August 3, 2010

The fine city of Singapore: My grand entrance

My recommendation to all of you out there is never try to sleep on a cold tile floor in an airport. It does nothing for the back and can get quite chilly after a while. Not to mention you don’t get much sleep. Even if you find a nice quite spot there is no guarantee that someone isn’t going to come along and rouse you from your hard earned slumber. Unfortunately, I really didn’t have a choice when I got into Singapore’s Changi Airport at 1:30am in the morning from Taipei.

You could practically scrape the tiredness from my skin as I stepped off the airplane into the cool dry air of the terminal. Even though through some twist of fate I had gotten an emergency row seat with an awesome amount of leg room I had spent little time with my eyes shut.

Changi Airport was everything the reviews said it was. The floors were carpeted, the halls were clean and quite, and they even had massage chairs with convenient vibrating alarms to wake you. I walked forward with my mouth wide open in awe. This place was fantastic, a definite paradise for the traveler stuck here in transit. I pulled out my iPod Touch, yep, free wi-fi, just like advertised.

Then I went through immigration.

Things on the other side aren’t so nice and closely resemble the baggage area of any other airport. I almost cried at my paradise lost but in the ways of a true traveler I sucked it up and began my search for a place to lie down and catch some sleep. Some might have gone to a hotel by taxi but the moths that flew out of my wallet let me know that I was not one of those people.

I finally found a spot near a bathroom that was under renovation. It was a small section of hallway hidden from view, brightly lit but good enough for me. No one was working on it and the only loud noises came from the baggage machines when a flight came in and they started up.

Somehow I managed to doze off a few times. Usually it was for 20 or 30 minutes at a time. Around 4’ish my stomach started rumbling so I chowed down on an unopened pack of Doritos I had picked up in Taipei. Let’s just say that did nothing good for my stomach…

By the time my clock said 7am I was actually somewhat rested. By somewhat I mean that I wasn’t stumbling around like a drunk man with bloodshot eyes. A bit of exploring past the baggage area and into the actual departure area of Changi Airport led me to a small children’s area which was carpeted in the stuff they use for fake putting greens. With a sigh of pure joy I set my pack down again and actually slept quite soundly for about an hour and a half.

Stepping onto the MRT (read: train/subway) I looked at my watch, 9:15. From start to finish my stay in Changi Airport had lasted about 8 hours. I rolled my head around on my shoulders and was rewarded by a few good cracks and the loosening of tense muscles. Now on to my hostel…

I have to say, I must be a rainmaker because wherever I go annoying gray clouds and water from above follow me. By the time I got of the MRT at Lavender Station (funny name, eh) sheets of rain were falling steadily from the sky. In fact, I could barely see the street from the entrance of the station. With a shrug and a slightly less joyful sigh I sat down with my back against the wall in hopes that it would die down enough to make walking in it without getting soaked to the bone a realistic possibility.

After about an hour my wish was granted and with only a little trouble I found my place of refuge and checked in. Ten minutes later I was lying in a soft bed curled in some warm covers enjoying the briskness of the air conditioned room. Needless to say a bit of time passed in that position before I rose to do some exploring of the city (in actuality only about 45 minutes).

Singapore is a cool place. Yes, a cool place. It may not have the appeal of someplace like Taipei and all its night markets/deep culture but it has its own flavor. In my 6 years of living in Japan I had heard some stories. ‘You can explore Singapore in a day,’ ‘Singapore is only a big city,’ ‘I only needed 2 days to see all of Singapore,’ and so on. I’ll admit, yes, Singapore is a giant city but I think there are many levels that could take quite a lot of time to really see.

My stomach was growling like an angry bear and once I was conscious (I won’t say awake…) I was out the door and in search of food.

Arab Street…if you are looking for some good food and an atmosphere nothing like anything you have probably experienced before you need to go there. I stumbled into this area by chance after seeing a mosque and heading in for a closer look.

I can’t quite describe the place, it’s just too complicated. The architecture, the cornucopia of people, the feeling of the streets, it is just amazing, especially to someone used to Japan and from the US.

Lunch was something absolutely amazing (and relatively cheap). It was dough, smeared with egg and a bunch of minced lamb and I can’t forget the onions, fried in (I think) olive oil. To the side I had a cup of what they called tea but tasted more like Chai (Chai is a type of tea so I guess…anyways). From where I sat at the back of the open restaurant I could see the mosque clearly as well as the people coming and going.

With my stomach full it was time for some exploring. A few minutes and a couple of turns later I found myself in a conversation with a man named Sabdullah, a carpet salesman originally from Afghanistan. Why I began to talk to him I have no idea but the stories he had and told about his rise to where he was now were amazing. Like many of the successful people I had met up to this point he followed the letter the ‘one thing’ policy.

What is the ‘one thing’ policy? Well, it’s actually quite simple. Focus on one thing completely and to the exclusion of everything else and you will be successful at that one thing. Take on extra projects, vary from the course you chose, quite halfway through, and you basically screwed.

A few steps down the road was a perfume shop where I just had to step in to take a look. The old and new bottles combined with the thick scents of essential oils dragged me from the street and into the quiet store. In the back a young man, Johari, was typing on a computer. As I entered he looked up.

Talking with him was a treat as well. The perfume shop, as well as a few other stores around the area, were a family business that he had been drafted into at a young age. Though not where his passions lie he still worked here out of loyalty to his parents and grandparents. His true desires, well, we didn’t know each other enough to broach that question too deeply.

Singapore can be explored in a day? Not likely. Not with all the still water lying about waiting to be probed for depth.

I could go into the rest of my afternoon/evening but to be honest the other parts of Singapore that I saw, City Hall area, were like the people who had been here before me had said, ‘pretty much just a simple city, large buildings and shopping malls.’ Though a couple of the places I walked in to, one mall in particular, alluded to something much more interesting, or at least different then what I was used to.

Supper, like lunch, was an adventure in Arab Street. I was so happy that unlike the other countries I had lived in and visited, everyone here spoke English. That made getting food that I wanted to try so much easier.

The cool evening air mixed with the hot of the afternoon creating an interesting swirl of temperature. I sat sipping my hot tea enjoying the full feeling in my stomach. Around me people milled about talking in variety of languages about what I have no idea. My chair faced the busy road where the mosque sat letting me watch the human bazaar as it passed by.

Here I was in Singapore. Twenty four hours before I had been sitting at an airport in Taiwan. It struck me as amazing how small our world is and how fast we can get from one place to another (and how cheaply). It also struck me how different the people of the world are. Bit by bit on this trip my eyes were opening to see things I could never have imagined existed.

With a laugh I got up and paid. It was time to go back to the hostel and get some well deserved sleep. Tomorrow was going to be a big day.

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