Clean, sleek, and very modern, we passed through to the metro system, following directions carefully copied on my travel sheet. Signs in the metro proclaimed fines for messing with the alarms at $500 SD. (Singapore dollars are about twice the value of Malaysian ringgits, so around 60 or 65 cents each) Eating or drinking on the train would be $50. They don't mess around.
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| From Winter Vacation Part III: Singapore |
We found our hostel, Sleepy Sam's, neat and friendly and on a well-visited street not accessible to cars. The top of the street is dominated by the golden domes of the Sultan Mosque, and the area is lined with trees, shops, and restaurants. I recommend it to anyone seeking a budget place in Singapore! We dropped off our stuff, showered gratefully in the strangely-open-air bathroom (the sink area, not the shower itself), and got a late lunch in a nearby Turkish restaurant, plotting our next move.
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| From Winter Vacation Part III: Singapore |
In Singapore, the thing I most wanted to see was the zoo, as I'd read reviews about it being very impressive (I guess especially when compared to most zoos in Asia). There were also the botanical gardens, and then the city's districts (Little India, Chinatown, etc.) which were already familiar concepts to us from Penang, as well as reading about KL.
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| From Winter Vacation Part III: Singapore |
We also needed to get bus tickets to Kluang for the following afternoon. This proved to be much more difficult than I anticipated, mostly because the bus companies could not understand why we wanted to go to Kluang (if they in fact knew of the place). Everyone assumed we wanted to go to Klang, which is near KL. Not so, we wanted that town in the middle of Johor. ("Johor Bahru?" "No, Kluang. Right here?") We finally found a coach and booked some tickets.
We decided to go to the botanical gardens first, then make our way to the Night Safari, a complex next door to the zoo and the world's only night zoo. It's a great concept, especially since everyone's had that zoo day where all the animals were asleep.
The botanical gardens were gorgeous, but a rain started just after we arrived, and did not let up until after dark. I was disappointed because I had really wanted to explore the gardens better, but what we did get to see was pretty cool.
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| From Winter Vacation Part III: Singapore |
We had dinner at Subway in one of the big modern buildings, excited that we could get our hands on those cookies (which the Japanese Subway for some reason LACKS). I spilled my entire cup of tea at Miriam (luckily, only a little bit actually got on the white lacy dress she wore) after tasting it and finding my combination of flavors displeasing yet myself unable to get free refills. Then we got on a bus and went to the Night Safari.
I don't have any photos of that, unfortunately, because it was a no-flash zone. We saw an animal show which was really cool. The otters were the best. All the zoo-related shows had conservationist undertones messages, naturally, so they had three otters come out to pick up paper cups, plastic bottles, and aluminum cans and put them in the correct recycling bins. The first two were done in a flash and getting their treats, but the alumican guy became mesmerized by the shiny thing it was carrying and spun the thing around for a very long time. The host laughed and said something about "quality control," and it did look like the creature was possibly checking to make sure this was in fact an aluminum can before putting it in the bin, but I thought it was hilariously cute to see the otter twirl that can. It happened a lot less on the second can, and the otters left the stage.
We saw a lot of nocturnal and semi-nocturnal animals doing their thing. Took a ride on the tram, and by the end of that, it was nearly closing time, and we were exhausted. We took a cap back to our hostel, telling the driver we wanted to go to the Sultan Mosque. He was a new driver, and also quite worried about our safety since it was late and we were asking to be dropped off somewhere a bit away from the main road. We kept saying our hotel was there, but he didn't really believe us because there were no "hotels" there, actually. We fell asleep pretty fast upon return.
The next morning after complimentary breakfast and handing over my laundry to be washed while I frolicked, we set out for the zoo, where we spent most of the day; the Singapore Zoo is world class, though it also made me realize that I've been to a couple world-class zoos in my life. We had a good time and enjoyed some shows and watched some animals. I could have sat and watched some of the animals for a lot longer, but our bus was at 5 and we had a lot to do before then.
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| From Winter Vacation Part III: Singapore |
Fun fact: the word orang utan is Malaysian for "man of the forest".. I had wondered about this when I saw mentions of the "Orang Asli" in the guidebook, wondering why this name for primates was being applied to a group of people native to Malaysia. But I later realized, it goes the other way. "Orang" is the term used for a people. The orangutans are certainly people-like, too. One sat right next to the glass on one side of the enclosure and looked up at us with eyes to which it was impossible not to ascribe human qualities.
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| From Winter Vacation Part III: Singapore |
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| From Winter Vacation Part III: Singapore |
Once we got back, it was getting fairly late. I showered while Miriam got some souveneirs, then we went to catch our bus. I realized upon getting to the bus place that I hadn't gotten my air-dry items from the laundry yet, so I actually jogged all the way back to the hostel to get them.
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| From Winter Vacation Part III: Singapore |
There were three people on the bus (including us two) and I was baffled as to why they even ran buses to Kluang at all, much less twice a day. Spent the bus trip as it has become my custom to.. mostly writing postcards. Once we crossed the border and stopped in Johor Bahru, the bus filled up with loud-talking passengers and a really intense movie came on the TV screen (about a kidnapped kid and his desperate, taxi-driving father).. we didn't get to see the end of the movie! ...but that was because we had arrived in Kluang!
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| From Winter Vacation Part III: Singapore |
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