Singapore!

PRE-DEPARTURE:

Every time you utter a cliché, God kills a kitten.

That fact will not stop me from characterizing these last two weeks as an ‘emotional rollercoaster’.

I don’t remember a time when I felt more appreciated – ever. I sincerely hope everyone feels this way at least once. I’ll be honest however: the whole ordeal has been incredibly hard (that’s what she said). Goodbyes show what (who!) I’ll miss. However, I have no clue as to what I’ll get in return for all those goodbyes once I get to Palembang. So that’ll be something. 

In any case: I love the people I have around me.

POST-DEPARTURE:

So, now to the good part: departure! Singapore Airlines is something else and I mean that in the best way possible. As far as the transport of cattle goes (I believe the proper term is ‘economy class’), I felt like I had at least some lebensraum. Moreover, there were there no crying babies/children aboard and the female cabin crew was simply great to look at. I doubt the pleasure was mutual however – me, my stress-face and comfy travel outfit…

And now to the even better part: Singapore itself! I arrived at around 6 AM and everything went silky smooth. Then I took a cab, got to the hotel but couldn’t check in until 3 PM (fuckkkk!). Fortunately, I could take a shower. Oh, how nice it felt to put on shorts and a simple short-sleeve shirt (suck it, Dutch weather!).

I saw a ton of things today (see pictures) and made sure I visited several parts of the city (thank you, touristy hop-on/off bus). Recommended by my friend the Lonely Planet, I went to Little India to have lunch at a hawker center there (basically a mall that consists of a lot of food stalls – the food is delicious (so far), cheap as hell and the smells are amazing). The food was great and I made some Indian friends (you know how I roll!) but then, all of the sudden the BIGGEST thunderstorm in the history of mankind broke loose. I know what you´re thinking: so what, you were in a mall. True, but this mall was only partially covered by a roof. So, hundreds of people were having lunch at tables while this open space in the middle of the got hammered by rain and the loudest thunder struck time and time again. Such a wonderful experience!

After lunch, I waited for the rain to be over and then I met this German girl and we talked for a little while but she was boring so I went to the hotel, got wet anyway, finally checked in, took a nap, then went to a nearby food court and ate Chinese food.

A couple of things to end with:

1.     1. You know you’re in Asia when make-up products promise you bigger eyes.

2.      2. I saw bras advertised that have a string to pull so everything gets pushed together and gives you a fake C-cup. Wonder if that would work for me as well. Too much of a pussy to try though.  

3.      3. Wish I took a picture of this, but I saw signs apologizing for the inconvenience caused by construction accompanied by the picture of a humble, bowing man – almost asking for your forgiveness. I gave it to him instantly.

Talk soon!

Raffles was some kind of big shot - look it up!

Yes, there's a fucking park on top of three fucking towers. Who makes that shit up?

War Monument

Anglican Church

Jesus (at the Armenian Church)

Some mid-race peptalk

Chinatown Singapore. Looks like every other Chinatown.

Seriously, what's up with all these trees on rooftops?

Skyline. Look at those streetlights!

Landing cones for extraterrestial beings.

The scene at the hawker center. So much more intense in real life, though.