BoluDreando: Couch Surfing in Singapore

WEDNESDAY, MAY 11, 2011

The plan went that we'd catch a bus from KL to Singapore, stay two short nights in Singapore, and then fly to Bali. As it turns out, Singapore is hella expensive, so we decided to couch surf instead of paying the premium for three hostel beds. I organized us to stay with a host, John, for the two nights. He seemed really nice and had an a three bedroom apartment all to himself, so we were living the sweet life in a ritzy high-rise condo building with a floor to ceiling view of the reservoir and a killer pool (that to Katy's dismay, we didn't end up swimming in). It was my first couch surfing experience, so I can't judge by comparison, but John was the best host I could have asked for. He was a 30ish-ish year old Navy dude from Nevada who is currently stationed in Singapore and heavily involved in the couch surfing community. He was incredibly helpful, in spite of his insanely busy work schedule. He gave us all the tips of things to do and see in Singapore, and how to do it on a budget. John is the man.

Singapore itself is a combination of jaw dropping architecture, hawker stands with delectable sea food dishes, ex-pats, speed tourism, and a day full of a ridiculously impressive collection of SE Asian contemporary art at this huge exhibition called Beinnale. All in all, Singapore was interesting, but the oddest thing to me was how many rules, laws, fines and restrictions were set in place. At a certain point I just started taking pictures of signs specifying what you cannot do and how big of a fine you will have to pay if you try and do it. We didn't have a single drink in Singapore because a single beer cost $8 if you get a deal. We saw a promotion for $50 pitchers, and might I add that the Singapore dollar is almost equal to the US dollar at the moment. So we passed on any casual drinking or nights on the town, and instead indulged in the variety of mouth watering foods offered at the hawker stands.

The Singapore Art Museum, where a huge part of the Beinnale collection was held

A memorial, to what I can't remember anymore (damn these back dated blog posts) and the epic skies of Singapore's storms

No skating and no sleeping, you'll also get fined $500 for drinking on the metro, something like $700 for eating and $1000 for smoking. Who can afford to smoke in Singapore anyway? We heard cigarette's cost something like $12-$14!

Cheezin'...Apparently there is an infinity pool on top of those three buildings connected with something that I think looks a lot like a cruise ship.

That flowery looking thing is a Art Science Museum.

The dope pedestrian bridge.

Downtown Singapore is full of beautiful sculptures.

The most famous of which is the Merlion. This the mini-Merlion.

After much searching for the infamous Merlion, we found this little guy and felt a rush of disappointment at its lack of grandeur. Come to find out, this little guy is stationed right in front of the real Merlion, which had been closed off due to another exhibit for the Beinnale. Basically, they built this thing called The Merlion Hotel, which is a hotel room built around the top half of the Merlion that is a public space from the hours of 10am-7pm and is rented out for private use every evening. Sadly, due to a flub in map reading and a lack of knowledge about the exhibit, we didn't get to the exhibit until 7:30pm, so we couldn't see the Merlion of note in all it's glory. Either way we were tired from a full day of walking and speed tourism, so we made our way over to "Arab Street" and settled in for a little hydrating and shisha before we hit the metro back to John's.