We are, we are, the waiting.
On the walk to the train restaurant, we cam-whored. Lower picture is the Woodlands Checkpoint. Rest assured I am not a fan of foreign objects spoiling the scenery (namely, us camwhores) so the other pictures will not have Jason, Jenifur or Cherrie in it. You want camwhores you go to their blog. Uh, after you’re done reading mine, that is.
Yes, we are on track, on time, GMT+0800 that is, no, not Malaysian time.
We walked to Tanjong Pagar MRT, and passed a HDB (High-Density Block) that Singapore is famous for. Note the lack of balconies. Aye, population control at its best.
We then hopped on the MRT to Eunos, to ex-colleague Juan‘s HDB, which, really, isn’t bad. It looked like a simple apartment.
This was the view from his window. (No he does not live in on mushroom(s) with the Cheshire Cat; both pictures were taken with the infrared filter.)
I hopped on a cab to City Hall. Funny thing with cabs here is that they actually let everybody else pass first. In Malaysia, it is the opposite, where taxi drivers are very skilled overtakers.
I headed to Peninsula Shopping Complex to check out the array of guitar shops. Spot the machine-gun-guitar and the Doraemon guitar! This was Davis Guitars. YK, JFK and I then went to Plaza Singapura where Swee Lee Guitars was supposed to be located. Turns out it was in Bras Basah Complex instead, but before heading all the way back there, we grabbed non-halal Burger King. The toilets there were decorated like a club! Unfortunately, the handicapped toilet was locked! :O
Can you walk on a straight line? Note the Tiger Beer truck. π
While at Peninsula Plaza, I also got a Circular Polarizer Filter for my camera; what it did was reduce glare and reflection from non-metallic surfaces. However, I’d need to turn the filter to focus it, and it would only work for one area. On the left, there is no reflection in the water; however the window is reflecting. On the right it is the opposite!
The Edge is very much like The Curve in Mutiara Damansara, Malaysia; they both have a shaded atrium. Spot the YK and the JFK!
Spot the edge on The Edge’s obviously-not-real-marble pillar.
I then headed to Orchard Road. The number of shopping malls, and the standard of each, was insane! I thought it was hard enough to achieve navigational mastery of Bintang Walk.
All this while, I used the MRT (left picture, going down their notably faster escalators, those kiasus). Top-right: They have metal guides for the blind! Therefore, blind people need not use their canes to scan for floor guides; they could just use metal detectors! π Middle-right: The dignity of a walking signboard is salvaged with a box on his head. Bottom-right: The buses are cool; they have two compartments, or two floors!
Level One had a very appealing floor pattern. π
We then headed to Clarke Quay, like Bangsar with a seaside view, without the dingy mamak down the road.
There, they had the GMAX – bungee jumping in a seat.
Boing!
We went back to Juan’s and found a suicidal lizard in the freezer.
Sunday morning was a mamak breakfast.
Whatcha gawking at?
The infrared filter also makes for a neutral density filter effect, slowing down motion.
“Wave to the people!” “Hey will you put me down now?” “Sure, oh dear wife…”
Are you weighted down by time?
I bought a 1.5 liter bottle of water at the KTM station in Tanjong Pagar, Singapore. It tasted normal… till I read the label. It sounded recycled. HAHA! Smart Johoreans, slowly poisoning Singaporeans. What happens when you expose it to sunlight?
So we took the train. To quote Petrina who I can’t link – “stim“!
Nah, of course, we didn’t take either train.
So this is what it looks like when I’m not on the waiting side.
Home, home sweet home. Okay, Johor isn’t home. Country, country sweet country.
Ollld man river.
You wouldn’t see a crane in Singapore city; I don’t see how it possibly could be more developed! There were no roadworks or construction activities going on.
I see tea. I can’t wait to say “hi city”. Man, bad punnery.
So yes, I liked Singapore. I’m all for the law and order, and the bombastic English (“do not stand on the parapet” was seen on the MRT; I didn’t know what a parapet was!)
Singapore is clean! You wouldn’t be able to spot a bit of paint blemish even. Hooray for competitiveness versus our nonchalance. Organization and integration versus the relaxed attitude to the law here. It was hard to find trashcans (perhaps the council needed to make it easier to fine litterbugs). Taxis and buses were fitted with LCD panels. Cars were boxier/angular-shaped (perhaps it was the in-thing to have a car look like the highway scenes in The Matrix Reloaded) and since Singapore didn’t have its own national car, I gawked at Toyotas, Hondas and Mitsubishis all day. Buildings too were boxy and rectangular, and it looked like they were sponsored by paint companies! Most buildings were painted gawdily with deeper pastel colors. It wasn’t until I headed out to the city, passing the bay, that I saw regular-colored skyscrapers.
The few that broke out of the 90 degree shapes was a church that had… 45 degree angles! Still, it was better than nothing.
The uniformity was good. I didn’t feel the anxiety of going to a new shopping complex; it had this safe, secure vibe, and it would be hard to find any stained, old walls. Only three times on the MRT and I was already feeling confident I knew how to get around, like I was an expert.
The only things I could be bitching about would be the price of food. Converted, it’s twice as much as you’d pay in Malaysia, though gadgets are about the same price. The camera salespeople had a different approach – they go “45 dollars. Uhhh you want cheaper? *punches calculator* I give you 25 lah, best price.” I didn’t even have to ask for a discount!
Oh, and during breakfast, a lady approached, asking for donations for single mothers. We then took a cab, and saw buses talking about single mothers. Well at least we know their society has decadence, too.
