A Friendly Face in a Far Away Place - Singapore, Singapore
Singapore, Singapore
When we arrived back at the comparatively super modern international side of the Kathmandu airport we were in for a very nice surprise when we arrived at the check in counter. After however many flights and thousands of miles travelled, we finally managed to score a free upgrade to Business Class! We had no idea how it happened but we happily accepted our new boarding passes and made our way through security and into the wonderful world of upgraded travel.
The flight was wonderful of course and we didn't even mind that there was almost an hour long delay sitting on the tarmac because well, we had wonderfully cushy seats and free champagne! When we arrived we even managed to avoid the incredibly long and tedious passport control line at the Kuala Lumpur airport because they had a special "First and Business Class" line that had no one in it…how wonderful! So after breezing through immigration we checked the monitor and headed for our designated baggage claim carousel to collect our things before meeting up with Jim. And then it happened. Our smooth sailing, upgraded leg of our adventure came to an abrupt end when we were approached by a baggage handler who told us in somewhat broken English that due to a “security reason” none of the bags from Kathmandu were put onto the plane so we would have to file a report and our bags would be delivered to us when they arrived on the first flight the next morning. So when something seems like it’s too good to be true (a free business class upgrade for instance), it probably is. Oh well for having traveled for nearly 8 months and just now having our first baggage issue we counted ourselves as lucky and besides we had our good friend Jim waiting on the other side of customs so we breezed through some paperwork and headed out to meet him.
It was so wonderful to see a friendly face after so many months of being on the road, all three of us had the biggest ear to ear smiles as we exchanged hugs and began the process of swapping stories that would last us through our whole time together. Jim had pre-booked a taxi that he had used before with a very sweet driver named Rose, so once we tracked her down and had a laugh once again about our lack of luggage, we headed into the city to see where Jim had established his Malaysian home away from home. Luckily it didn’t take too long to get to his apartment complex from the airport and when we arrived we were able to quickly settle in (no need to unpack anything!) and just spend a little time relaxing and getting caught up.
The next day we enjoyed doing almost nothing which was perfect! Jim had an incredible luxury that we were intent on taking full advantage of while we were staying with him…an Apple TV full of movies in ENGLISH! So we took turns selecting a movie to enjoy, sprinkled in with a couple of trips down to the pool which was very nice, and really had an excellent day. About half way through our relaxation marathon we managed to actually track down some concrete information about our bags and sure enough that evening at about 5pm they arrived! We were so relieved to have our stuff again and actually quite shocked that everything worked out as well as it did.
A little later that evening we decided to venture out beyond the apartment complex and Jim took us on a little adventure through his neighborhood to a Korean BBQ restaurant that he had tried recently. Since it was such a short trip we decided to walk rather than try to flag down or book a taxi however after only a couple of minutes in the thick muggy heat we were regretting our decision.
Jim continued to give us the old “it’s just right around the corner” for about 20 minutes until we finally arrived but the food was definitely worth the walk. After spending a lot of time in tourist hotels and restaurants through Africa, India and Nepal it was very cool to have Jim to act as our guide and he wasted no time getting us right in the thick of things. We were certainly the only “tourists” that we saw the whole night. Our meal that night was fantastic, the table was piled with plates of all sorts of various kimchee and we decided to order beef, pork and chicken to be cooked at our table for the full experience. While not all of the kimchee was exactly what we were looking for, it was obvious that everything was incredibly authentic and we had a great time sampling all sorts of different things. One thing was for sure though, having the BBQ going at the center of our table didn’t exactly help us cool off after our hike to the restaurant, but when I said something to Jim about that he just laughed and said that he had given up trying to cool down a long time ago, such was the life of an expat in Asia. After dinner we went to a little pub just around the corner and had a few Tiger beers, played some pool and continued to catch up, we really couldn’t get enough of each other’s stories and just how good it was to spend time together on the other side of the world.
The next day we continued to take full advantage of our “home away from home” and really did mostly the same thing as the day before. We were slowly running out of movies to watch but luckily the pool provided a very low stress activity for us to break up the day just a bit. During one trip down we decided to let our inner kids run wild and had the security guards turn on the little water slide which Jim admitted he was a pretty frequent user of, especially when the neighbor kids were around. He however failed to tell us that the little separate pool that served as the landing zone for the slide was actually less than 3 feet deep so when we went sliding down the first time we each ended up connecting with the bottom of the pool at pretty good speed, not enough to actually hurt but certainly enough to feel it. It was a great day and while there were a couple moments where we felt like we should be out exploring a bit more, Jim was quick to put us at ease and remind us that we were there to see him and have a good time, and we didn’t always have to be “super tourists”.
