So our time in Singapore went quickly. We stayed in two different resorts that were way out in the Northeast part of town called Pasir Ris. Between the taxi and train ride it was about 40 minutes to downtown, but we passed the time listening to/watching stuff on our iPods. I finished watching Season 3 and now only have Season 2 of the Office to watch before I'm all caught up. Our arrival in Singapore was depressing. We rolled into town on the train from Malaysia and were greeted with a rundown station that has probably been around for 100+ years and bathrooms that seemed like they hadn't been cleaned in months. There wasn't even an ATM in the station so I had to get a bad rate at a local money changer just so we would have enough cash to get a taxi to our hotel. When we got to the hotel they didn't have an ATM either so we had about $12US to eat dinner and do laundry for both of us. We went to bed that night with about 50 cents in the local currency.
One amusing thing is how we have been budgeting our use of cash. Since every ATM use costs me $5US I try to plan on only using it once per country. And for some strange reason, not everyone is into "plastic" over here, and not just poor countries. Japan was nearly a total cash society despite its wealth, and when we went grocery shopping in Singapore they took some local card, not Mastercard of Visa. When we get to a town we hit an ATM and get what we think will be enough for our time there. Usually, we don't spend a whole lot the first day or two and then have a bunch to splurge at the end. For some reason we struggle with the concept of taking extra cash to the next country but instead prefer a nice meal or entertainment before departure.
OK, so back to Singapore. After getting there Saturday evening we made our way to the hotel and settled in for the night. Sunday we used Googlemaps to find the local Church and made our way there. The Church built a really nice new building here a couple of years ago that is five stories tall, has two chapels, and houses six wards. We randomly went to one of the local wards and thankfully the service was in English (I guess all services here are). Humorously, after missing the Sacrament by 2 minutes last week, we got there this week as they were passing the bread so we ducked in the door just in time. Maybe next week we'll try to apply the whole concept of getting to Church early and planning ahead.
After Church on Sunday we visited Orchard Road, the famous Shopping District of Singapore. It is totally deserving of its reputation. I say this from my limited knowledge on the subject and Fernando's approval of the offerings. For over a half-mile there is mall after mall, each 5-plus stories tall with an office tower above that. While I didn't really enjoy the shopping (often ended up on the bench in the store) the options outside weren't much better as it was something like 90 degrees with 90% humidity. In these climates all you have to do is walk outside and within five minutes you are dripping sweat. I had forgotten this unpleasant aspect of SE Asia from my mission, but am now vividly reminded everyday. Sunday evening we just headed back to our hotel, grabbing dinner and groceries on the way.
I just added a picture of our train from KL to Singapore. The trip went very well as I read most of it and we both had two seats to ourselves. Travelling on trains is much more comfortable than planes. All the times I've done it on trip so far we have had ample leg room to stretch and relax. We've had A/C every leg and enjoyed the views looking out the windows. Malaysia was really green as you'd expect a rain forest/tropical locale to be. We passed an occasional small town and plantations. I'll keep going with another entry as this one is getting clogged with pictures and my thoughts are totally random at his point.
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