Will this post go viral?

Yes, our blog went AWOL in 2019. No excuses, but our times in both Portugal  and Glastonbury Music Festival in England  were so exhausting (too much partying) that I let things slide and couldn’t get on track.  Both will, belatedly, get written up for posterity in the next couple of months. Meanwhile, 2020 is off with a bang with a journey to SE Asia, specifically Singapore, Vietnam and Thailand.First time for both of us to the first two places, though I passed through Singapore a couple times back in the 80s when I often travelled on business to Malaysia. I remembered it back then as one big shopping mall, would I be proved wrong now?
Before that question can be answered there is a flight from PDX to LAX and a frightening 17 hour haul from there to Singapore to be endured.  Premium Economy or not, the fundamental problem with a 17 hour flight is being almost continuously in a seated position, no matter how often you get up to walk around and stretch.  About 13 hours in, your knees start to ache, rear end gets sore, throat and nose dry out and a mild panic attack ensues.  Happy pills would have been good at that point,  but that’s one area where our prep lacked. 

This trip we also have to consider the corona-virus:  This trip has been 9 months in the making so cancellation was not an option unless the world was ending in the next month, but it looks like we have at least a few months left, so here we are.  We’ve had our shots (Typhoid, Hep-A and -B), malaria tablets are on hand, and we’re stocked with face masks and sanitizer.  Arriving at LAX, Chinese airlines are still flying to the mainland so it’s not much fun watching those folks trudge past our gate,  everyone wearing a mask.

  Once on board, we have no complaints about Singapore Airlines though, great staff and good food options if you order in advance, though the  PE seats were barely worth the additional cash.

If you’re going to fly 17 hours in economy the best airport to fly into would be Changi in Singapore.  Immigration and customs are a breeze, though we do through through temperature scanning, and we’re quickly onto the MRT train system after a $15 shower in the transit lounge.  Having a consumerist dictatorship has its advantages, the trains do run on time, they are clean and have good aircon.  Of course, it’s hot and humid and it has that unique Malaysia/Singapore aroma that mixes fruit, including the stinky durian, tropical flowers, exhaust fumes and a tinge of sewer all wrapped up in a soggy blanket of moisture.  Brings back memories of Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia.

One key to understanding Singapore is that it is officially multi-cultural with signs being in four languages English, Mandarin, Malay and Tamil, with the Mandarin being loaded with local slang.  The Malays are indigenous, the Chinese call the shots and the Indians bring up the rear, socio-economically.  The broad use of English  is a godsend for Western tourists arriving on long haul and the strict compliance to law by everyone here means you’re as safe as it’s possible to be.

We score an early check-in at the hotel and head off in a jet lagged daze to Chinatown for a vegan lunch, which is possible due to the Chinese Buddhist contingent, then an introductory local Tiger beer before zipping over to the Gardens by the Bay.  This is a tourist attraction but it’s a great one and a source of pride to the locals.   First there’s the triple columned Marina Sands, topped with the horizontal Skypark, looking like a Stonehenge of the distant future, then the awe inspiring Supertrees and the two enormous conservatories, the Flower Dome and the Cloud Forest.  You pay to get into the conservatories but there are plenty of free gardens to wander round –  If you come to Singapore you have to visit here.  We are wiped out so, after a good outdoor Indian meal steps away from our hotel, we crash out, only to spend most of the night staring at the ceiling, courtesy of the brutal jet lag.

The best bus system I’ve ever experienced – Tap on/off, single card for everything, frequent and clean – takes us down to the Quays on the Singapore River the next morning.  Touristy, yes, but a must do with post modern skyscrapers, plenty of public art, colonial edifices, greenery, the river and three distinct restaurant and nightlife districts, the three quays Boat, Clarke and Robertson.
 During a pleasant stop for a drink, my quest for the most expensive beer in the world racks up a new notch with a brew that comes in around US$13 including tax and service charge.  You don’t come to Singapore on a backpacking jaunt for sure, though  I realize that professional world travelers can regale me with horror stories that would put my spendy beverage in the shade.  To be honest, we’re just happy to be in a place that’s as urbane as this at the beginning of our jaunt while still experiencing the atmosphere of multiple Asian cultures.  Speaking of which, lunch is at a hawker centre (old school food court) where we have delicious seafood laksa and fresh cane sugar juice with lime for about US$8 each.

Flagging in the heat, we pass through the Islamic neighborhood of Kampong Glam, which is pretty enough, but the mosques are closed to tourists (not sure if this was because of the corona virus or not) then onto the quite scruffy Little India district which is very oriented to backpackers and offers “Bollywood Hostess” bars and multiple opportunities to get run over.  We bail under heat stress before missing the, reportedly, very interesting Hindu temples in the neighborhood.

In the evening we’re back at Clarke Quay with the “kids” and have a sobering experience in the “Secret Karaoke Bar” which actually appears to be an audition for “Singapore’s Got Talent” where immaculately decked out 20 year olds sing perfectly without a hint of emotion under an immaculate light show without the help of lyrics on a TV monitor.  No, we’re not welcome to sing here and, yes, we’ll be moving on now.  Luckily, we finish off the night at the Crazy Elephant Bar where a bunch of locals, and a Scandinavian rocking chick, belt out some hard rock standards.  Sometimes, it’s OK to end up at the gringo bar.

OK, we’ve had the soft start in Singapore and now we’re moving up to the next travel level with a hop to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam.

Hey, Singapore was OK after all.  You can shop your ass off if you want and never leave your aircon heaven, but there’s plenty of, ahem, hot sweaty colorful action to be had if you’re willing to get out there and get busy.