Singapore, the last stop

My last stop in my long journey.
The border crossing via the bus was an interesting exprience.
Everyone get off the bus to go through immigration on the Malaysia side and then get back on. The bus drove through the buffer zone and everyone get off again at singapore side, but this time with all the luggages. After that, everyone get back on the bus again.

It was kind of chaotic with many buses and people, and I was not sure what to expect in the beginning.

The weather in Singapore is probably the worst I have since the all day rain in Halong Bay Vietnam. It rained on and off all day. And on early morning of last day, it poured all the way to the airport.

The rain and cloudy weather did not get me excited to explore this city even though Singapore is lot bigger and greener than I expected and not like that of concret shopping city of HK. The comofort of Sheraton just a bit too nice after 3.5 month of sometime dodgy/dingy accomendation.

I spend my first afternoon exploring the main shopping street in Singpore - Orchard Rd. Many locals and visitors walk this area. Tons of department stores and food courts. I managed to find a place to eat and got some pastries as well.

After couple hours of wondering around that area and sky looked threatening, I headed back to my comfortable hotel for quick rest before going to the zoo for its famous night time safari. The rain started again as the bus approached the zoo, but it stopped short time later.

The whole entrance area are full of stores and food courts, just a bit too much for my taste. As for the actual night safari, it was pretty cool, you have the choice of walking the trail or taking a tram/walk/tram. Becuase of the rain, most pople opted for tram and walk. There are no fences (that goes for lions as well), and one get to see animal active in the night. O, the flying squirrels were cool, they fly when they feel like to and does not matter if you're standing in their way!

The safari also included trained animal shows, but it rained just when the show about to start and was cancelled as a result.

Next morning, it was so comfortable sleep, I woke up way past 8! The sky was still looking cloudy and threatening, so quickly ate my last cake and head out to the botanic garden for its large orchid display. There are so many type of orchids, I didn't even try to remember any of the names. They even have hybrids that were created especially for visiting dignitaries like Barbra Bush, Kofi Anna, etc.

After a quick lunch at an Orchard rd food court and a rest at my comfortable room, I was on my way to check out the colonial area of Singpore and Chinatown.

The colonial area is intersected by the Sinapore river with tall high rises and water front cafes and resturant and old colonial building. I took a river cruise as suggested by David (ex-Edge coworker, now back working in his home country). After the cruise I hung out at the colonial area for little bit and then headed to Chinatown.

Again rain started to come down hard again, and the area was partially closed in anticipation of the kick off for Chinese new year celebration that afternoon/night. So the street was especially crowded, and after fruitlessly looking for a bakery shop, I went back to my (did I said comfortable) room.

I promised to meet David at my room around 5:30.
David is still the same as I remembered. We catched up on what's going on in our life and Edge happening. He is going back school and working as teacher at local college. We continued our chat at dinner at a local eatery. Thanks David for the yummy seafdood treat, including sting ray. Another first along with snake in Vietnam :)

After saying our good-bye and packing up I went to bed around 10 so I can get up at 4:30 for my 7:20 flight home.

O, I have a hard time getting my Borneo purchased souvenir blow pipe clear the custom, apparently in Singapore it is considered as a deadly weapon. I am taking it out the country anyway who cares! Stupid regulation.....

One thing I noticed about Singapore is that it is not as orderly as one expected despite the strict rules and media hypes. People jay-walking etc. Japan is the most orderly country I ever visited by far and without too many strict rules.