What Day Is It Now?

(Rob)

Sat, August 4 to Mon, Aug 6 (I think)

We got to Vancouver's airport around noon Saturday and didn't get to our hostel here in Singapore until after midnight Sunday night. In between was 19 hrs. of flying and crossing the international dateline. I kept getting confused! By the time we arrived I had no idea what day or time it was back in Canada.

SIA was, however, about the greatest economy class flight we could have had. Constant food and attention, and a great (free) on-demand menu of movies, TV, music, games. We watched 2 or 3 movies each. I've always wanted a day to just do that! The real hassle was getting off the plane in Seoul for the hour stopover. Sure we wanted to stretch our legs, but who wanted to get back on? Not Anica, but she was a trooper, and also got more sleep than us (even slept through landing)!

After sleeping on the plane, it was hard (well, for me) to sleep through to the morning in Singapore. Our hostel is bare bones, but charming, and is in Chinatown. The AC needs coaxing, and the "shower" is a drain between the sink and toilet. I held the shower head this morning and called out: "I feel like I'm deliberately flooding the bathroom!"

Bunk beds are fun!

Here is the other end of our hostel room, including the lockers.

We enjoyed the typical Malaysian toast for breakfast: a sugary, buttery, coconut and egg spread called "kaya." This spot 2 doors down will probably do for every morning.

We had in mind an easy first day orienting ourselves (no pun intended), but that ended up still involving a lot of walking in humid heat. We did the hop on/off bus our SIA boarding passes gave us and checked out the Orchard Road shopping district. Imagine Broadway or Oxford Street but with huge, tropical trees left untouched. Lunch was surprisingly fresh and authentic at a mall's food court. We ordered a custom plate of fresh cut fruit to share for dessert.

After lunch, Anica encounters her first squat-style toilet. In Singapore, however, there's almost always a choice of styles.

Another hop off was to see the "Merlion," the famous half fish/half lion fountain/sculpture and symbol of Singapore. Dinner was at a sit-down, Western-style restaurant back in Chinatown. The walk back was spectacular: the Chinese night market was lit up with lanterns; also a huge Hindu temple, and an enormous Chinese pagoda all looked great at night.

Anica and Rob in front of the Merlion

A great example of the gorgeous Pernakan architecture in our Chinatown neighbourhood

August 6th

(Jenn)

Survived 19 hour trip to Singapore. Singapore Airlines was fantastic. Anica was great. She felt sick on the plane and wanted to go home but overcame that and after a few hours sleep on the plane was feeling better. Very up and down. One minute /loves/ everything, next minute tired and cranky, etc. Real trooper though. Had to get off plane in Seoul which was weird. Lost bottles of water.

Hotel good. Very... basic. Has A/C and own bathroom but taking shower soaks whole bathroom. Felt much better about room half way through night and infinitely better by morning. Anica loves bunk beds. Taxi drive here great. Gorgeous trees and flowers even at night. Very warm. 28 when we got here. Owner met us at door. Very nice lady.

Great day. Local breakfast. Talked to couple from Bristol. Hop on, hop off SIA bus. Went to Orchard Road - Tanglin Mall shopping. Anica bought mood ring. Lunch at food court. Hot day. OMG. HOT. Sunny and hot. And humid. Not a single drop of rain. Need to lighten daypacks further. Saw Merlion. Dinner at Swensen's - spent bit more and more familiar food but hey... might as well ease in - managed local breakfast and dinner. Walked through Chinatown. Saw largest and oldest Hindu temple. Gorgeous. Will go back. Returned to hotel at 8. Had Anica take shower. Again, she was asleep moment head hit pillow. Rob and I plan to follow shortly. In our separate beds :P