My trip to Singapore & Malaysia - Sept 2000

My Trip to Singapore - September 2 - 9, 2000

Back in September of 2000 I took the most exotic and distant vacation ever. I got the chance to experience Singapore and Malaysia, primarily Singapore. I was fortunate to have a friend over there who talked me into going and she was my "tour guide" and we had a lot of fun!! Many friends and family were very nervous about me going there, since I’m known for trouble and got a big mouth at times. I paced myself by not having gum or spitting for several weeks to prep me for the trip also.

The Lonely Planet book, various web sites and other sources help me plan my trip and what I wanted to see there.

Since I'm a nature lover and they have a fantastic Zoo/Night Safari combination, a fantastic Bird Park with lots of Penguins!!! Also they have their own "Fantasy Island" nearby called Sentosa Island which was fantastic to experience. With all of this we both became kids for a week!!

The food was fantastic also. I had so many different dishes of Indian and Malaysian food, seafood and other oriental foods. I did miss the pizza, burgers and bagels back home in New Jersey & Brooklyn but when I'm on vacation I love to try new things. My stomach back in the U.S. isn't too strong or reliable but luckily I had no problems with the food or drinks while I was away. I did try to keep the spices moderate on the Indian and Malaysian food. Another funny twist when we would eat was that in many places no utensils or napkins were provided. I had to practically beg for them. I got good with chopsticks since I had no choice!!! It was strange eating with the Indian food with my hands, luckily I didn’t make a big mess.

Singapore was very clean and safe. Reminded me of Stockholm, Sweden in some ways. Their streets are spotless, clean air, people very nice and helpful mostly everyone speaks English fluently among other languages so actually communication was easier for me in Singapore than Sweden!!!

Also everyone spoke English veyr well and clear and it quite easy to get around compared to being in Stockholm where everything was mostly in Swedish and only the younger people spoke English

My flight to and from though it was 22 hours each way…It was fantastic flying Singapore Airlines. The staff and service even though I was in coach was First Class and superb blowing all airlines I even been on out of the water especially all the airlines in the United States. I've heard about them but until you fly on the the airline you just cant judge them. Actually I got a good deal through Singapore Airlines, with the hotel and even a limo to and from the airport for $1500 for a whole week. Not bad at all for a trip to Asia from New York!!!!!! They give you fantastic food, your own TV with movies and even games to keep you occupied.

My hotel was Orchard Parade which was real nice and cozy and on the main strip on Orchard Blvd where all the action is downtown. Like being in Times Square in New York City, or the main strip in Las Vegas. I landed on time and called home first thing and then my limo ride was waiting for me and took me to the hotel after I got some money exchanged to hold me over. I later found out even my hotel does conversions for free!!! I arrived early and was unsure if my hotel would be ready usually American and other hotels are ready 12Noon-3pm. They said my room would be ready in about an hour and gave me free drinks to hold me over. After the room was ready I called my friend Raihana and gave her my phone number to call me when she is done working and to meet me. Every morning I got a fantastic breakfast included with my package at the hotel so after I unpacked some I got a bite to eat and then showered and took a nap to get some much needed and quiet sleep. Raihana ("Rain" for short) called and we would meet and see Little India and get dinner there that night. The food was delicious and I was amazed at the cultures, food, clothing, and people all over.

The next day was Sunday and we went to see the Singapore Zoo and later on the Night Safari. I was amazed at the zoo there. I've been to about 6 Zoo's and never saw anything like this one. Its "open" space and the animals can roam around and many do. Of course the wilder and more dangerous ones like Tigers and Lions have barriers to protect us. The zoo is almost 20 years old and between the wide variety of animals some I never seen before too having the animals roaming around the zoo it’s unique in itself.

Then we had a quick dinner before heading to the Night Safari. Raihana was never at this new part of the Zoo since it opened a few years back, so neither of us knew what to expect. I read about it in the travel section of the New York Times and it sounded really cool to see the animals in their natural habitat but at night!! Both of us are scared of bats

The next day was Monday and unfortunately a lot of the attractions and sites are closed. So I went downtown and visited City Hall, which is where the Japanese surrendered WW II and I learned about the war and Singapore's history and culture from the exhibits and the film they were showing there. Also I saw their WW II war memorial, Raffles statue, and many British'y looking buildings and interesting architecture.

It was beginning to drizzle Monday also so I decided to stay indoors. I then went to see the Catholic cathedral and did some praying and later on I heard very heavy rain unlike I ever heard before. I went to look outside and it was pouring non-stop for almost 2 hours!!! And back home after the storm starts the amount of rain gradually reduces but not here. Instead the rain just kept coming down heavier and heavier. I began to imagine what their Monsoon seasons are like, I've heard that the rain can last for weeks….I thought we have it bad, but Singapore being near the equator they are prone to this.

