Nullsphere

Note: This post should actually be a series of posts but I typed it all out on my brand new Dopod 838Pro in one document…

So Ro has gone back to Jakarta to work. Here I am, all alone in the big city… Well, alone until lunch, when I meet up with my friend W to stay with her for the rest of my Singaporean adventures.

Getting there

Our flight was at 4pm on Garuda, Indonesia’s national airline. Soekarno Hatta is a decent airport, only slightly shabbier than CDG’s Terminal 1 and a notch above the dreaded Terminal 3 (higher end low-cost flights).
My first surprise was that there is a tax to get out of Indonesia, to the tune of 100,000 rupiah.

Except for expats, where the fee is 1,000,000 rupiah to leave AND the airport tax. (Oops, sorry Ro!)

After check-in and passport control, the terminal is fairly good. There are a few shops, lots of duty-free makeup and a Starbucks which looks out onto the runways. Ro and I spent some time there before wandering through the duty free.
There was a potentially embarassing moment when he bought a pair of wooden ducks for his mother and asked to the cashier which one was the male and which one was the female. The look on their faces clearly said “crazy gaijin”, a statement I have no other choice but to agree with.
The bookstore yielded a few finds and we had something to occupy ourselves during the hour-long flight.
On a fun note, there was indications of an Hermes there but it turned out to be a watch counter.

Boarding went very quickly, it was a small enough plane and we ended up at the exit row. Not quite as comfortable, since they put two seats instead of three there but no extra leg space.

The flight was pretty smooth, which didn’t stop me from embedding my nails into Ronan’s arm every time the plane shuddered.

Arrival

For my second arrival at Changi airport -the first time was on Dec 17, 2004, en route to Melbourne and the second time I had met my aunt, it was night time, so I did not get a decent picture of the arrival. In any case, I had not factored in the time differences correctly and we arrived an hour later than I expected.

I wanted to go to the Hermes there but changed my mind after realising that it probably meant that my suitcase would wander on its own on the beltway.
While Ronan is filling in his immigration card, I try to access my email to see what W has to say about things to do in town. We are scheduled to meet her the following day for lunch.

We cleared immigration fairly quickly and headed out to baggage claim then to the Amex kiosk to get some S$ before hopping into a taxi. It turned out to be a rather enjoyable ride into Singapore.
There is an atmosphere of calm about the city this evening. The moon shines down on the tall buildings and scarces monuments that we can see through the windows of the car.
The driver is telling us things about Singapore’s landmarks as we pass. The Raffles hotel is there, shining like an old colonial beacon but there is no time to stop.

Ro’s stay

The hotel is a very nice boutique little thing in Chinatown litterally round the corner from the newest temple in town. Located on the corner of Ann Siang and Erskine it is really worth staying at. I didn’t get to sample all it had to offer but complimentary bottles of water, dvd on request and morning paper was more than enough to make me happy for two nights.

On friday evening, we were too tired to do any of the things that W suggested so we wandered down to the street where dozens of food carts nested among tables son the street. Nothing looked appealing though.

One restaurant opened onto the street. We went in and of course, the first thing I noticed was the Peking duck on the menu. Now one thing I love is skin. Duck, chicken, even pork skin is yummy when crisped to perfection. After that, there was nothing left other than go to the hotel and pray we wouldn’t be too late for lunch with W. She had booked a table at No Signboard, a popular seafood restaurant at the Esplanade.

During the night, I had one of those embarassing female moments that makes you regret being one. Fortunately, a conveniently 24/7 7-11 saved the day (night to be precise).

Bright and not so early, we woke and had breakfast before heading to the Esplanade. As W was late, we walked along the riverbank and I got a glance of the famous merlion fountain. The merlion is the animal symbol of Singapore. The skyline is quite reminiscent of Melbourne’s Yarra banks. At least to me.

After a lunch of chili and pepper crab, W and us went our separate ways. Ro was grossed out by the crabs and I had to pick my way through them to feed him, lest he end up not eating anything. For 3 of us, it was S$120, which is CHEAP for the amount and quality of the crab we ate.

W had told me of a computer show at Suntec city so we headed there in the heat of the afternoon. Not only was the mall super crowded but OMG, the exhibition hall was packed.
On one floor, there was a book exhibition that we went to look at but everything was in asian languages so we quickly left after seeing we were the only caucasians there. As we left, we spotted another white guy but still probably caused a 66% decrease in the overall ethnic diversity.

The computer expo was unlike anything I had seen in a long while. Tiny stands with pushy salesmen, 1000000 people to the square milimeter… I spotted a couple of items to lust after: a graphics tablet (Wacom, of course), a phone much like the one I am typing on atm and an Asus U1.
As an 11.1 monitor is perfect if you are looking for something small enough to fit in a handbag.
And let’s face it, Asus is THE brand of motherboards, threrefore their laptops are pretty good.
It didn’t receive very good reviews though and to be honest, in retrospect, I am glad I didn’t drop nearly 2k on it.

After indulging my desire to go to Hermes on Orchard Road (I dumped Ro in a cybercafé to be alone at the shrine), I met up with him again and he suggested -well, his dad suggested- that we go do the Singapore cable car ride between Mount Faber on “mainland” Singapore and Sentosa Island.
Official site

The evening ended with a visit to the Night Safari at the Singapore Zoo. This is unlike anything I had seen. There is a tram ride through the park, where the animals are in discreet captivity, as well as several trails that you can walk.
We ate at a burger booth (great) and then headed to the tram. The queue was long and we even made a little -unreleased til I get my grad certificate- video describing the similarity between that and our school years.