That night we decided to stick a little closer to home and Jim took us to a really great little Japanese restaurant just across the street from his place. After spending some time looking over the menu we had a really good laugh because when we started to ask Jim what he thought about various dishes, he finally had to admit that even though he ate at this restaurant at least once a week, the only thing he had ever ordered there were the steamed gyoza and the bean sprouts! Luckily all of the food turned out to be really good so hopefully we helped to broaden Jim’s options a bit at one of his favorite restaurants.
The next morning we decided that it was time to spread our wings a bit and plus we had a few errands that we needed to run before our upcoming cruise and we figured we would rather get them taken care of in Kuala Lumpur since we would be able to tap into Jim’s insider knowledge to avoid the tourist traps. So we headed out for a local mall that was a very nice combination of international brand name stores that we recognized and needed as well as some more colorful options that we were happy to explore as well. While we were at the mall we gladly followed Jim’s lead and opted for a somewhat boring but oddly comforting lunch stop at T.G.I. Friday’s since that was the only place in the all of Malaysia that Jim had found where he could satisfy his fajita cravings.
After a successful trip around the mall we headed towards the exit only to find that it had started to rain cats and dogs while we were inside. Jim told us that the semi-tropical climate in Kuala Lumpur meant that there was a chance for rain pretty frequently but it usually didn’t last very long so despite the absolute downpour we headed out to join the growing line for a taxi under a very flimsy makeshift tarp. At this point we learned an interesting sort of “locals only” fact about taxi’s in Malaysia. We watched as the cabs would pull up and before getting in people would need to tell the driver where they were going and then he would decide if he wanted to take them there or not. Jim explained that this was technically illegal but a very common practice because the taxi drivers didn’t like to waste their time with short fares or go to parts of town where they would be unlikely to get another passenger quickly. It was a pretty terrible system since we saw at least one poor guy who had to ask four or five different drivers before someone would finally pick him up, but it did make for a game we could play while waiting in line, guessing if the taxi would take a particular customer or not.
Luckily we were able to secure the first cab that came our way and after a short drive we were back at Jim’s place. Our driver was hilarious and although his English wasn’t great he had the best attitude and kept the conversation going strong for the whole drive. When we got back to Jim’s apartment we decided to lay low for a couple of hours, continuing to soak up as many American TV shows and movies as we could. That night we decided to be a bit more adventurous and Jim suggested that we should head into KLCC (Kuala Lumpur City Center) to a popular bar and restaurant street called Changkat where locals, expats and tourists all mixed together at any one of the dozens of hot spots.
The street was exactly as Jim described and we spent a good hour just walking up and down, enjoying the growing crowds and all of the hosts and hostesses pressing us to check out their happy hour, special menu or whatever other gimmick to get us in the door. It reminded us a bit of an Asian version of the restaurant gauntlet we had to run each night in Brussels and just like those nights, the people watching there on that street was fantastic. Jim had a favorite roof top spot that he took us to for a happy hour beer which gave us a great vantage point to continue our observations and we had a great time just taking it all in for a bit.
A bit later in the evening we started to get hungry and we decided instead of falling victim to the tourist trap burger joints and “Irish Pubs” that were littered along the main street we would venture a bit off the beaten path where Jim promised we would find a whole street filled with very authentic cuisine in the little China Town that was nearby. So we left the comfort of our roof top bar and set out along some side streets and we quickly found ourselves well outside of the touristy part of town. In fact after about 15 minutes of walking around we began to realize that Jim really didn’t know where he was going which added to the adventure as we continued to search for a busy street filled with various restaurants and food stalls. Jim assured us it was impossible to miss and had to still be close so we continued the search. Sure enough after nearly making it back to the street with all of the bars we finally found it! It turns out if we would have just gone straight instead of setting off on a back-alley adventure we would have run right into China Town. Too funny!
The street itself was actually packed with people and there were street vendors selling fruits and all sorts of various street food items. Wisely we decided to avoid those stalls and instead made our way to a restaurant that Jim had been to before and proceeded to find a table. All of the restaurants were open air and the seating stretched well into the street so it was a very fun atmosphere and allowed us to continue to enjoy all of the comings and goings of the busy street as we surveyed the menu. The food was actually really good and we even had the chance to try a very unique offering…barbequed sting ray. We must admit that while this wasn’t our favorite dish of the evening it was much better than we thought and we were very happy to have tried it. After dinner we headed back to the main drag for one more pass through the now very busy crowds before hopping in a cab and heading back to the suburbs and calling it a night.
