SINGA”POOR”

Monday, August 10th @ 22:01

Kevin

Helpless desperation. After almost exactly one year of travel all of our experience and “wisdom” meant nothing. We were stuck. Just before setting out for one of the world's oldest rain forests, somewhere around 160 million years old to be exact, we did what we always do, we prepared for the journey. Only, this time, we would hit a major roadblock that would make the next few days tense and uncertain. We had about 260 ringgit to our names, or about 80 US dollars. After trying five different ATM machines, including the one for our very own bank, we were unable to pull any cash. We knew our trip to Taman Nagara would be, at the very least, a bit more than we had. But, we just couldn't seem to get our hands on any cash. So, not wanting to miss the experience and also having already secured our transport, we headed out, owing the misfortune to a simple mistake that was sure to be cleared up by the time we returned from the forest. We knew our immediate funds were running a bit low, but we also knew there was some money just waiting in the wings to be cleared.

Amidst our four amazing days of “getting back to nature” and meeting the coolest family in the world (Hello Romeros!), we tracked down a woman at the five star Taman Negara Resort that was kind enough to exchange 60 US dollars, at the going rate of 189 ringgit, even despite it being a “privileged for guests only”. Whew, we were out of the woods, so to speak, at least for the time being. Our plan to always have $100 cash paid off.

Our trip to Taman Negara was amazing, as Idalis so eloquently stated in the last post, and we left with only a few bucks to spare. We would arrive back in Jerentut just in time to catch some breakfast, buy some snacks and get to the train station for our eight hour journey to Singapore. The eight hour journey turned into a ten hour journey and we finally made it to the area of Bugis, where we were planning to stay, at eleven o'clock. On the way, we would stop at an ATM machine to get some cash. Strike two. Still, no cash. And, worse yet, a message that would say the card was inactive and a call to the bank would be necessary. We pressed on, a bit miffed, but sure that there was a valid explanation. After all, this ATM card had served us well for upwards of eleven months already. By the time we made it to our hostel to check in and pay, we had only 2 Singapore dollars left from the little bit of ringgit that we exchanged upon arriving. Not enough to eat, not enough to drink and not enough to make a phone call to the bank. Still not shaken, we knew that if we could just find an open wifi connection somewhere in the city, we could call the bank and most certainly straighten all this out.

So, as we have done so many times in the past it was off to McDonalds, no luck, then Starbucks, again spoiled, and then an attempt to sign into the city's wifi service, which is free for tourists, IF you happen to have a local phone number. Strike three! It is now 12:30 at night, or early in the morning if you wish, and still no luck. All around us people are eating, drinking and frolicking in a city that thrives on bright lights, material delights and plenty of cash. In a last desperate attempt, I decided to pay a visit to he Hotel Intercontinental. My strategy was to explain our situation and ask if we could simply sign on to their wifi service long enough to make a SKYPE call to our bank and straighten all of this out. After a long and heartfelt plea and a couple of trips back and forth, probably to the manager's office, Farhana came back with good news, she would patch our call through to the out of country collect number listed on the back of our ATM card. We would wait on hold for what felt like days to final be connected to the Administrative office that would tell us that our card was indeed locked due to the foreign activity noticed by the account reviewers. “Foreign activity?! Yah, NO S@#T! We have been traveling for a year already consistently making withdrawals from points across this great big world and after a year you decide to flag the card?” Well, I couldn't be too mad, the protection and oversight was all in our best interest and after a few tense days and some incredibly intense hours, we successfully made our first withdrawal in far too long. It was time to pour thanks out to Farhana for being our angel in disguise and hit the road running. Which is exactly the way it should be done in Singapore.





Once a bargain shoppers mecca, Singapore, or Singapora (Lion City as named by a Sumatran prince who is said to have spotted a lion upon his first visit here) has become “mall capital of the world”! It seems like any stop on the metro conveniently deposits you right smack dab in the middle of an incredibly designed and gratuitously sprawling shopping complex. And there are many of them. It would take weeks just to cover the interior air conditioned space of the countless retail outlets and stalls. And then, there are the markets and hawkers square, which serving food were our favorite. Singapore is quite the anomaly being a country of 4.6 million (and growing...rapidly), in an area of 604 square kilometers and boasting one of the cleanest and germ free environments in the world. It is approximately 76.7% Mandarin speaking Chinese, 14% Malay Singaporeans and 7.9% Tamil speaking South Indians, with a few other minorities, such as American ex-pats, mixed in for good measure. Touted as an experiment in social morays and behavior, we actually, to our relief, found it to be far more relaxed and easy going than expected. Despite it being impeccably clean, orderly and having a few too many cameras, the people are friendly, the vibe is one of excitement and hopefulness and there is a sense of individuality in the fashion and expression, especially of the youth.

August 9th was Singapore's 44th year of Independence from both British Imperial rule and invasion of the Japanese during World War II. We were lucky enough, once again, to be the beneficiaries of a local celebration. We sat along with the mostly Singaporean crowd in front of the jumbo tron screen as skits, musical acts, displays of military prowess and fireworks were displayed along the marina front in honor of Nation's Day. We stood for the national anthem, observed silently the pledge and celebrated into the wee hours with the thousands and thousands of locals who took to the streets. We also visited the world renowned Singapore Zoo and enjoyed, perhaps, the finest zoologic park in the world. We shopped, a small bit, in a local market, took the time to visit the local cinemaplex and catch a great movie, “UP”, spent a day at the most touristic Sentosa Island, including a trip down the luge, and, of course, ate ourselves silly.



















It was only four days, and despite a rocky start, it all ended wonderfully and we spent far too much than we should have, which is far too easy to do. We lived like true Singaporeans as we spent much of our time in the malls, better known as social centers, shared in a sense of pride for independence and prosperity, ate at the twenty four hour food centers and crammed onto the metro just in time to make it back home to plan the next day's adventure.