Saved The Best For Last

Friday 27 October

Malaysian trains are just a step up from Thailand trains – the mattresses are just a little more comfy and the ride a little less bumpy – and consequently we slept a little longer – despite the fact that the man above me was snoring very loudly every time I woke up. I was finally awoken by the announcement over the PA system that we would be arriving at the Malaysian border in twenty minutes (ie 06.00), and sure enough, guards were awaiting our arrival at the check in point as we pulled in, exactly on time. A team of four worked their way through our carriage, inspecting and signing passports and collecting our departure documents – no problems getting out of Malaysia, like there were getting in. Once the whole train had been checked, we moved on for another ten minutes, across the causeway to arrive at the Singapore border – the roads running alongside the railway track were at a standstill with coachloads of Malaysians waiting to cross to go to work. There were also hundreds of motorcyclists weaving through the traffic with the same purpose.

Train passengers now had to disembark, with all their belongings and pass through the security check (there was only one conveyor belt that took large cases) and then on to passport control, where our entry documents were taken and passports stamped again. We all had to queue then, to wait for the doors to open to allow us back on the platform – it was like waiting for the first day of the sales to start – everyone raring to go. We had seen police officers checking every carriage with sniffer dogs – presumably looking for traces of drugs. The train was packed with Indian people, mostly coming to Singapore for a holiday - apparently it is one of their favourite destinations – and while we were queuing, they were pushing their way into any minute space that could be found, with all their luggage (their cases might not be as heavy as ours, but they seem to have about three or four each, many of the older citizens hardly able to carry them all) – one old gentleman even made it almost to the doors!

Once back on the train it was only a short ride into the main station at Singapore – a real disappointment – I had expected it to be smart and possibly colonial in style – after all the Eastern Orient Express starts and finishes here – but in fact it was just a run down station, in much need of some modernization and redecoration – it almost appeared ‘dirty’ – and I thought Singapore was supposed to be clinically clean! A driver named ‘Harris’ met us and whizzed us to our hotel, situated centrally in the city on Victoria Street – close to shopping, sights, public transport and clubs. The traffic had been very light – surprising for start-of-work time on a Friday morning. First impressions of the hotel were very good – it was a bright, glass fronted, modern hotel, with friendly concierge staff. Unfortunately when we reached Reception, on the first floor, we were told our rooms would not be ready for at least half an hour – as it was only 08.30 that was quite understandable. Paul took us to breakfast at a small Italian style cafe just across the road, by the National Library – a very interesting glass and white frame building that seemed to be trying to catch as much light as possible. The café had a varied menu, and most had some form of cooked breakfast, while I had a spicy tuna foccata – with Earl Grey tea!

Back at the hotel, our rooms still weren’t quite ready (and they would be smoking rooms, but Paul asked specially if they could be sprayed well so that they didn’t smell smoky – non-smoking rooms would not be available till mid-afternoon and we all really wanted a shower). So I posted a couple of blogs and checked emails. By that time, our room was cleaned and we collected our luggage and made for the lifts. We couldn’t make the lift go up – we pushed the button and the door close and door open buttons in various orders, to no effect. Eventually one of the staff came and showed us that we needed to insert our door key into the lift before it would work! – first time we have come across that, but it seems a good security idea.

Our room has all the attributes of a standard 4*, but is clean and comfortable and definitely doesn’t smell! We immediately set about having a shower and sorting the laundry, before meeting Paul and another driver – Chinese this time – for a tour of the city (we should have walked around, but Paul appreciated that after a night on the train, we might be somewhat exhausted – we weren’t too bad, but Warren didn’t make it and SS and Tim were feeling really tired!)

We drove just a short distance to the Arab quarter of the city famous for its silks and carpets. We wandered around the small souk-like shops – the materials were beautiful and once again I wished I could wear a sari – but when? while collecting the Indian take-away? There were lots of knick-knack shops that I could have spent hours browsing around, but we were shepherded back to the minibus to continue the tour – maybe we will get time to come back tomorrow. We drove around the city, the driver pointing out all the buildings of interest, taking us to the river, to China town where there was a large open air market, an Indian temple, and the wealthy condominium areas, where new houses cost anything from S$ 1 billion! – you really need to win the lottery big time to live here. In fact, the cost of living is high in Singapore and most of the poorly paid workers live in Malaysia and travel in – hence the traffic jams morning and evening.

