Singapore! The city-state so nice I visited it twice.There was actually a reason for this trip though, and it was visa related. Somewhere along the chain of command my job was really dragging their feet in regards to my employment permit, and with my current visa expiring, I had to get out of the country. Due to the cheap flight in the aforementioned blog, Singapore was pretty much the best deal around. And with work chipping in (most) of the bill, how could I say no?
But we had business to attend to, so it was off to the Thai embassy to get a visa. However, the lady told me that they would not give me a VISA, as I have been in Thailand as a tourist waaaay too long. Truth, but usually they forget that sort of thing when money appears. She didn't budge, and would only grant me a short, transit-visa if I gave her proof of an outward ticket. So... darn? I had no choice to come back on a landing visa, and the agents at the airport did not care at all. I employed the time-honored foreigner tradition of answering "I don't know" or "I don't understand" to every question they asked. "You're too much trouble, have a visa, bada-bing bada-boom."With Singapore being an expensive city, Ella and I planned to see it on a budget. And I'm proud to say we did not spend 1 cent on attractions except for $4 to see a museum. Which, Ella got in for $2 since she's a student. So rather than revisit the places we saw last time (and again, that expertly crafted entry is here), let's talk about the new places.
Ella has an interest in Arab culture and religious buildings, so we actually spent a lot of time hitting up churches and mosques. They ran the gambit, but the tiny little Masjid Abdul Gafoor, right around the corner from our hostel was my favorite. Very friendly, pretty place. The least favorite was the main, big mosque, the Sultan Mosque. We arrived late one night, and the man said sorry, they're doing prayers right now. But we can come back tomorrow morning to see it. So back tomorrow morning we went, and went in to look around. Then this rude fellow came out and told us the mosque was closed. The people sitting around inside suggested otherwise. I apologized and said the man last night said we could visit in the morning. He responded "He is not in charge here, I am in charge here, you must leave." Well. Okay then. Jerk. Your mosque isn't as pretty as the other one anyway.But, I must definitely mention Haw Par Villa. This is the weirdest godamn place I may have ever been in my life. Although, Happyland in Myanmar comes close. Apparently Myanmar folks have a penchant for the weird, because this place was also a statue park set up by some Myanmar fellow. It had a bunch of bizarre stuff, like his car with a tigers head on the front. But the main star was his exhibition on the 10 layers of Chinese hell. Complete with Team-America like statues suffering all sorts of horrible fates, like their hearts being torn out, or crushed by giant stones. It was super morbid, so here's some photos.
The Art Museum has free admission on Friday, so that was also on the list. Normally not my thing, but free is my thing. The Singapore Art Museum was actually a lot better than most. The exhibitions were interesting, and not just weird for the sake of being weird. I also liked that they really showcased a lot of art from their schools there. Aside from proving that a 6 year old can draw better than I can, I really enjoyed what they came up with, and thought it was a lot more cool than like a Van Gogh or something. Did Van Gogh draw dinosaurs? Not to my knowledge. Maybe if he did he would be a lot cooler. Continuing the museum circuit, we hit up the very, very newly opened (just 2 months ago) Indian Heritage Museum. As it was so new, I never saw it on any guide but I imagine it will be soon. This was where we paid a total of $6 to get in, but it was really nice. It was full of interactive terminals, and it didn't take me long to notice that each terminal had a "kid mode" button on the bottom. Instead of reading about some Indian ship that took people to Singapore, you got to play a mini game where you had to load cargo and people. You can bet that was a lot more interesting! Well done, Singapore.
We (I) also made a point to hike Mt. Faber, the highest natural point in Singapore. It's actually not much of a hike, you can do it in about 30 minutes. I think it nearly killed Ella, though. After we went to Sentosa to swim on the beach. I think Thailand has really spoiled us. I never thought Thai beaches to be amazing, but geez they're a heck of a lot better than Sentosa. You'd think, as probably the most expensive real estate in the world, they could afford some nicer beaches. Something weird I did notice is that the water is very salty, much saltier than normal. I found it very easy to float there, so I guess it has that going for it.
