Singapore is the real-life Tomorrowland. No joke. This city is so modern
it scares me. Technology that we haven't even begun thinking of in the
United States is already the norm and some modes of transportation
include not only cars, but monorails and skyway cable cars! The
buildings are tall, uniquely shaped, glossy, clean and architecturally
gorgeous. Also, there is Mickey stuff everywhere. Now, where's space
mountain? I'm ready to travel outside the globe.
We only had one day in Singapore. It was kind of upsetting but I
understand entirely why they would do it. Singapore has A LOT of laws.
And by A LOT I mean, more rules than Disney has cast member rules.
Chewing gum will run you a $1000 fine, eating in a public place will
cost you $500, littering $2500, spitting will get you some sort of fine
I can't remember, drunk driving gets you caining (beaten repetitively
with a bamboo cane, this happens for a lot of punishments) and drug
traffic gets you the death sentence. There are more heavy-duty fines,
but I think the point comes across. Needless to say, the city (Singapore
is the name for both the city and the country) is extremely clean and
extremely safe, but the rules are so strict that I can understand
entirely why SAS wouldn't want to deal with staying overnight as the
immaturity level of some of these students would surely get them into
serious trouble.
So we only had one day in Singapore and unfortunate for me I also had an
FDP. An FDP is a trip required for a class, and lucky for me, my History
of Modern China class offered exactly 2 FDPs (2 are required for each
class, so thanks for the wide variety of flexibility and selection,
professors). One was a walking tour of Cape Town (see that blog for how
ridiculous that was) and this was the second. Needless to say, I was
pretty upset that I had a Chinese history FDP in a country that isn't
China, and the last FDP for this class (Cape Town) had absolutely
nothing to do with any of the Eastern World. However, this FDP turned
out to be pretty enjoyable. Immigration took ao. Part of this was
because of the strict system of security we all had to go through before
w lot longer than we anticipated, and we didn't leave for an hour after
we had been scheduled te could leave the dock though too. When we left
we went to the center of town and spent about an hour just walking
around looking at some of the old buildings. One thing I noticed was
that there was just construction EVERYWHERE, and the new Supreme Court
building literally looked a UFO. It was crazy! After about an hour we
ended up at the Raffles Hotel, a beautiful 6-star historic resort. We
were given half an hour to roam around and while a lot of people went to
the bar to buy $30 Singapore Slings (why do SAS kids always need to be
drinking?), I actually saw the place. It was completely gorgeous, and
the bathroom was a joyous experience as it was the first toilet off of
the ship that I had seen in months that didn't have bugs AND had
electric hand dryers! Whoa, I almost forgot what that feels like! The
hotel costs $700 a night, and there was a lot of areas blocked off to us
non-guests, but it was still nice to see and I liked that we had some
freedom on our trip.
After Raffles we went to the subway and took it to Chinatown. The subway
system is so clean and prompt, and so much more impressive than at home.
The station and the lines are spotless, modern and gorgeous, and the
schedule of trains was perfect. We had to transfer trains to get on the
right line, but even so it barely took any time. They even had certain
loading areas for those getting off and those getting on! When we got
off in Chinatown it was a really strange feeling because we were only a
week away from actual China at that point! Chinatown was beautiful, and
looked very authentic, but the whole time I was consumed with this
notion of how comparable is this to the real thing? And I became anxious
for my upcoming visit. Another thing that I noticed was all the
Mickey/Disney stuff. I've learned on this voyage that I literally can
spot Mickey from a mile away, and he was literally everywhere here! So
exciting!!!! But before I could buy everything in sight, we went to have
lunch at a Chinese dim-sum restaurant. I got a confirmation that I
probably won't be eating in China, but oh well. So I scarfed a protein
bar and was good to go. After lunch we had half an hour to go shopping
before we were to head back to the ship. Everything in Chinatown was way
cheaper than the rest of Singapore, so I ended up buying a good amount
of stuff. However, with 3 for $10 tee-shirts I really can't complain
since everything in the port and in the areas we had passed were 5-6x
the price.
By the end of the tour, everyone had signed out of the trip except for 6
of us. Well, the tour company had arranged for us to have a double
decker bus, so 8 of us (6 students + 2 professors) got the whole top to
ourselves! So cool!
I was set to arrive back at the port at 2:45. Lexi had an FDP that
morning too, so we were going meet at the port and Michael and Dain were
going to come back from their AM adventure to the Marina Bay Sands hotel
so we could all go out. Lexi was there when I got back, but the boys
weren't. After about 15 minutes, we started to get worried and we
started walking around the mall (our port was attached to not one, but
two malls!), towards the subway, trying to find them. We also turned on
our phones and tried to call them but we just couldn't get in touch with
them. Around 3:30, we were just getting directions to Orchard Street to
go ourselves from the information desk when Dain came up sprinting.
Michael had something come up so he didn't make it, but Dain had come
back himself and gotten lost on the subway. Thank god this was Singapore
and you will be cained for crime, because if this was any other port I
would've probably been petrified of the fact that he had traveled alone,
but it was so nice of him to come back for us and it really meant a lot
to both of us as we were so worried about them.
So Dain, Lexi and I went back to the subway and went over to Orchard
Street. By the time that we got off it was DOWNPOURING out, but I didn't
care. This was actually the first downpour we have seen on land in this
voyage yet, and it felt refreshing. The rain really turned out to be a
sign of the day was going to continue going - from not being able to get
off the ship, to missing dain and michael, to getting lost on the train,
to walking the wrong way, to a place we were planning on going not being
open, to trying to meet up with others and have it not work - but hey,
when life gives you rain, dance it in. And that's literally what Lexi
and I did. We jumped and ran around and played in the rain, and the two
of us and Dain just trudged up and down the streets of nowhere and got
absolutely nothing accomplished and had the most amazing time in the world.
We had to be back on the ship by 9, so we came back to the mall area
around 5 and decided to do some shopping. As it turns out, this became
our rainbow! As we finally found stamps, a flag and Chinese skittles! We
even got to go on the dock and take our nighttime skyline pictures with
Universal Studios Singapore in the background! By the time that we made
it back on, dinner was over, so we went to get food on Deck 7 and watch
us sail away. I wish we could have stayed overnight, but honestly, after
seeing all the laws in Singapore I understand completely why we can't.
Had we had a second day, however, Universal Studios Singapore would have
been happening. But I feel content with my one day here and had a great
time. Singapore is the first port so far though that I really want to go
back to.
But for now, we sail forward towards Vietnam, very slowly since we are
so close and actually have to class in between, but still sailing!
Gluten free: Not sure since I only spent 1 meal here and it was at a
Chinese place.
Safety: Probably the safest country in the world, since any sort of
crime will lead to the government beating you and your wallet.
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