The ride was pretty thrilling but harsh on the eyes, as it is difficult to see things clearly in the dark. A huge tapir wandered out near the tram. One thing was slightly disturbing. The woman doing the commentary clearly believes extremely strongly in environmentalism and her repeated “THINK ABOUT IT” additions to her comments on the environmental impact of certain behaviours did nothing to enhance the experience.

We did the Fishing cat trails then another but ended the whole thing at the tram again because I was tired and Ronan was ill. The ride back was done in relative silence with the cab, who didn’t know where the hotel was at first.

At W’s

Sunday morning, I woke up rather late and went down for breakfast. Packing up rather quickly, I ordered a cab to take me to W’s parents’ place up in the hills. It was a rapid ride and I got there before she did.
Lunch there was lovely.

For lunch on monday, W took me to Streit’s Kitchen, a restaurant in the Grand Hyatt. The buffet there was ofering foodstuffs of the entire south asian region, including India. I discovered the prata which is a very thin and oily version of a naan when presented stuffed or a soft papadom when done alone.

On tuesday lunch, we went to Pete’s place at lunch and to a small outdoor pub in a DBS estate called Charlie’s corner for dinner.
Pete’s place also offers a buffet. Among the choices were breaded fish with crispy noodles, chicken in a creamy mushroom sauce, lasagna and linguine with shrimp. Unhealthily enough, I had the sauce0 the carb and the cheese… But it was soooooo good to be bad.
After looking at bathroom fixtures for W’s renovations, we went to Charlie’s. I swear, we drove to Australia because that is exactly what the outdoor counter reminded me of.

Model planes, preserved fauna and oodles of beer made the irresistible connection in my mind. I had a bacon cheeseburger. It was good but the meat was dodgy - either overcooked or school grade meat patty.

Wednesday lunchtime was the biggie. W took me ti Iggy’s. Located in the very prestigious () where a certain corporation was holding a meeting, it is truly an unsung treasure of Singaporean dining.
In the afternoon we visited more bathroom fixtures and I bought a rainshower head for me.
After that, we walked along the river to a small exhibition of Picasso prints. This was something I had never seen despite numerous visits to the Picasso museum in Paris.
Apparently these were commissioned by a famous art dealer but production ceased due to the man’s untimely death. Most of them feature the artist and a pretty -as far as one can tell on line drawings- young woman. Obviously Picasso’s mistress of the moment.
Randy old toad.
He dumped the girl soon after the run was completeled. Talk about disposable muse.

That evening, I was once again invited at W’s prarents’ for dinner and we had some delicious food yet again. I did try to be virtuous but confused the fried chicken with grilled chcicken. You can take the girl out of KFC but you can’t take the KFC out of the girl.

Back to Jakarta

I awoke with the alarm W had provided for me and spent the last minutes I had at her place stuffing my suitcase to make sure that nothing leaked, nothing got broken and most of all, that I could take all my purchases home with me.

Thursday morning found me stuffing my suitcase with all manners of things, trying to get ready in under an hour. Fortunately, I managed, having started to pack two days earlier and the taxi was there with plenty of time to spare. W and I said our goodbyes. It was short and non-effusive as we will be seeing each other in Paris in two week’s time, just in time for the start of the sales in Paris.
Armed with a box of fruit cut up for this very occasion and a toothpick, I had breakfadt on the way to Changi.

No time left, I charged towards check-in GST refund and the newsagents.
Once on the plane, I relaxed and sank into some mindless reading material (ELLE, chick lit) to pass time.

General

The great singapore sale is on at the moment and if you know where to look, you can get a pretty good deal. First of all, food is cheap. Seriously cheap. Even the better restaurants are good value compared to Europe. To cite an example: Ro and I went to Do Dang a fairly well know restaurant in Chinatown. The Peking duck that I like was 33 S$ as oppoased to the same amount in euros.
Household items are also relatively cheap.

W is a great travelling buddy. Aside from being independent and smart, she could also charm a rock. She was extremely good at pointing out things to me. And it does help that she has a sharp sense of humour that outclasses my own.
Meow, saucer of milk, table two and two straws please!

Following W around, I visited a couple of malls. The best one is definitely Paragon. Containing some of the higher end designer stores but also essentials like a small food court in the basement and a phone store, it has definitely become a favourite of mine. Then there was great world city where I bought my dopod phone from which I am typing this entry but also got a great pedicure for next to nothing compared to french prices.

The biggest surprise was Tang. In Paris, Tang is synonymous with huge asian supearket filled with exotic products and unreadable labels. Singapore’s Tang is… Well, the Printemps department store. I did have some fun there and that is where I did the majority of shopping for Ro’s flat in Jakarta. I got some stuff for 20% discount plus another 5% for a foreign passport AND GST back. The stuff is good value and the aforementionned discounts are great.

Also a discovery of this trip is kaya. This milk, coconut and something paste is Asia’s answer to lemon curd. Since this one loves coconut with a vengeance, I loved it. Several jars will attest.
A very large selection of organic food is also available if you know where to look.

Taxis are super cheap and you rarely see anyone who has a bit of cash to splash taking public transportation. With the heat, it is easy to see why.

Now, housing. The few houses I was in where located in great parts of town and it becomes easy to believe that all of Singapore is affluent. Not so. For my edification, W drove past some state housing. Next to that, Manchester or La Courneuve have nothing to envy.
Once I had seen that, I realised there was a real desire from the government not only to push the country forward but also to hide the unpleasantness under a welfare-ish state.

In any case, Singapore definitely deserves a second visit where I will have more time to explore town.