Singapore is a FINE City

Thursday March 22^nd

Greetings from the future, or at least that’s what I felt like when traveling in Singapore… My time in Singapore was rather brief, considering we were only there for one day, however it was so much fun!

First: to answer the questions about Singapore from my India blog (opps, sorry for the delay in this postt), I asked the following:

1. What is the law in regards to chewing gum in the country of Singapore? Singapore, is “a fine city” they have fines for just about anything and everything in hopes of keeping it super clean and in order (or so it seems). Apparently the fine for chewing gum is $1000, additional things one can be fined for include: smoking in non-designated smoking areas, j-walking, littering...
2. How wide is the country of Singapore?18 miles wide… that means Carol Braun (aka the Marathon Nut) it would be a piece of cake for you to run the width of the country and then start heading back!

Now for my day in Singapore…

We began the day by taking the subway to get to Orchard Street (a popular shopping area). The subway system in Singapore is absolutely incredible. The trains are so clean that you feel like you could eat right off the floor… unlike the metro or Marta system that we might be used to in the States, the Singapore system runs like clock work! The government strongly encourages the citizens to use the subway as opposed to owning a car because there would be horrible traffic if everyone were to drive. When we talked later in the day with our taxi driver, he explained that the government makes the process to obtain a driver’s license to be extensive and expensive, thus encouraging the use of public transportation.

Here is a picture of the subway… isn’t it clean?

When we walked out of the station we were all in awe of what we saw… the stations in Singapore are all beautiful shopping malls. We were all surprised to find many American, European, and Japanese stores in Singapore--- my friends were most excited about the Starbucks. Other stores we found included: H&M, Forever 21, Zara, UniQlo, Top Shop, and the list just goes on…  We made our way up to the street level to find Orchard Street, which was once again full of stores. Here is a picture of us as we made our way above ground:

Additionally, as we walked by casually a photo shoot was taking place… not sure why they didn’t ask us to model?

After we spent some time shopping, we worked up our appetite for lunch. In Singapore they have Hawker Centers… they are very similar to an eatery in a mall, but instead of being all fast food, these places are good quality food for cheap! Here is a picture of the food we ate:

After lunch, we decided to make our way over to the infamous Raffles Hotel. Why is the Raffles Hotel famous you’re pondering… ahhh yes, why of course this is where the drink the Singapore Sling originated. We of course had to check out the hotel and bar for ourselves and could not help, but to order the Singapore Slings. Talk about a tourist trap, make an educated guess at how much these drinks go for… I bet you didn’t guess that they go for a good $25 a drink!!! Highway Robbery--- that means just from my friends alone, the bar brought in a womping $225 just for drinks! WOW!

Our next stop was to the Marina Sans Hotel. What’s so great about this hotel? Well, on the top level there is an infinity pool that overlooks the entire city. We had heard from past SASers that in order to get to the top level of the hotel you had to either pay $20 per person or else find someone who would take you up to the top. In typical CK fashion, I refused to pay and my friends felt the same way, yet no one was making a plan of action, thus Katie and I took the lead. We made a dash for the elevator upon entering the hotel and made our way up with an Australian couple. I attempted to make conversation with them, telling them my best friend (Jamie Sargent) was studying abroad in Sydney and eventually asked if they could take us to the top floor. Much to our dismay, they pretended not to hear my question and practically ran off the elevator so as not to have to deal with us. Huge Bust! Katie and I decided that we might have just lost our one opportunity, thus rode the elevator to the highest possible floor that we could go (the top floor requires a key) and decided to take a photo shoot up here…

Defeated, Katie and I made our way back down the elevator. Suddenly, the elevator stopped on floor 10 to pick-up, a charming businessman named Bryan. At first we simply said hello to Bryan, but then a thought came to me, ask him! Once again we made chit chat and eventually I popped the question… It just so happened that Bryan was on the way down to the lobby to get his key fixed and was then headed up to the roof-top ;) V-I-C-T-O-R-Y a las!

We followed Bryan through the lobby and immediately spotted all of our friends. I signaled for them to follow me and then as Bryan finished fixing his card, I politely told (rather than asked) him that a “few” of my friends would be joining us as well! Little did he know that by a few of my friends I was referring to a group of 10 of us… Not to worry, us SAS-ers know how to use our manners, and immediately bought Bryan a few drinks as a way to say thank you for bringing us up to an AMAZING view. 

Can you guess which person is my hero Bryan? 

That will probably go down as one of my favorite memories from Semester at Sea and as silly as it sounds it is taught me 2 valuable lessons

1.  Never expect things to be offered on a silver platter, but instead take matters into your own hands.
2. Never be afraid to speak up for yourself or ask questions 

Singapore was a great and necessary port as it allowed for me to be able to relax a little (shocking for SASers to be relaxing when in port). This was the first port where:

• We didn’t have 417479813947 “must sees” places to visit
• We were reminded of the American way of life in the sense that everything was VERY modernized (in fact even more modernized than the US)
• We were able to roam the streets/ stores without being seen as a $ and being asked to buy something 

There is no doubt in my mind that I am forever changed after visiting India, South Africa, Ghana, Brazil, and Dominica yet I will be the first to admit that I appreciated Singapore in the sense that I received somewhat of a travel “break”. It may sound odd, but it is both emotionally and physically exhausting to travel in a third world country, thus Singapore served as the perfect place for me to be able to “rest” and “recover” in order to be able to take on the rest of my journey through Asia!

Well folks, it looks like I have one blog left… I’ll let you in on a little secret, I am dreading having to write this final post, for it means that my journey around the world is actually over (as if I hadn’t already realized that being that I have been home for a good 6 weeks), but nevertheless it makes it so final ;/ ;/ ;/