February 18, 2008

Singapore (SINGAPORE)

再见香港！Sillypore-la!

(Goodbye Hong Kong! Back to the strangest island on the planet)

The 6:00 am wake-up call shattered my peaceful slumber this morning, but in Hong Kong there are no worries: everything is convenient and life is always wonderful! After showering and stuffing the last of my stuff (note: I have stuff, while everyone else has junk) in my backpack, I composed a small hymn as I said goodbye to the most amazing cityscape on the planet from my waterfront window.

Next came the logistics portion of the day: checking out of the hotel, hopping on the MTR to Central Station, transferring through the underground concourse to Hong Kong station, and 50 minutes later stepping off the Airport Express at Terminal 1 of Hong Kong International Airport. In reality, I am departing from Terminal 2, which is where all the rubbish "budget airlines" depart from, but I was able to hang out with the "cool people" in Terminal 1 because my father was flying Cathay Pacific. The only downside to the morning is my flight doesn't depart until 11:30 am, so I have four hours to kill at the airport. Thankfully, I found a good seat where plenty of flight attendants pass by on a regular basis!

I boarded the Jet Star flight at 11:10 am, riding a crammed bus to the plane out on the airport tarmac because budget airlines don't warrant a terminal gate of their own, and made myself comfortable against the window in seat 10F. The next thing I remember, after waking up three and a half hours later, was looking out my window at Singapore as the plane made its final descent for landing.

The customs process was a painless procedure, but before leaving the baggage area I wisely bought a few bottles of alcohol at the duty-free shop. Singapore imposes heavy taxes on alcohol, and because this IS my vacation, beer and wine are sure to be a fundamental part of my time here. As another Singaporean friend loves to point out: there are 24 cans of beer in a case because there are 24 hours in a day. (Cheers Wyatt!)

One of the bottles I purchased was Wu Liang Ye, which is a famous Chinese rice wine that I discovered in my parents' liquor cabinet half a decade ago, and proceeded to inhale along with Jack, Ruwan, and Paul, when I was still living in Florida. Every time I visit China (or a Chinese enclave) I buy a bottle of this stuff because it brings back such good memories, and today one of the salesmen commented that he was from Chengdu, the capital of the Sichuan province of China, where this alcohol comes from. I nearly knocked him off his feet when I started telling to him in Mandarin how Sichuan province is famous for having the best wine, women, and food in all of China! In fact, this is a province I will be visiting next month on my overland (and water) backpacking trip from Singapore to Tokyo.

After passing through the Green Channel and out into Singapore - taking note of the sign warning that smuggling drugs into Singapore bears a penalty of death - I met an old friend named Yulin who came to pick me up. She has spent the past year living in America and Sweden, so we decided to catch up at a hawker center (Singaporean outdoor cafeteria) called Changi Village.

Although the nasi lemak is famous at Changi Village, I was more intent on re-familiarizing myself with Tiger beer, and drinking alcohol with Malay (Muslim) food is not very considerate. So, I opted for a Chinese Hokkien dish that was the spiciest I could find, and coupled with the oppressive heat of Singapore it was a perfect excuse for drinking two large bottles of Tiger beer. ("What time is it? Tiger time!")

Notice on the picture to the right that there were two large birds at the table next to us. Such are the hawker centers of Singapore, where the best food can be found, but the less-than-reassuring sight of crows pecking at the left-over food on a plate can often scare most sane people off!

There is a nice park near Changi Village where I was able to relax on a park bench and look out over the water while allowing my food to digest. Despite signs instructing "No Fishing" there were a few rebels scouring the banks doing just that. When I asked Yulin about this, she remarked that the men have nets, not fishing poles! Hmmmm...

Later in the evening I met Wai San, my next door neighbor when I studied in Singapore, for dinner at a famous Hainan chicken-rice restaurant in Serangoon. It is a poorly-kept secret that if some one wants to garner an ounce of respect in Singapore they must have a well-backed up opinion on where to find the best chicken-rice, so every time I visit Sillypore I make sure to refresh my list on where to go. (The truth is that other than shopping and eating, there isn't that much to do here, which is likely a contributing factor to why the populace is so damn productive  in the workplace.)

By 9:00 pm I was growing tired (I woke up at 6:00 am!), so Yulin dropped me off at the Four Seasons hotel in Orchard where my father checked in earlier in the day. This is one of the nicest places to stay in Singapore, so I must have looked more than a little out of place with my cargo shorts, t-shirt, and backpack. Well, maybe not so out of place: ang mohs ("red heads," or foreigners) can get away with anything in Singapore, as so many Singaporeans love to comment! Besides, it's not like I am about to complain about five star luxury when I would be staying in Salvation Army sponsored hostels otherwise.