We visited the botanical gardens for ‘ten minutes’ – a huge great parkland area with ginger gardens, orchid conservatories, and several lakes to explore. Ten minutes was hardly enough time to go to the loo! It seemed a very interesting area, peaceful and a great place for a stroll, so if we ever come back, we shall have to make time for a proper visit. We drove on to find some ‘take-away lunch and came across a Burger King in a large shopping complex – the driver stopped on double yellow lines, urged us quickly out of the vehicle, and while he was turning round, we all bought burgers and chips! We hastily jumped back on board with our goodies and were seemingly driven around the city again, to find the entrance to Fort Canning Hill and the “Battle Box” our last “sight” as the driver finished his tour here. We found a bench and ate our lunch in the parkland.

Having munched our fill we climbed the hill to the “Battle Box” – an underground bomb-proof bunker, about 9 metres underground, where General Percival reached his fateful decision to surrender Singapore to the invading Japanese army on 15 February 1942. The ticket office was full of about 100 youths around 18 years of age – this site was obviously popular – but then we found out that these young men were subjects of conscription – all young men from Singapore have to join the army for two years at the age of 18 – or if for some reason they have a dispensation at that time, as early as possible afterwards. One of their first duties is to see the “Battle Box” and understand the importance of the museum. We would have to wait about three-quarters of an hour, till the next civilian tour. Although we were quite weary by this stage, we all agreed to wait, sitting around chatting to stop anyone dropping off to sleep.

About half an hour later, one of the guides beckoned us and together with a few other ‘civilians’ from Germany and Australia, we started the tour. The guide soon told us he was 70 years of age, son of Portuguese parents living in Malacca at the time of the Second World War, and he remembers the Japanese invasion of Malaya and Singapore vividly, as a seven year old. He took us down into the museum – a network of rooms with waxwork figures, really lifelike, that very closely resembled the men in photographs displayed at the end of the tour. The figures were animated and ‘spoke’ taking us back in time to that morning in 1942 to experience the last few hours before the historic surrender. The commentary explained the use of the underground rooms and the individual personnel who worked there, as well as the considerations that influenced the decision to surrender. We saw the communications room with the old dolly-eyed switchboards, message rooms with morse code tappers, and runners (all messages were destroyed after four days and code signs changed every other day), the guard room and mess room, and the operations room, where the positions of planes were plotted on a large table map. The guide enhanced the commentary with his own particular slant on what happened – he is still very anti-Japanese (although he would deny this), and pro General MacArthur (“the greatest General ever!” despite the fact he wasn’t actually there, but in the Philippines at the time!) and he has obviously watched every television programme and film about the surrender. But the years under Japanese ‘rule’ and the torture inflicted, has influenced him for the rest of his life and working here for the last eight years, he has become absorbed in that time, and is extremely passionate about life in that era – he explains how he saw Lord Mountbatten at the celebrations for the Japanese surrender in August 1945, everyone whooping for joy, after three years of horrific Japanese treatment.

We strolled back to the hotel after this sombre experience – the weather here is very warm and sapping – there were a few drops of rain whilst we were eating our lunch, but the driver had told us to count to 100 if it rained, and by the time you finished counting the rain would be finished too – he was right.

At the hotel it was technology time – downloading piccys on to the computer and freeing up camera space, charging batteries and phones, etc. We just had time for another quick shower before we were due to meet Paul for our last dinner of the tour. Again Warren dropped out – he is leaving tomorrow evening for home back in Queensland, Australia and was going clubbing after he had finished his half bottle of Jack Daniels for which he had paid S$50, but Tim and SS came along, despite having sore feet.

