We landed in Singapore at 3am Sunday morning Singapore time, 3pm Saturday West Virginia time. Tired and ready to go to the serviced suites we de-boarded and headed to baggage claim. Once we got our passports stamped we headed to the duty free shop as we knew that alcohol was expensive in Singapore. Dustin got his scotch and I got a bottle of rum. There was one girl at the register and a huge line. We waited and slowly approached checkout when the baggage claim belt started up. Now I would have one out and gotten our bags but in Singapore, one bottle of spirits per person so I waited, watching our bags go round. When we were in line, getting impatient, we noticed it started to get really hot and both Dustin and I were sweating. We asked if it was worth it, and then realized it was. We reached the counter and started to pay but our cards were not working for some reason, but luckily they accepted US dollars so we got our alcohol and got out of there. Once we picked up our bags we headed to the money exchange and found our driver, and yes he was standing there with a sign that said “Kuzma”, it felt so VIP.
We headed out of the airport and as soon as the door opened there was the heat, it felt like a gallon of water was in the air it was so humid. The drive seemed like forever and I was confused of what it really looked like out there because it was dark out. We got settled in at the Pan Pacific and were wide awake. We got our skype going and called our family to let them know we landed safely. 6am rolled around and we thought of just staying up and walking around but decided to give sleep a try, needless to say once both of us hit the pillows of the big comfy bed we passed out until 12pm.
We woke up still a bit dazed and realized how hungry we were. So we decided to get cleaned up and head out to see what was around the area. We found a Thai restaurant to eat at that was close by, it was alright, a little expensive but we were starving. Once we were done with lunch we decided to go walk around for a bit, find what’s around. Now during this time I started to get dizzy at some points. I wasn’t sure if it was from lack of sleep in the past 24 hours or what but we didn’t walk far. Orchard road proved to be a very expensive road. It had places like Louis Vuitton, Cartier, Dior, so I figured we were in a very nice part of the city. We went back to the hotel and wondered around, to see what the different amenities were. Their pool was beautiful; they had a gym and a therapeutic spa room where you had hot and cool pools along with steam rooms, very nice.
Then we found it was about that time for dinner so we went out to find some. I am not sure where we ate but I know the food was good; it’s always good around here. We stopped off at 7-11 and picked up a six pack that cost about 17 Singapore dollars, I had to pick up my jaw off the floor because I guess I didn’t believe it till I saw it. The night wasn’t very exciting. Filled with unpacking and relaxing trying to get over the jet lag, needless to say we went to bed early.
The next day we woke up and got some breakfast at the hotel and went back to get our day started. I was very excited to go around and explore with Dustin. We had to go and get our MRT cards so we decided to go down town. We walked around down by the bay and stopped off and got some lunch. He showed me where he stayed the two times before he was here for business trips, the Swiss hotel, and the tallest building, very distinct. During the day I still got my bouts of dizziness. The feeling was weird; it felt like I was still on the plane. We decided we should walk by Harrys at Boat Quay to see if anyone Dustin knew was around. Most were there, and welcomed us with some beers. It was very nice, they all were so wonderful and assured me that the dizziness I felt would go away in a day or two. The one thing I found interesting is that everyone was pulling beers from buckets and passing them around. Five beers in each bucket and once it was empty someone else would order a bucket, so it would get to where each of us had bought a bucket but shared with everyone. It’s something I would have never expected. We were also informed that if anyone asks where we are from we must tell them that we are Canadian, not American. Not a lot of people like Americans, but so far we haven’t ran into that yet.
The next couple of days were filled with sightseeing and food experiences. We walked by little food shops and noticed chickens hanging up, fully cooked, feet and heads still attached. Yes, that was something I had to get used to. The city is always busy and we discovered that there were lots of shopping malls. I had never seen so many malls in one area, and it wasn’t two story malls, it was five to six story malls. It’s absolutely amazing.
We got to Singapore just in time for the Formula 1 car race. The city was decorated with formula 1 advertisement and side shops and even cars parked in front of stores. When we would do our walking around you would see different barricades going up that was marking the race course. Fences and grand stands were going up as well. This was a big deal and I wish we would have had tickets to see it. Dustin did bring up a good point, why get tickets when all you see are black blobs going by and possibly go deaf from how loud the cars were. But there were other things going on with in the tents, not sure what but I know stuff was going on. It was cool to be around the city during the practice runs. We were sitting at Harry’s and it was very cool to see the race on tv and hear the cars in person. There were also lots of concerts going on from Shakiera (spelling I know) to Boy George. We personally didn’t go but we heard that the shows were good.