The next morning Jim and I decided to head into his office since he had a few urgent things to take care of and that way we could let Bree catch up on a couple of Romcoms and chick flicks and just have a little down time. Jim had done such a great job of playing host to us and luckily he didn’t have a super busy week while we were visiting but we figured since he did need to go into the office for a bit that it would be a good chance for me to meet some of the people he was working with and to see what a typical “day in the life” was like for him. So after a quick but necessary stop at a nearby Starbucks we made it to the office and I had a great time meeting everyone that Jim was working with. Unfortunately there was a bit of a crisis going on so Jim got pulled into a pretty serious meeting with the head honcho at the office and I was left to fend for myself (with the wifi password) in the conference room. It was actually quite relaxing, the a/c was pumping and I had the chance to surf the web for a bit while Jim took care of business upstairs. After the world was safe once again or at least for a few more days we headed next door to a delicious little Chinese restaurant for lunch before hopping in a cab and returning to the apartment.
That night since it was our final night in Jim’s territory we decided to complete the tour of his go-to places and we took a nice walk over to his favorite Thai restaurant. The whole time we were in Malaysia we actually didn’t try much traditional Malaysian food but that was because it has a pretty big focus on curry and after our extended stay in India we were happy to a little change of pace. The Thai restaurant was great and since it was in a bit of a different corner of Jim’s neighborhood we felt like we had finally completed the circuit and had a good idea of his home away from home. We had such a great time seeing Jim in his element there in Kuala Lumpur and we couldn’t wait for the good times to continue when we headed for Singapore the next morning.
In order to get to Singapore our first plan was to take the train since it’s only about 5 or 6 hours and we thought it would have been a fun and different experience. Unfortunately we weren’t the only ones with that great idea and the options for times where there were three first class train tickets available were pretty slim (and we didn’t want to mess with non-air-conditioned second class tickets or anything like that). We did luck out when we opened our search up to flights though because for a little over $30 each we were able to book a 30 minute flight down to Singapore and we arrived in the early evening with no problems whatsoever.
We opted for a little boutique hotel in China Town since we heard that the area provided a bit more of an authentic experience as opposed to the skyscraper luxury hotels right on the water and when we arrived we were very happy that we did. After getting checked in it was time for some dinner so we decided to try out the local food court which was right next to our hotel. Not only was the food fantastic but the atmosphere and the people watching was great as well. With the exception of a handful of older tourists who walked through but didn’t stop to eat we were the only non-local people dining there that evening and we had a great time sampling some various street food options and taking in all of the action surrounding us. To top it all off not only did we have a great time but between the three of us we spent less than $15 to have a great meal when we had been told that Singapore is one of those places where everything will be super expensive. It was great!
The next day, eager to see more of the city, we set out with a rough direction in mind and decided to just explore a bit. We knew that there were a couple of key areas of the city, mostly focused around the water, that we wanted to see and sure enough by finding the water and just following it through the city we ran into everything we were hoping for and then some. One area that we had heard about was called Clarke Quay and when we came across it Jim’s immediate reaction summed it up for all of us when he said that this was absolutely someplace that he could see himself living. The area was a major restaurant center right along the water surrounded by various high-rise apartment buildings and the way that everything worked together made for an incredible little neighborhood just outside of the main city center. As we walked through in the late morning there really wasn’t much open but we could tell that around dinner time this would absolutely be a hub of activity with all sorts of options for food and drink.
After wandering through Clarke Quay we came across the nearby area of Boat Quay which was a bit more subdued but still a really fun street right on the water packed with all sorts of little restaurants. Just as we were walking down we realized that it was getting to be lunchtime so we picked a spot with working air-conditioning (it was really hot that day) and settled in for a meal. Little did we know we had hit the jackpot as far as Jim was concerned because we ended up at a place called Dallas which did it’s best to imitate a Tex-Mex restaurant and actually had the best fajitas that Jim had been able to find outside of the US. I had a delicious burger and Bree opted for a cobb salad with all of the typical toppings and we were all very happy with our random choice for a lunch stop.
Continuing to follow the water we finally made it to the iconic Marina Bay area where the incredible Singapore skyline wraps around one side of the large bay. We spent the better part of a few hours walking around the bay, enjoying the amazing architecture and the beautiful waterfront area. It was incredibly hot out that afternoon but luckily in one of the parks along the water the city had actually installed huge fans under large shaded areas so once we found that out we proceeded to plant ourselves under one for about 15 minutes just to cool off a bit before we continued our journey around the bay. We walked across the incredibly cool looking helix bridge and spent a little time inside the Marina Bay Mall before heading back towards China Town and our hotel to shower and relax for a little while.
