Singapore

What an airport!  It’s so massive that you would think it’s made for giants.

Singapore Money - most of the money I came across was in very good condition

Super impressive airport

From the airport, getting to my hotel was simple but not.  The subway part was simple (and cheap), walking and finding my street was not so simple.  Carrying my luggage under the hot sun made it worse.

What a novel idea - predesignated areas where the doors will open AND a barrier so people don't fall in

This town is full of money - This is one of the first cars I see parked  on the street

Nice - Don't know what it is

It was a pretty swanky hotel with tiny tiny rooms.  I did appreciate the welcome drink very much as the person that checked me in actually walked me to my room and showed me where everything was located.

My room

My room

O yes - I think it is one of my favorite drinks

The hotel was on an incline so the hallways were sloped

more hallway action

my room

each room had this cool leather thing on the door - for messages I assume?

Jacuzzi - it was tiny

So, I heard that you are supposed to eat when in Singapore.  So, that is what I did.  I was staying in the Chinatown area and I saw that the Maxwell Food Center was right next to my hotel!  Who needs research!  Research 0, Me 1.  Well, when talking to the front desk about it, they said that most places are closed because of the Chinese new year holiday.  It was 1/22; Chinese New Year is 1/23.  Ok, Research 1, Me 0.

 

Well, when I got there were some places still open and I got what my friend told me to get, Hainanese Chicken.  The line was long and slow.  It probably took 30 minutes for a line of 12.  While in line, I met a nice couple from Texas.  Americans!  I get to have conversations!  I don’t have to use my body and hands to talk!  I can speak in full sentences.  It was a great feeling. =) 

People waiting for the chicken

hanging chickens

aww.. poor chicken

I got the set menu which had vegatables for $5, chicken only is $3 and the egg was $0.50

Line didn't get shorter

sugarcane water

the nice gentleman gave me some tissues with my sugarcane

where i got my sugarcane water

where i got my chicken rice

 We ate our lunch together and they gave me some great suggestions for what I should do with my limited time (24 hours).  They also suggested I get the freshly squeezed sugarcane water (which I did).  After my meal, and we parted ways I explored the food center a little more.  I found another line that was fairly long and stood in it.  If people don’t mind waiting in it, it must be good?  Anyway, it was good and I was ready to pass out after eating two full entrees.

dry noodles with pork, anchovies

fish balls on the side, probably cause i got the dry noodles instead of wet

lime water/juice

where i got my dry noodles

I decided to walk it off and went to nearby Chinatown (by nearby, I mean across the street).  It was full of color and although people say, Chinese New Year isn’t a good time to visit because everything is closed, it was a sight to see the market very much alive and active.

free samples

candy

this woman kept taking off her pants... i'm not sure what she was selling... this is after about 20 pairs

just what I need

a temple in chinatown

awesome directions

old guy tatooed up

While venturing, I came across a familiar place and stopped by for some fries (there was no way I could eat another full meal).  After my walk, I went back to my room to plan my day.

Thank god for free wifi.  Trying to plan something when you don’t know what to do is very difficult with those that don’t speak English.  I decided to take it easy, and skip the chili crab (it was way north and east).  There was a 4 hour walking tour in one of the tourist maps that I picked up and decided to do that. 

One of many decorations for chinese new year

cool looking birds I saw - yellow beaks with black bodies

Money I found on the ground - I hovered over it for about 5 minutes before actually picking it up - not trying to get arrested in Singapore

holy security

sculture

During my walk, I got to see a lot of the Marina Bay Sands.  A ridiculous set of three buildings with a boat at the top.  Who puts a boat at the top?!  It was definitely a sight to see.  I also came across the Merlion, a cool bridge, some opera thingy, the fountain of wealth, a ferris wheel, and a giant giant shopping mall.  Oh, I ate some indian food for dinner (a lot of the food places had set menus for $100+ USD for chinese new year).  Oh, the inside of the casino was ridiculous as well (no pictures because they would have arrested me and throw away the key).

merlion

everything is soo big here

my sign

as you can see, it was raining

chicken tikka masala!

rice

naan that was crusted with sugar - def should have just gotten butter or garlic

Singha

So I had a leaf on my setting - took my a few minutes to figure out that I was supposed to put my food on it

These were a little different than the states - like the ones here better

They have set times where they turn off the water and you can touch the water

You are supposed to walk around 3 times and make a wish

Surrounding wall of the fountain

Looking up while inside the mall

Pedestrian bridge with the hotel in the background

massive massive mall

Happy Year of the Dragon!

Skyline

Just outside the mall

who's idea was it to put that there

I finally got back to the hotel and thought, shouldn’t there be fireworks on new years?  Trying to communicate with hotel staff gave me two different answers, Chinatown and the waterfront.  10 minutes apart.  When looking on the internet, I couldn’t find a solid answer but it seemed to be at the waterfront.  I thought about staying up all night and partying with the revelers but I wasn’t keen on walking another 10 minutes after my full day.  I decided to turn it in.  Besides, I planned a 10 mile run (don’t remember the exact distance) early in the morning to see the sunrise over one of the bridges.

my late night snack

Well, I didn’t wake up.  I think the early morning wakeups and the 10 hour walking sessions caught up with me.  I really didn’t mind sleeping in.  I may have died if I did try to get up and finish such a long run.  I just took my time, packed my things and made my way to the airport back to Bangkok.

4 different languages for the signs in the subway

All the cars are connected so you can see all the way to the end

A Parapet - I always wanted to know what that was called

Apparently, you are supposed to return these to get money back.  What a smart idea of reducing waste

This airport is seriously awesome

I could live here

Got some noodles with pork

2nd entree - keeping up the trend