I got off the bus al like midnight right at the northern end
of the island on the Malaysian side. Instead of getting a bus to the center
like I could have I opted to ride my bike. The bike ride was cool because Singapore had
the infrastructure of a first world country and I didn't have to share the
road with any cars. I rode on a highway that was in really good shape and
remember passing under a lot of freshly painted pedestrian bridges with perfectly
manicured vines growing on them. I was riding for like two hours though all
over the place criss crossing myself because I kept following arrows that said
I was going to Singapore, but I just couldn't find the skyscrapers. I finally
gave up and stopped at an oceanside outdoor bar where there were a lot of
foreigners around and got a four dollar Margarita and a plate of some good
food. I had someone point me in the right direction and found the skyscrapers
and went into the trees in a park to camp and found a mattress to sleep on.
I got up pretty early the next day and rode into the Indian
section which is were the cheap hotels are. I got a room for eight bucks a
night with my own TV. It was cool to watch TV there because all the channels
were in English because English is their national language.
That day I walked around the place and noticed how cosmopolitan
the place is. There were tons of Indians dressed in traditional Indian garb,
and a lot of Chinese looking people. I had a nice Indian meal in one of their
restaurants, and then took a bus around the island to check it out. I noticed
that the whole island was inhabited with city. But I don't remember many actual
houses, most of the residences were apartments. Then I went and did a tour
of the island to the south of the main island where the Dutch had their base
and saw all the canons and forts. I also did a train tour to see the various
wildlife there. I shared the gondola on the way to the island with a kid from
Denver Colorado. The Gondola went right over the Singapore harbor which is
the biggest in the world. |