That night we headed for a slightly more touristy part of China Town to an area called Smith Street where there were tons of little restaurants and a pretty large market area setup as well. We had a pretty good meal at a little Chinese restaurant (we didn’t really trust the random Italian place that was there haha) but the real fun was after dinner when we found a table outside and just watched all of the people go by. We of course spent some time wandering through the market area as well and just had a really good time soaking up the vibrant energy and excellent people watching in China Town that night.
Unfortunately the next day we had to say goodbye to Jim since he needed to get back to Kuala Lumpur. We spent the morning retracing some of our steps, walking along Clarke Quay and having lunch at a little seafood place in Boat Quay before we found a taxi stand and said our goodbyes. Jim had arranged to take the fanciest bus we had ever seen (at least according to the pictures online) but the terminal was a bit outside of town so we parted ways once he lined up a cab. We had such a wonderful time and of course it was hard saying goodbye but we couldn’t have asked for a better host while we were in Malaysia and we were so glad that it worked to have him come with us to Singapore for a few days.
We spent that afternoon taking in the sights of Singapore just a bit more and taking care of a few last minute shopping items that we needed for the cruise. After spending the last 7+ months with the same clothes it was nice to refresh our wardrobes just a tad with some clothes that would work for the more formal nights on the cruise but it was a major bummer to have to purchase ties since in my opinion those should not be a part of one’s vacation wardrobe. Oh well at least we found a good deal on some cheap but good looking options and Bree was able to find a great dress so we wouldn’t feel too terribly under dressed. After our quick tour of the mall we walked back towards China Town, dropped things off in the hotel and headed out for our last dinner in Singapore. Of course we decided it would be best to soak up one more night of excellent people watching on Smith Street so we headed there for some Chinese food and a beer while we watched the swarms of people moving in and out of narrow streets.
The next morning we checked out of our hotel but asked them to hang onto our bags since we didn’t have to head for the cruise ship until about 5pm. That left us with a day to explore so we decided to head for a must see attraction in Singapore, the Botanic Gardens. There was only one problem with us leaving this activity for our last day is that we didn’t have any options when the clouds parted and the rain began to pour down. So we headed for the metro hoping that our journey would last long enough for the storm to pass or maybe we would go far enough that we would avoid the heaviest rain. Luckily after changing trains three times we had travelled far enough (or took long enough) that we were through the worst of the storm so when we arrived at the Botanic Gardens it was only lightly sprinkling. The gardens are the kind of place where you would easily spend a full day if not a couple of days exploring and as we began to walk around we realized that we would need to be strategic about what we tried to see since it was such a huge place. We knew that we wanted to check out the National Orchid Garden so we consulted a map and headed that way, choosing a bit of a scenic route so that we could enjoy more of the grounds along the way.
The National Orchid Garden was absolutely beautiful. In addition to the stunning arrangements of various orchids throughout the garden there were several dedicated special sections designed to show off either a particular rare variety or a collection of orchids. In total there are over 60,000 orchids in the garden and it was truly wonderful to see such a huge variety of these beautiful flowers all together. Unfortunately there was quite a bit of landscaping going on as they were planting new flowers and rearranging some of the displays, but we still had the chance to see a lot of wonderful flowers while we were there. Another huge bonus that we discovered in the orchid garden was the Cool House which was a temperature controlled greenhouse designed to simulate a cooler environment in order to showcase different varieties of plants. This was such an amazing find because thanks to the rain the humidity was making the heat nearly unbearable so we spent quite a while making sure we really thoroughly examined each and every plant in the cool house, even taking some time to practice our Latin as we worked on pronouncing the scientific names for the various flowers and plants. When our body temperature had returned to normal we left the cool house and made our way to the exit of the Orchid Garden, selecting a different scenic route to take out of the park since it was approaching time for us to make our way back to our luggage. Our timing was almost perfect since the rain started back up again just before we reached the shelter of the taxi stand but we were very glad to be leaving when we did because the whole drive home the rain continued with vengeance and that would have really put a damper on our orchid experience.
After collecting our luggage we made our way to the ship and proceeded to get checked in for our wonderful two week cruise! Thankfully we had one more night in Singapore, even though we would be spending it on the ship, but we were absolutely looking forward to getting truly un-packed and settled into our home for the next 14 days. We had such a lovely time in Malaysia and Singapore, thanks mostly to our gracious host and tour guide Jim and we can’t wait to have some more adventures with him when we meet up somewhere else along the way during the rest of our travels in South East Asia.
More coming soon on our time onboard the Crystal Symphony, Until Next Time…David & Bree!