Paul had earlier suggested a tour of “Little India” a few streets dedicated to the Indian way of life – shops and restaurants all representing their culture. As Simone was complaining of blisters on the base of her toes, we caught the bus just down the road. It was like our large double deckers, but with a much improved lay out.

The main street in “Little India” is currently lit up with thousands of fairy lights in brilliant hues to celebrate the Deepevali – the entry had a large ‘gateway of lights with a peacock at the pinnacle, ‘fanning’ its tail, which represents Lord Krishna, one of the Indian deities. We window-shopped for a while looking longingly at all the gold jewellery – which is very yellow and often extremely intricate with filigree patterns and sari materials. The restaurant turned out to be another vegetarian Indian “café” – lots of Indians are vegetarians apparently – which was full – mainly of men, on their way home from work, or single men who can eat here cheaply. We had to sit upstairs as all the tables were taken on the ground floor. SS had been sceptical about eating a meal without meat – at 27 I would have thought that she would have experienced vegetarian meals before! – but spoke about getting a steak or chicken later to fill up. Paul ordered for us and we all had a large platter containing a number of flavours – vegetable biryani rice, vegetable curry, spicy potatoes, dahl, raita, poppadums and chapattis, with a very small piece of hot mango pickle – when I asked if I could have extra pickle the waiter suggested I try what I had first, as it was very hot (as if I didn’t know it would be hot – that’s why I wanted it). He didn’t return to see how I got on, so I didn’t get any more pickle. But the food was delicious – the chapattis weren’t as good as those we had in Kuala Lumpur a couple of nights ago, straight off the griddle, but they were still much better that we get at home. Colin practiced the Indian way of eating with his fingers – rice and all – so if he goes to the Blackbirds and starts eating with his fingers we will know why! We all drank mango lassis, a yogurt and fruit drink that was very tasty. Simone admitted that she enjoyed the drink the best, but had found a couple of the dishes very tasty. Tim seemed to enjoy his meal, although he seemed to be very tired. Colin collected the bill that came to S$35 – about 15 GBP for all five of us.

We decided to amble home as the evening was warm and balmy – if only we had this sort of night at home. We wandered in and out of shops, as Simone was determined to spend some more money on trinkets and presents. She also had her hand ‘henna painted’ – which is currently all the rage out here. A lady painted a flower pattern on the back of her left hand and up her index finger – it reminded me of Juz painting plates at Christmas. She had to then leave the henna paint on for about an hour, as the substance stained her skin, before washing it off - the resulting pattern is supposed to last about a month, and cost her S$10 – about 3.75 GBP. We continued on back to the hotel, while Tim and SS went electrical shopping – dvd players, cameras, MP4s – anything to spend their money on. Paul stopped at a roadside stall and bought a ‘Thailand young coconut’ beigy smooth skin, about the size of a small galia melon. The lady chopped the top off the nut with a large machete – don’t get too close when she is swinging that – and we tried the coconut milk – it was too sweet for me, but quite tasty. When all the milk was gone, the lady chopped the coconut in half and with plastic spoons, we were able to spoon out the pulp – it was soft, like a peach, and very creamy and brilliant white. You didn’t get the full coconut flavour until you had eaten it – then it was strong. I loved this part of the fruit.

At the hotel we had to say “Goodbye” to Paul, as he is attending a funeral tomorrow morning, and will not be back in the hotel until Sunday evening (we leave early on Sunday morning). He has been a great tour guide (as good as Pok in an entirely different way – Paul is much more serious, while Pok just had fun), looking after us all the time, and we have enjoyed his company in the evenings as he has shown us how ordinary people live and eat in this region – I think he was glad of our company too. We have not been very impressed with the standards of accommodation and transport for the three Kumuka tours, but Paul has certainly worked hard to ensure that we (and the others) all gained as much as possible from this part of the trip and enjoyed ourselves as much as possible, altering the arranged itinerary to fit in with the weather, traffic and local conditions (that damned national holiday!). Singapore has been “the jewel in the crown” – we really like it here - the atmosphere, the people and the standard of living.