though). It’s not as difficult as you might think. Then we made our way to Khao San Road for lunch, passing by the Giant Swing along the way. Khao San road was just a strip, filled with tourists—some even sporting a bikini. Since we were on a tight schedule, we didn’t stay long in Khao San road, but headed towards the Wat Phra Kaew and the Grand Palace complex. There is a 350BHT admission fee for both, which was all worth it. Wat Phra Kaew, otherwise known as the temple of the Emerald Buddha, is an architectural wonder. It is elaborately designed in gold and it housed the Emerald Buddha. A sacred monument, tourists are asked to remove their shoes, avoid pointing their toes towards the Buddha and refrain from taking pictures. An interesting fact about the Emerald Buddha is that it has a different wardrobe for every season: cold, rainy and hot. The wardrobes are found in the Coins and Decorations Museum, except for the one in season, which the Buddha wears in Wat Phra Kaew. The wardrobe is changed when the season changes. We didn’t spend much time in the Grand Palace but we took a lot of pictures from the outside. A little walk from the complex is Wat Pho (temple of the reclining Buddha) with a 50BHT admission fee. As it is named, it reclines an astounding 150ft, with a smug in its face and intricate mother of pearl patterns at the palm of its feet. My 5 foot physique and limited camera phone could not take a full shot of this Buddha.

Across the river was Wat Arun, temple of the dawn. Since Gill and Kate were already exhausted, I climbed the steep steps of Wat Arun alone. The steps were so steep that there were rails along the way that we had to clutch as we practically crawled up and down. From the top is a scenic view of the river and the surrounding temples. During the dawn would have been a perfect time to go to Wat Arun. We ended our long day at Suan Lum night market, where we explored the different Thai cooking for dinner. They were spicy!

Touring Bangkok in one day was fulfilling yet it felt like we were in an Amazing Race episode. Of course, going around Bangkok has its price. All three of us got a bad case of allergies after eating shrimp. Kate, who wasn’t used to travelling or doing outdoor-type activities got tired very easily on our second day and was in a bit of a sour mood after getting lost a few times. On the contrary, Gill and I enjoyed getting. After all, it’s all part of the whole trip and it’s usually where you find the unexpected.

Chatuchak

Our third day was shopping. All shopping. Chatuchak is Thailand’s biggest weekend market. They sell everything—from food to clothes. The only thing you can’t find there are IT goods. And they sell at a very good price. Although the place opens at 7AM, not all stalls are open until around 11AM. The first thing we did at the market was to eat the mango sticky rice. It's a thai dessert made of sweet sticky rice and mango, topped with condensed milk. For 50BHT, it was a delicious treat. One whole day was not enough for me though. For first timers in the market, the best route is that you spend one day canvassing and another day doing the actual buying. But for those on a tight schedule, it’s best to immediately buy what you want as you may not have time to go back to the same stall again. After spending one whole day at chatuchak (8AM to 4PM without rest), my thighs hurt and as usual, I regretted not buying that shirt I should’ve bought. You see, I like to canvass before considering, consider before debating and debate before actually buying. But hey, I was able to buy most of the things I wanted to buy.

The End

There were plenty of things I’ve learned in my first low-budget trip. Numero uno: Choose your travel buddies well. It’s no fun having someone in a sour mood dragging you down. Expectations for the trip should be well aligned even before planning the trip. As a Gemini, I like having my trips spontaneous; exploring the unknown and not willing to succumb to fatigue. Ending the day with sore muscles and numb feet but a rewarding experience is much better than ending the day in comfort with barely anything to remember. The trip being only a short period of time, only gave me a glimpse of Bangkok. I would definitely go back to Thailand and it would be longer than a weekend. The trip was absolutely amazing and my experience was something I’d want to share with everyone (Hence, this write up). So, voila! There goes my Bangkok trip. Next stop will be Cambodia.