So, we headed into the airport...which was a bit ridiculous. First we had to have our luggage scanned at security #1. Then we went to the checkin line, where someone came to take our printouts, and then returned with our boarding passes. Then we had to go to the counter to redo check in and check our bags. Then we went through customs #1 where they collected a fee... followed in the next hall by customs #2 where we got stamped. Then we hung out for a bit over an hour before heading to our gate. However, before we reached the gate we went through security again, so we had to down the water we'd just bought. Then we went through another check in to get on the plain, but took a bus to get there... all in all, I thought the whole process could have been trimmed down a bit...
The plain ride was uneventful... so we arrived in Singapore, where it was easy to get through the airport and immigration and customs. Everything went smoothly. We grabbed a taxi and drove into the city, where we would be dropped off at Richard Hartung's apartment. Anyway, the drive drove home what we'd started to notice in the airport. Everything is so clean! On top of that, everything is very organized, so its easy to tell how clean everything is.
We arrived without trouble to Mr. Hartung's apartment. For anyone curious, he is a friend of my Aunt Lucinda's, so that's the connection. Anyway, his apartment is very nice and he, his father (here until the morning) and his wife (forgive me but I'm still working on the names) have been very welcoming and helpful. Only Mr. Hartung's father (Mr. Hartung I suppose) was home when we arrived. We had lunch with him and Margaret took a nap. I used the time to write emails, check on plain tickets and train tickets, and do some research in sites and the like for the next few countries.
When Margaret got up we spent some time talking to Richard, and then later with his wife. In between Margaret checked some things online while I read a few more tidbits. Meanwhile, and since mid afternoon, a thunderstorm rolled in. The sad thing was the view got worse. The nice thing was that the air got a lot cooler. So, we were told that most local rain bursts tended to last only a few hours. So, we were killing time. As predicted, the rain stopped, so we headed out for a walk towards the major shopping strip, Orchard Rd, and dinner.
Here is where my current favorite part of the city settled in. I love the architecture of the city. Everything from the gutters leading to sewers, to the few condos shaping the skyline. The gutters are quite large cement trenches, shaped like inverted trapezoids that span the entire length of roads. Meanwhile there are draining canals from the road ever 10 meters or so as well as holes decorating property walls to drain into these gutters. It made for a pretty flow and the wonderful sound of running water. As for the buildings, everyone of them is unique, yet very modern. My favorite pair of buildings were both about 20-30 floors. The first seemed close to square, but every room on every floor had a semicircular balcony. It gave the building a cool coil-like/ribber effect. The next building was a huge contrast. It's base was a series of plain white columns as decor, but as it rose each apartment (or what I assume to be individual apartments) could be made out by the square shape that seemed set out from the wall. Together they looked like a tower of discs and a tower of cubes. I enjoyed it a lot.
We then got to orchard street... which was in a way mini-Vegas. Every building was some ornate shape with big glass windows or neon lights or giant screens. All the while keeping the same clean and orderly appeal. Apparently the city is actually trying to cut back on some of the excessive lighting and calm it down a bit. I'm not sure that's necessary, but I can see the appeal. From there we arrived at Ngee Ann City, one of the many mall-like buildings. and it too was very clean, very modern. We headed up to the fourth floor where we had dinner at a Thai place, and it was good. We then went down a floor for a dessert. I wish I recalled its name but it was ridiculous and had monkeys in it...
Anyway, from there it was an easy (but humid) walk back, where we settled in for a bit of quiet and bed.
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