The ride was smooth and the lit up road let me know it was a completely different climate there. More palm trees, bougainvilleas, and other warm country plants were lining the streets. I was sweating profusely in my woolen tights, sweater and ski jacket. The smell of town was much sweeter, like jasmine tea mixed with dim sum and Indian curry.
The reception at the hotel Ibis was not refreshing as it was pretty cold for a service. Even the taxi driver was commenting that they didn't even get out to welcome me or help with luggage and asked me not to tip them. I dragged myself and my luggage up to my room on the 5th floor, facing the back of a temple and another high rise building. I remembered that being seen naked even in the privacy of your own house was illegal so I closed the thick window, turned on the A/C at its max, and stripped the layers of winter clothes...
After a shower, which I hope was not illegal that late at night, I tried to sleep. I was too excited though and probably stayed wide-eye-opened until dawn.
Some daylight took me out of bed and I felt ready to jump into the middle of town, armed with only a map and my phone. I remembered seeing a 711 around the corner and I set out to walk outside. As soon as I got out though, the heat flattened me down to a blob of sweat and I lost my breath after 10m in the sun. I managed to walk 2 blocks, past the Nanyang school of fashion and another design university, to end up all dehydrated in a 711. I asked for a sim card for my phone:
-"hello, could I please have a prepaid sim card?"
-"gfrbgrlbjlrkgj;ewfkef?"
-"eh...what, sorry?"
-"fvrwvjnlk grgrkrgfgbrtoytqw?"
-"sorry, I really didn't get that"
Another clerk, younger, jumped in
Her:"what company?"
Me:" ah yes, of course. Singtel will do"
Her:"passport please"
Me:"huh? oh ok. here it is"
Her:"You can sit over there and wait 10min"
Me:"In that case, can I have this COLD juice please. How much is it?"
Her:"that's 1 dollar. You can also have these buns for 1 dollar. Very good"
Me:"uh no thanks. I'll go and wait"
Feeling dizzy from the language barrier, I perched myself on a bar stool. While sitting at the bar facing the windows, I people watched and tried to imagine their lives: young men taking a smoke outside their offices, drinking cold juice from 711, who were not even sweating! Of course they are used to it, but also they are wearing cotton shirts and trousers. It was only around 09:30am at the latest. After 10minutes, I paid for the sim card, got my passport back, and just prayed it was not hacked. On my way back to the hotel, I stopped by a food mall which was not completely opened yet, but I followed the yummy smell and got to this bakery that had lip licking good looking buns. Two ladies invited me in and I asked for cold milk tea, which the waitress found really strange so the other lady explained how to make it: make tea, add milk and ice cubes...
I happily drank and ate, while my body dried and returned to a non-combustible temperature.
After that, I walked another block to the hotel to have a pee break after all that I drank. Restarting my journey, I walked toward the other direction to discover there was a 711 in the same block as the hotel. DUH.
I got myself a nice cold bottle of water and just walked about, following the shades and the street crowds. Stumbling on some street market, it was fun browsing for clothes and cheap trinkets. At a crossroads, a snake charmer was courting a white flat head snake...yikes! I walked past as fast as I could and ended at Bugis junction, which reminded me of Camden town market. The smell in the air was of Chinese mushrooms, rained on soil and various food.
After 15minutes of walking and sweating, I dropped into Bugis Junction mall and bought myself 2 t-shirts at a Marvel goods store (one Supergirl blue shirt and one yellow soft and thin cotton one). I saw quite a it of that mall while looking for the restrooms. Walking another block towards an unknown direction brought me to Iluma mall, which has a really nice outside look. It was only around 10:00 and stores were only slowly opening.
I found a really nice beach clothes shop on the 2nd floor, and was attempting to choose an outfit from the all so bright colorful choices. Sadly though, the shop keeper informed me that they were not my size and they would be too small...Somehow I was ashamed but perked up when thinking that at least they were honest and didn't try to sell me something that would be hideous on me...SNIFF still!
And so I continued on outside again, with my drenched t-shirt under my summer dress. Somehow I ended up at Raffles City mall, and located the food court, which is in the basement. The surrounding buildings are all high rise financial offices of some sort, and the hip crowd in the mall were very different from the crowd at Bugis Junction. AT Raffles, suits, barely stable stilettos, satin and silk tops were worn by pampered businessmen and ladies. I was disgusting in my pink military camouflage dress on top of a t-shirt glistening dripping with sweat. Luckily the smell of food masked every body odor I may have diffused, and the A/C was doing its job in refreshing my aching skin. I walked around the food court twice, undecided on what to buy for lunch. Eventually I got into a grocery to grab a sandwich but ended up buying coconut juice and more water.
Tired of my lack of decisiveness, I went back up to the ground floor and entered a Japanese fusion bistro (tapas of Japanese dishes), looking outside the mall and perfect for people watching. I needed food in my empty stomach and a bit of rest. Raffles City mall is more of a luxury mall, with brands like Hermes, Chanel, etc...Just watching the people entering the mall was an experience in itself, and the size of the queue at the taxi station outside the mall was even more impressive.
My plans for the afternoon was to explore little India area but it was a bit of a walk. I could get in line and take a taxi, but I was more interested in taking the public transportation. Localizing a bus stop that had the correct bus was easy enough. however I realized I had no change.So I went underground into the closest MRT station, bought a 3 day pass, and hopped in the train, not before hearing the public announcement reminding passengers that eating, drinking or smoking in the train or on the platform is prohibited...well, no wonder everything was so clean.
I alighted at Burgis station, and kind of followed the crowd to end up on known territory at the Chinese mall next to the hotel. I had a shower, drank all the liquids I bought, and crashed of heat exhaustion. outside, the weather had turned into a thunderstorm and I slept with that sweet feeling from my childhood, safely cuddled in bed while the elements were fighting outside and cooling the temperature. My alarm was set for dinner time .
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