Well the rain stopped and I kept having trouble finding the Ruffles Hotel and eventually found it!!! I browsed and bought some stuff in their shops and then I saw they have afternoon tea and it was 3pm so I was going to wine and dine myself. I later found out they have a tea buffet full of scrumptious deserts and goodies. And that would be my lunch!!!!! I relaxed some and felt like I was in Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous with Robin Leach. I had the waitress take some funny photos of me drinking and holding my tea and other tourists got a kick out of my poses.

Then on Tuesday we went to Sentosa which is a little island like a mini-Disney world for adults and kids. Rain and I met at City Hall and took a bus to World Trade Center passing through Chinatown. We entered the ferry terminal shopped around and had lunch together she said food is pricey there so we ate before taking the ferry. This was Rain's time which she became a "kid". She turned into a little girl when we got off the ferry, just like I did when we later saw the Penguins at the bird park.

I saw some photos of Ft Siloso and Underwater World but I didn’t know what to expect.

We first saw Underwater World, which was really cool and put together very well. Its like an aquarium that you can walk under and they have a moving floor like the Jetson's to move you around and also an area that doesn’t move if you want to stop and take pictures. First we saw some scary Piranhas, then some eels and other water creatures until we got on this motorized zig zag walkway showing us the sharks, fish, sting rays and lots more. I felt like I was snorkeling. We then saw Ft Siloso and had a nice view there and saw the canon's and stuff. Then the Butterfly Park was really cool. A lot of other bugs there too but not as pretty as the butterflies. Raihana had fun holding and singing to the butterflies. We then saw "Images of Singapore" which is a beautiful, interactive exhibit of their history, WW II and their culture. Rain being "my tour guide" and also being a teacher she told me more about their history and pointed out things, I just hoped she wasn’t going to be testing me on this later!!!

We then entered Merlin, which is a 37meter high tower, which is also part of a fantastic light show that we would later be seeing. But we were enjoying the night view of the area, waterfront and some of the light show from atop the tower. Then we left the tower and did some shopping and headed over to the light show. The light show was really neat they combined a water fountain, light and lasers into a neat hi tech show unlike I ever seen anywhere.

On Wednesday came the Bird Park. We barely made it on time for the 3:30 Penguin feeding. Whew!!!!!

I was like a pig in mud in the Penguin exhibit. For those of you who don’t know me I love Penguins, I even have a penguin tattooed on me. I got some good pics of the penguins being fed and sleeping.

On Thursday we headed for Malaysia. We had two big lines to wait in. First was for a bus from the World Trade Center in Singapore to get to Malaysia’s immigration. Then the next was a big line for Singapore citizens we would have made it through a lot quicker. My line was a breeze since I was outside Singapore & Malaysia.

We returned back on Friday.

I learned a lot about history, different religions and cultures, geography and more. I didn’t know the Japanese also surrendered at their City Hall, which I visited, also they occupied Singapore and changed its name until America dropped the bomb on Hiroshima. Seeing the religion temples and mosques and their ceremonies and people also captivated me a lot.

Some things surprised me: they censor movies and music there I watched an American movie in my hotel room and several curse words were blanked out in the movie and I saw stamps approving music and movies there. That I didn’t expect to see. I met other citizens there and they were nice and friendly some who visited the U.S. asked me where I was from and told me where they visited or asked me about the cities, etc. I was more than happy and felt safe to talk to them.

Something that was strange for me is you have to beg for napkins and even FORKS....A few times I just ate with only my hands!!!! Quite different than back in the states!!!

Since I was going to an exotic, hot tropical place near the equator and I would be sweating a lot, I read somewhere that salt tablets are suggested to take with each meal. Those I had to order at a pharmacy. Also because of Malaysia I got medicine for Malaria, luckily it wasn’t injections and instead they were Lariam tablets that I had to take 2 weeks before and 2 weeks after the trip and during the trip of course.

As for travel paperwork all I needed was my passport, no visa's were needed for Singapore or Malaysia since I'm an American citizen. Also I'm on other medications so I brought medical notes from my doctors and paperwork on them giving their generic names, etc in the event it was questioned or I needed refills or the unexpected.

Lonely Planet has a very good pocket sized travel book loaded with information, maps, ratings and other useful info if you ever go.

Another very helpful book that helped me get around and find other places I wanted to see was Insight Compact Guides of Singapore. ISBN: 0887295666 for only $7.95 is small and pocket size!!

Bring cotton clothing else youll sweat if not used to this weather

The subways were confusing at first until I figured out they numbered all the stations (stops) and each DIRECTION was a DIFFERENT COLOR. I'm from new york and everything is uptown or downtown. Also if you end up taking the buses there and you most probably will get their "TransitLink Guide" its a must for taking the buses