I'm not saying Singapore is a bad place, but I did have a bit of bad luck while I was there..
In fact, My bad luck started as soon as I crossed the border!
Singapore is a dot on the map. I didn't know much about it except that it's a city and a country, and I've heard it's strict.
It's a big crime to spit gum on the sidewalk and you can be sentenced to Death for marijuana.. at least that's what I hear people say a lot.
When I crossed the borer I expected to be in the city. I really thought I could just go across and start walking around and exploring the city. But the real established city part is not near the border. Which surprised me a bit. What looks like such a tiny dot country on the map gets a lot bigger when zoomed in from a human's point of view. There's not much around the border. Just a bus stop and a bunch of taxis!
Ok, fine. But the real problem was, there weren't any currency exchanges anywhere at the border?? What? This is a border! they're supposed to be here, right? Every other border I'd seen had currency exchanges.
So I looked around for an Atm, but couldn't find any nearby.
So crap, I can't take a bus into the city because I only have Malaysian Ringgit. So, I took a taxi and told him to take me to an Atm and then a hostel.
Then later, I went out to explore the city. There was an awesome outdoor food center nearby. My first meal in Singapore was frog meat covered in some kind of spicy sauce. Then later I tried some pig organ soup at another place. I described my experience eating those foods in a separate post.
Later, Probably because of the unusual food I had been eating, I was suddenly struck by a vicious case of diarrhea. I tried as hard as I could to hold it in long enough. I could see a mall in the distance but I had to cross a large park first to get to it. Despite my best effort I was powerless to avoid a small amount escaping my bowels. Just a little. I had never had that happen before and I'm embarrassed to say but that food must have fucked me up bad.
Anyway, I spent the next day eating normal food and exploring the city. I walked very far. Which I tend to do a lot. and I got very lost, which I also tend to do sometimes a lot.
In my opinion though, Singapore is a city that is easy to get lost in, at least if your walking. To save money, I didn't take the metro which probably would have made finding my way easier. but I like to walk and wander around aimlessly.
But seriously, So much looked very similar. I saw the same shops selling the same stuff all over the place. So much of the city looked the same. It looked so similar to another part of town that was very far away that I couldn't tell where I was. The majority of my time in Singapore was really spent walking around and getting lost.
On my last day in Singapore, I used the metro some. I like metros. So easy and convenient!
Also on my last day, a lady approached me and tried to sell me a massage. I said no and continued walking but she walked along side me while pulling my arm and begging me to get a massage. I'd never seen someone so desperately aggressive before. This went on for a long time. She would not leave me alone and I really had to be somewhere.
Well, it's almost time to conclude this post. There were a few things I actually liked about Singapore. My image of it was that it would be super strict and clean. Because of the infamous gum rule. But it really didn't look as clean as expected. It had quite a few great outdoor food centers and I drank quite a few delicious dragonfruit smoothies while in that city.
Oh and this sign is hilarious. I've never seen a traffic sign anywhere else in the world that warns drivers about old people.
Another thing I liked was this place. I found it at night. I don't know what it is. Maybe a college. But nobody was around and it looked beautiful to me. I walked around alone and somehow, the environment felt peaceful.
Well, I think that's really all I got to say. Honestly, I would like to return to Singapore someday. I'm sure next time will be awesome.
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