Singapore

We were up early to catch the train to Singapore. We had heard a bit about the ride, that it was a very scenic one. The KL central station was large but was bustling with activity early in the morning. We found our platform, got onto the train and found our seats. Very soon the train was off, leaving at about 7:00am. The train journey to Singapore was a 7 hour journey through a lot of vegetation and coconut groves. It was indeed a scenic ride from the capital of Malaysia on to Singapore.

At one station, we were to get down, go through customs, get our visas checked, and re-board the train for the final leg to Singapore. It was a very enjoyable and comfortable ride from one country to another. The seats of the train were very comfortable and large.

The Singapore railway station is very antique. We had to hunt around a lot for our guide here, but having found him, were led away to our hotel. Our hotel, The Grand Central was very well located. It was walking distance from Orchard Road, the retail and entertainment hub of Singapore and was also very close to the Singapore metro station Dhobi Ghaut. By the time we had checked-in, it was already late afternoon. We decided to relax a bit before we plan what to do in the evening. We already had a half day city tour of Singapore planned for the next day.

In the late evening, we decided to roam around the Orchard Street and look around for fun things to do. We walked around looking at the shops, looking for a decent place to eat (the Hotel seemed too expensive). In a small lane, we came across a long line of international eateries. There were Indian, Mexican, Oriental, and many more. After a lot of thought and moving from one joint to another, we decided to try the Mexican fare. It was quite delicious and spicy. There was a particular salad made of onions, tomatoes and some spice which was quite delicious. After enjoying a hearty meal, we headed back to the hotel.

For the next day, we had a half-day city tour lined up. We got on the tour bus which would take us around the city-state. We only hoped that we would not be visiting too many duty free shops again! The tour operator had different tours line up for the tourists, there was the half-day city tour, then the full day tour including Sentosa and some other tours. We were on the hal-day city tour which did not include Sentosa. However, we were very intrigued by the thought of visiting Sentosa Island and having a look at the famous underwater world. Anyway, we got onto the bus and the tour began.

As we started out, we were shown the Raffel's Hotel from the bus. The guide explained its significance to us. Our first stop was a visit to the Esplanade, where we were introduced to the Merlion and were also shown the Singapore Theatre.

After a short 10 minute session, we were again on the bus travelling around Singapore. We were taken to the Financial hub of Singapore where all the banks and other financial institutions had built their towering skyscrapers. We travelled through quaint China Town and headed upto Mount Faber to get a great view of Sentosa Island. Actually at the top of the Mount Faber, there are arrows on the ground to indicate in which direction the various neighbouring countries are.

After that began the torture for what we were not ready. We were taken away for duty shopping, first there was jewellery and then there was another shop with jewellery and watches and other accessories. We were quite sick of that and decided to explore Singapore entirely on our own! So we took out our trusty notebook and asked the guide for all the information on how to get to Sentosa Island and what is a good place to eat dinner and roam around in the evening. Anyway, the next stop was to a Tiger Beer factory for a free tour of the place and also some free beer! The tiger beer factory we went to was right next to the Vivo City Mall, which is one of the largest malls in Singapore and provides very easy access to Sentosa Island (via monorail and cable cars).

The tiger beer factory folks welcomed us in warmly and showed us around the place. There was also a short movie shown to us. Imagine a room designed in the shape of a hexagon and some scenes were shown on one wall, and some on another. So we kept moving around, trying to see the entire movie. Quite an experience. the movie was about how Tiger Beer came about and how it grew. There were also some interesting facts about the growth of beer as a drink. After the movie, we were led to a bar, where we were explained the nuances of pouring beer for oneself.

The person who was guiding us asked everyone "What time is it?" Some people actually looked at their watches, but we answered "It's tiger time"!! And that was the right answer :) Interestingly, the glasses are stored at a temperature of -4 degrees celcius. Also the tap from which the beer is poured is also maintained at a similar temperature. We were taught how to hold the glass while pouring beer, because you don't want your body heat to be transfered to the beer and heat it up from it's chilled state! After going through the entire demo, someone was to volunteer to "go behind the bar" and pour himself a beer. There were no takers! So I volunteered to go pour myself a chilled beer.

I held the glass as was instructed, tilted it at 45 degree to the horizontal so that minimum froth is formed and started to pour. As the beer fills into the glass, the angle of the glass is increased, till 90 degrees to the horizontal. I did it pretty well, but did manage to waste some beer. After this exhilarating experience, it was time to drink the mug of beer which I had poured for myself. The beer was amazing. It was perfectly chilled and had such amazing texture. It was the smoothest, most chilled and yet not frozen, and the best beer I had ever had. Pouring it for myself added a lot to the entire experience.

Finally it was near lunch time and time to move on. We left the tour bus, because there were some more duty free stops on the way, and entered Vivo City Mall. First, we walked around in the Mall. There was a bit of rush, and it seemed like any large mall we had seen in India. There were some beautiful, shiny cars lined up on the ground floor.

Since it was near lunch time, we headed to the top floor to the food court so that we can have something unique to Singapore. Believe us when we say that being non-vegitarian was an advantage because there were so many options to choose from.

Once lunch was done, we picked up some brochures of Singapore and Sentosa and were ready to head out to Sentosa Island. The only reason we were going to Sentosa was to visit the Underwater World. To get to Sentosa, we chose the monorail over the cable car, because there seemed to be too long a line at the Cable Cars. The monorail was a very comfortable and short ride from inside the Vivo City Mall, passing over the Singapore Port (currently the world's busiest port in terms of total shipping tonnage) and finally entering Sentosa Island.

We got off at the last stop and set foot on Sentosa land. There are multiple transportation options within Sentosa, but we chose the Tram because it look more interesting. As we passed along the beach, we saw some international beach volleyball competition in progress.

We got off at the last stop, and walked over to the Underwater World entrance. The ticket is slightly expensive, but it is a great place to go. There are a variety of fish, turtles, crabs, etc. that one gets to see. One of the most interesting sights was the sword fish, which actually looked like it was smiling.

After looking at and admiring a huge variety of fish, we decided to head back towards our hotel because it looked like it was about to rain.

We quickly caught the tram back to the Sentosa Monorail station and boarded a monorail back to the Vivo City Mall. The monorail station is on the top floor of the Mall and in the basement is the MRT station! We went down to the MRT station and boarded a metro towards Clarke Quay.

Clarke Quay is basically a quay with a lot of eateries along the water. At night time, this place is very colourful and lively. After a lot of walking around and a lot of indecision on which place to eat in, we settled for some good old Italian Pizza! We took a table right next to the water and enjoyed the sight as we eat our Pizza. We walked back to the MRT station and got a metro back to our hotel. This was our last day in Singapore, and we had utilised it to the maximum.

The next morning a cab took us really fast to the Changi Aiport. The Airport is quite majestic. It is huge, to say the least and boarding for our plane was to happen from Gate 42! We had a little time to spare, so we spent some time in the viewing bay watching planes land and take off. By the time we were to take board, we were both quite sad that our amazing holiday was over. We silently boarded, both absorbed in our thoughts, recollecting our experiences from the past 5 days.