After we got all settled in Dustin’s time off of work came to an end. Dustin went back to work and I decided it was time for me to venture out and be a tourist. I went to breakfast the next day and took my tourist books with me to plan out my next couple of days. Heck, thanks to everyone back home those books could last me a month! (Trust me, I am putting them to good use, thanks again).
We headed out of the airport and as soon as the door opened there was the heat, it felt like a gallon of water was in the air it was so humid. The drive seemed like forever and I was confused of what it really looked like out there because it was dark out. We got settled in at the Pan Pacific and were wide awake. We got our skype going and called our family to let them know we landed safely. 6am rolled around and we thought of just staying up and walking around but decided to give sleep a try, needless to say once both of us hit the pillows of the big comfy bed we passed out until 12pm.
We woke up still a bit dazed and realized how hungry we were. So we decided to get cleaned up and head out to see what was around the area. We found a Thai restaurant to eat at that was close by, it was alright, a little expensive but we were starving. Once we were done with lunch we decided to go walk around for a bit, find what’s around. Now during this time I started to get dizzy at some points. I wasn’t sure if it was from lack of sleep in the past 24 hours or what but we didn’t walk far. Orchard road proved to be a very expensive road. It had places like Louis Vuitton, Cartier, Dior, so I figured we were in a very nice part of the city. We went back to the hotel and wondered around, to see what the different amenities were. Their pool was beautiful; they had a gym and a therapeutic spa room where you had hot and cool pools along with steam rooms, very nice.
Then we found it was about that time for dinner so we went out to find some. I am not sure where we ate but I know the food was good; it’s always good around here. We stopped off at 7-11 and picked up a six pack that cost about 17 Singapore dollars, I had to pick up my jaw off the floor because I guess I didn’t believe it till I saw it. The night wasn’t very exciting. Filled with unpacking and relaxing trying to get over the jet lag, needless to say we went to bed early.
The next day we woke up and got some breakfast at the hotel and went back to get our day started. I was very excited to go around and explore with Dustin. We had to go and get our MRT cards so we decided to go down town. We walked around down by the bay and stopped off and got some lunch. He showed me where he stayed the two times before he was here for business trips, the Swiss hotel, and the tallest building, very distinct. During the day I still got my bouts of dizziness. The feeling was weird; it felt like I was still on the plane. We decided we should walk by Harrys at Boat Quay to see if anyone Dustin knew was around. Most were there, and welcomed us with some beers. It was very nice, they all were so wonderful and assured me that the dizziness I felt would go away in a day or two. The one thing I found interesting is that everyone was pulling beers from buckets and passing them around. Five beers in each bucket and once it was empty someone else would order a bucket, so it would get to where each of us had bought a bucket but shared with everyone. It’s something I would have never expected. We were also informed that if anyone asks where we are from we must tell them that we are Canadian, not American. Not a lot of people like Americans, but so far we haven’t ran into that yet.
The next couple of days were filled with sightseeing and food experiences. We walked by little food shops and noticed chickens hanging up, fully cooked, feet and heads still attached. Yes, that was something I had to get used to. The city is always busy and we discovered that there were lots of shopping malls. I had never seen so many malls in one area, and it wasn’t two story malls, it was five to six story malls. It’s absolutely amazing.
We got to Singapore just in time for the Formula 1 car race. The city was decorated with formula 1 advertisement and side shops and even cars parked in front of stores. When we would do our walking around you would see different barricades going up that was marking the race course. Fences and grand stands were going up as well. This was a big deal and I wish we would have had tickets to see it. Dustin did bring up a good point, why get tickets when all you see are black blobs going by and possibly go deaf from how loud the cars were. But there were other things going on with in the tents, not sure what but I know stuff was going on. It was cool to be around the city during the practice runs. We were sitting at Harry’s and it was very cool to see the race on tv and hear the cars in person. There were also lots of concerts going on from Shakiera (spelling I know) to Boy George. We personally didn’t go but we heard that the shows were good.
After we got all settled in Dustin’s time off of work came to an end. Dustin went back to work and I decided it was time for me to venture out and be a tourist. I went to breakfast the next day and took my tourist books with me to plan out my next couple of days. Heck, thanks to everyone back home those books could last me a month! (Trust me, I am putting them to good use, thanks again).
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