Singapura

So I went to Singapore. Not on Monday as it turned out, but on Sunday. On my way to the Blue Mountains for the weekend I discovered that for some reason up until that moment I thought that 8 July was Monday, instead of Sunday! You can imagine I got quite a shock when I found out, but at the same time I was glad that I had found out on time. This at least saved me the embarrasment - not to mention the inconvenience - of showing up at the Sydney Singapore Airlines counter a full day too late.

Unfortunately when I arrived in Singapore I got sick again: 39 degrees fever and a big fat headache kept me indoors for two days. I must say I was really worried for a while, leafing through my "How to stay healthy in the tropics"-handbook that lists all the wonderfully exotic diseases one might acquire while on this side of the planet. All the more worrying because up until that time I had not been able to buy travel insurance. Most of the insurers I approached required me to be a resident of one country or another, and at the moment I seem to be 'between residencies.' What can you do? But luckily after the first day the fever went down quickly and on day three I was able to venture outdoors without fear of fainting.

Singapore is a strange city. It is full of high-rises. Not just in the CBD, but most - if not all - Singaporians live in these kinds of rather well-maintained flats:

These three were in an area with at least 50 such buildings. I do not think I have seen a 'ground floor house' anywhere. There is just not enough room I guess.

The hostel I stayed at was in an area called Little India. A very lively neighbourhood where all shops, restaurants, establishments, religious buildings are, you've guessed it, Indian. Such as this colourful shop where flower chains are made and sold:

After my recent bout of fever you can understand I was curious what the future would hold in store for me. The obvious choice was to turn to the Indian psychic parrot:

'Psychic' in this case meaning 'being able to pull a (random?) pink card out of a stack of thirty'. As you might guess, it was all good news.

Hmm. Nothing about health or sickness though... (But surely that falls under 'God will bless you'. Who needs details with such powerful protection.)

There is a very large Chinese population in Singapore as well and I found the two Chinese temples I visited fascinating. Not only are the buildings impressive

(For the record: I did not enter the Chicken Rice Eating Competition advertised on the banner)
They have all kinds of interesting statues inside, and people bring them gifts:

(For the record: I am pretty sure that this dog did not enter the Chicken Rice Eating Competition either, but it is obvious he would have won).

My last day in Singapore was also my birthday. Time for some serious pampering: a pedicure, something you can have done on (nearly) every streetcorner in Singapore but I had never done before. Thanks to this woman I now have the prettiest feet in Malaysia, with nicely varnished nails:

After three consecutive weeks in two metropoles I was ready to leave for quieter pastures, so I bought a busticket to Cherating, Malaysia. I will tell you some more about this place next time, because right now it's 19.30: time for sateh and a Tiger beer!

11,50 RM pancake breakfast
1 RM water
2,80 crisps