Singapore, Day One

Yesterday was, upon reflection, one of the most gruelling days that we've had on the road so far. The loooong trip from KL to Singapore on an uncomfortable train with no food, then being shuffled into immigration (a very undramatic border crossing, with no signage or flags to signify the cross-over) and customs, back onto a testosterone-filled train with some drunken guys, and finally being dumped (and paying hansomly for it) by a mini-bus driver over the wrong side of the city only to have to negotiate our way around the public transport system in a whole new country.. We finally checked into a hostel some twelve hours after we'd departed from KL. Ugghh.

Aside from all the moaning and groaning, we're really chuffed to have made it to Singapore, finally, our last stop on this tour of South-East Asia (+ Taiwan). It's been a fantastic experience, and we've slowly begun the process of reflection and introspection.

On that note, here are some of our stand-out happy memories of this tour:


Having a great conversation with a German urologist about his pseudo-homo-erotic obsession with George Michael, or more specifically, the lyrics, melody and video clip of the Wham classic 'Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go.' - Cat Ba Island, Gulf of Tolkin, Northern Vietnam.

Watching our tuk-tuk driver try to explain what a ping-pong show was (in limited English and awesome body language) - Bangkok, Thailand.

Sim explaining to a Dutchman how to body-surf, which, once he did right, had him squealing "Hooray for the Dutchman!" at the top of his lungs. - Mui Ne, Southern Vietnam.

Getting drunk off countless mojitos to celebrate the beginning of December and the joys of being on a tropical island. - Ko Tao Island, Thailand.

And onwards and upwards. We've done plenty in this past nine months, that's for sure.

So today we're taking it pretty easy, spending the morning and early afternoon at the Asian Civilisations Museum in the Colonial District of Singapore. It's a beautiful, modern setting which integrates so many critical elements of South-East Asian culture (migration, language, agriculture, textiles, religion, climate...) A tough ask, really, to blend each of these elements whilst setting each culture apart. It's a fascinating place, and absolutely achieved its aims. I'd say we enjoyed it as much as we did the Museum of World Religions in Taipei (which is to say, a hell of a lot.)

Singapore itself is a fascinating place, and we've warmed to it much more than its counterpart, KL. We've been speaking Chinese and enjoying that immensely, and eating as much Indian food as we can muster (simple pleasures). It's almost like a sanitized, not quite as intense version of Taipei City, with plenty of greenery and places to sit and watch the world go by. All in all, a really liveable SE Asian city.

We're hoping to head out to Singapore's Zoo later this evening to see its relatively rare collection of animals (you wouldn't think so, for a city-state only 605 square km?) but they hold night tours, so hopefully we'll be up for it. Otherwise, there's plenty to see, do, smell, eat and encounter here, here, the final leg of our journey.