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| This one is specially for David...sort of sums up what Singapore is about |
It is a very controlled place that gave me a 'Stepford' feel about it but I have to admit we liked it.Does that say something about us as we get older but this is no old person's hangout....it has not a buzz more of a well oiled purrr and the oil is money...loads of it.
No litter....no graffiti....no drunks....no tramps... no noisy people just polite kids who stand up and give you their seat on spotless trains etc.All the things you don't like, well they are not here and the stuff you do like and crave is!
My memories of Singapore as a kid were that it wasn't one of our high points during the conflict of the Second World War and I wanted to see if this was true.
Allan Colwill had told me that it was the best place to get a first taste of Asia, well sorry Allan we did it the wrong way around.I thought of comparing the three countries we had been to and I came up with my own grading system based on the wildlife we have encountered during our visits.
Thailand is the rat.....Malaysia is the cockroach.................and Singapore the ant.
Now don't get the wrong idea and think these places are related to the animal but rather the level of comfort/discomfort met is reflected by the relative size of the animal concerned, plus the fact that on the last night in Chumphon on the railway station , encountering a rat, which admittedly was prompt chased away by a cat, we adjourned to the VIP room.I came across a cockroach in Penang as I was attempting to follow the Villa Chelsea match.We saw some ants in Singapore......(before they were quickly swept away......no only kidding). Just a very poor attempt at trying to compare the differing locations that's all.
The transfer from the Changi airport to where we were staying was seamless and smooth.
Full marks to AirAsia for their part in that however we did have difficulty getting into the apartment we were renting through Wimdu.I had not heard from the owner since receiving an acceptance message via their messaging system back in October.So whilst in Langkawi I contacted their customer service department to check if all was OK and I got a message saying that all was confirmed.So when we arrived at the building and there was no one to meet us with a key I started to worry....was it a scam?.
The apartment block was gated with a guard house.....of course what would you expect it's Singapore but he wasn't there as he was off to his lunch.After speaking to a few of the residents I reached into the guardroom to use his phone to call the owner, David, who didn't speak very clear English. This, combined with the radio in the box jabbering on in Chinese, wasn't a good thing to be doing when the guard returned wondering who I was and what I was doing on his phone!
I wondered what the sentence for missuse of another's phone was in Singapore....hopefully just being locked up in Changi jail was the least they would throw at me.I shoved the phone into his hand and said can you speak to him and find out how we get the key? Hey I thought this trip was going too smoothly.He said in red box by door of 02-05 so off I went thinking wow this is something exciting for my correspondents to hear about and guess what ......no redbox....so back down to the guardhouse where the guard was now in uniform...( now to digress but I have noticed that since we have been in Asia there is a uniform fettish...not everyone has one,a fettish that is ...rather that they do like their uniforms, hats and all the other accoutrements that go with it.)....He spoke to David and then came back upto the second floor using the lift not the stairs, which sort of explains why I was getting rather heated.Well he too couldn't find a red box but having opened up a variety of cupboards found a red nike box ...with a key in it...and in true fairy tale style it fitted and we were in!Slaps on backs all round and with a huge sigh of relief as the thoughts of spending our stay in Changi Jail receded I went back to collect Maureen who was sat by the pool with the cases.
I wonder if this made the news on Singapore TV that night, probably right after the bit about the latest chewing gum execution , I should imagine ?
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