A random trip to Singapore

We took a 14 hour bus ride from Siem Reap to Bangkok but we ran into a bit of trouble while crossing the border. In the past, if you entered Thailand by land you received a 30 day visa. However, it changed while we were traveling and when we checked our passports we realized that now you only get 15 days. That threw off our plan to spend a month meandering through the islands in Southern Thailand. We were at a loss as to what to do because once you enter the country you have to exit and go to a Thai Embassy in another country to apply for a longer visa. We continued onto Bangkok and ended up running into our Canadian friend Jessie, from our motorbike trip in Laos. He was having even worse problems then us as he'd gotten his passport stolen on a ferry done south. We commiserated with each other over our bad luck as we walked down the street to the hookah bar. With a huge lovely strawberry flavored hookah in front of us we forgot about stupid visas and passports and spent the rest of the night laughing over new travel stories since we'd last seen each other. Dan and I solved our visa problem the next day by booking a plan ticket from Bangkok to Singapore and then from Singapore to Phuket (in southern Thailand). If we entered Thailand by air from another country then we could get our 30 day visa.

My first impression of Singapore can be summed up with one word. Clean. The whole city is so clean and orderly. After coming from Cambodia where it's not uncommon for people to spit their food out onto the restaurant floor if they don't like it, Singapore was quite the culture shock. In fact, just chewing gum is punishable by a fine of up to $1,000. The metro ran on time, most everyone spoke English, the public areas were covered in well manicured gardens, and more uniquely they are extremely fashionable. There are so many shopping malls on this small island, more then thirty, that it's impossible to visit them all in one day. I did well in resisting the temptation to spend money and came out with only a new shirt and shorts. I should note that Singaporeans are the most fashionable people I've ever seen. As we walked through the malls I felt like I was in the pages of Vogue. Overall, I really enjoyed our short 2 day stay and I'd love to go back again with a bigger budget.


Photos

Videos