Singapore - 3 -
5 January 2001
In truth, Perth
is closer to Singapore than is Sydney. We knew that. But to
rearrange the trip would have mean sacrificing New Year and Federation Day in Sydney, and the longer air trip is a
worthwhile payment.
We reap an
excess luggage charge as additional payment, with our souvenir gathering
on the last few days. Beware, fellow travelers, of exceeding the 65-kilogram per person and two checked baggages
per person limit. For three months, we kept below the radar by
having 65+65 =
130 kilos of luggage all in, with all six bags, but now we've busted that
and paid Aus$200 to move the stuff to Singapore.
It's seven
hours airtime, three movies. John's thumb is again sore from Super
Mario World. During the flight, we both kinda wished we'd just gone for a six-hour rest in the excellent Singapore
Airport Transit Hotel and then go on home instead of staying a couple of
days here. In
truth, we barely knew the location of Singapore; the onscreen maps that
Pacific international airlines show us are needed; didn't
know if the street signs would be in English or Chinese or Indonesian;
weren't sure what we would do when we got here.
Wow, we're
really excited after all! The Pan Pacific hotel, where Jenny
arranged we stay, occupies a really excellent location. It's a
top-notch
hotel, beautiful architecture; bubble elevators climb the atrium walls,
inside to floor 22 and then outside all the way up to the top; and lovely amenities. After checking in (thank goodness
we didn't drip airplane lunch on our shirt fronts), our executive room
cancels the
grubby downtown hotel impression we had from Perth and Sydney: big bed,
enclosed toilet, tub and shower separate, no-traffic-noise, view of skyscrapers, Ethernet
connectivity.
We stroll
around the first four floors, which we expect to be jewelry boutiques, and
pop out into a shopping mall with full implementation
of knick knackarie; we refuse silk shirts and wool suits from a nice
fellow whose brother is from San Jose. The brother is produced from a back room; he really is from San Jose or
else is skilled at saying "Castro Valley, yes of course, not far."
The shopping mall
is huge. We're accustomed to excellent California produce; the grocery
offers the most wonderful bags of tiny baby bokchoy,
starfruit, Vietnamese Dragonfruit, Chinese pears, sausages and waxed duck.
Marilyn won't leave without a bag of Thai mangosteen, so
delicious from our stop at the roadside fruit place partway up the volcano
in Bali. We bypass reluctantly various wonderful
mysterious fruit. Would it be ripe now? Is it peeled before
eating? Must it be cooked? Do you eat the flesh or the seed?
We don't have a
clue.
Left: the splendid
foyer of the Pan Pacific hotel
Right: Chinese
market
Left: One of
Singapore's hindu temples.
Next door is a Chinese buddist
temple. The races and religions
co-exist in peaceful harmony.
Right: John as a
serpent charmer.
We're collected
at 9:30 a.m. for a motor coach tour of Singapore. A witty
English-speaking Chinese lady leads our tour. Basically,
it's an
introduction to shopping in the city; that's OK, what else is a city for,
after all? We learn that Singapore is peaceful, well groomed, prosperous, fully employed, racially integrated, and
religiously tolerant. In response to John's questions, our tour
guide explains
economics for the ordinary person: nearly everybody owns their own home
(although 80% live in flats, not single family homes, which
are only for the rich in this space-constrained island); the flats (on 99
year leases) are purchased from the government at 3% interest
with a mortgage ranging from 5 to 30 years. Passing the Legislature
building the guide names it the “Hall Of A Thousand
Promises.” Passing the Hall of Justice, our guide notes that the jury
system has been abolished and a judge decides legal suits.
The
unemployment rate is 2% which includes many who choose not to work, such
as women staying home to care for their children. Twenty percent of worker's salaries go to a pension fund, matched
by 20% from the employers.
We pass by the
original, legendary Raffles
Hotel, declared a
national monument in 1987. Jenny instructed us to visit for a Singapore
Sling cocktail,
which originated here.
The tour bus
first visits Little India , then
Chinatown, then the
Hindu and Buddhist temples, then
up Mount Faber for the view of the cable
car to the
island of Sentosa and finally to a gemstone factory. On the ground floor
we see a sample board with carnelian, jasper, agate,
amethyst, jade, lapis lazuli, malachite, tiger-eye, goldstone. Craftsmen
operate the stone slabbing saws and grinding and polishing
wheels. Large “pictures” are crafted in the style of Chinese landscape or
bird portraits with led flashing eyes when you clap; world
globes or flat wall maps of lapis and shell, each country inlaid in a
different stone.