Now, I am currently standing in the Singapore Airport in Terminal 2 at 2 am waiting for my 7:10 am flight to Bangkok. Luckily, internet is free of charge at this kiosk and I am already checked in for my flight with a nice window seat on one of my favorite airlines - Singapore Air (affiliated with Thai Airlines).
I arrived early tonight at 10 because York and his exchange student buddies from Singapore are off to Philippines today on a flight at 12, so I went along with them to say goodbye, and now I am here trying to get through the night without paying for accomadation.
Fortunately, today was a nice end for my Singapore trip. York and I woke up and got checked out of the hotel in the Little India neighborhood of Singapore and they were nice enough to let us leave our baggage for the day while we went out and saw our last sights.
First, we decided that we had to get some food, so off to Arab street we went. Everything in Singapore is overpriced, so even the Arab restaurants were charging $15 for lunch. Although that is in Sing dollars, it is still ridiculous and not worth it. We ended up settling on a restaurant that had a $16 lunch special that included some hummus, breads, and other things. Although it was decent, we ended up heading to McDonalds where we shoved our faces with chicken nuggets and curly fries covered in salt (we both are salt freaks, so the saltier the better).
I spent the next hour at the internet cafe while York ran around the city looking for a lock to lock up his Mac Book while he brings it on the remainder of his travels. He is still spending a month in Philippines, then a month in Australia, then time in India and Nepal before heading back to his home in Germany.
After he found his cord and I had checked my email, we decided to go to this place called Macritchie Reservoir. I had read about it in my Sinapore Lonely Planet and it looked really cool because there is supposed to be all of these wild animals like monkeys, snakes, lizards, and other things living in this area. I wasn't sure if I would actually see any of them, but I thought since it was free and close we should check it out since I never made it to the zoo here.
We hopped on the MRT (Singapore Subway) and took it to a stop on the Red North South Line called Bishan where we transferred to a bus (153 or 163) that took us right to the reservoir.
I was sooo happy, and loving it the minute I arrived. Tons of shirtless runners were returning from their workouts, couples were holding hands walking quietly, and families were having picnics at the beautiful park. There were trails telling us which paths were easy to difficult, and everything was easy to navigate. At least that is what we thought.....
Once on the trail, I was immediately satisfied when I saw a huge jungle like tree to climb that would be quite picture worthy.
"I am so glad to be traveling with only boys after today," York muttered as he clicked endless photos of me stuck up in the giant tree.
I knew he was getting annoyed with the constant picture taking and forced sightseeing, but it was our last day traveling together so I thought he could deal with it. Afterall, I did spend 2 days at a wakeboard cable park shooting videos of his backflips... What is so bad about a few photos at a park? hahahh (By a few photos I mean actually like a million!)
Anyway, just after I managed to clumsily get out of the tree we came upon a sight that excited me.
"OH MY GOD! Look York! Monkeys! Please, take a picture!" I begged as I tried to get close to the group of monkeys jumping around in the trees.
"It is just monkeys! This is not a jungle.. you need to go to a real jungle," He complained.
"Ok, whatever! Just shut up and take some photos of me and the monkeys,"I answered back to him as I tried to get closer to the group of monkeys.
"Get closer!"he barked to me.
Just as he said that one of the baby monkeys that I had been trying to get closer to ran at York. Although he thinks he is tough, the small baby monkey the size of a kitten startled him and he scurried away in fear causing me and a boy standing nearby to burst in to laughter at the sight of the grown man running from the baby monkey.
After the monkey photo shoot, we headed onto the trail trying to get going since it was already close to 6 and the park closes at 7. The trail was muddy and our flip flops were slashing mud all over the backs of our legs and Yorks shorts. We resorted to walking barefoot on the muddy trail, which seemed to be a good idea until parts of the trail became rocky and painful on our feet.
"Don't worry, it is just like a pedicure with a mud treatment included,"I encouraged him, although he was growing bored and annoyed from the painful trek.
We began bickering as usual until we came upon a sight that stopped us in our tracks. More MONKEYS! This was a big group of maybe 10 monkeys all blocking the path, with no way for us to get around them. Some were large(the size of a raccoon) and others were babies, but they all had sticks in their hands. The scene probably looked ridiculous as 2 adults came into this face off with the cute furry animals, but in my eyes they were evil scary gremlins with weapons.
We had no idea how to get around the monkeys, and York was not as brave as before due to his prior scare from the baby monkey, so we stood contemplating a plan until 2 runners came. Without hesitation, they ran right through the group of monkeys without making eye contact at them. How did they make it look so easy? I thought.
York leading the way, we broke through the pack of cute furry critters and continued on our way. We were both laughing at the fact that it was scary to us, and York even admitted that the nature walk was fun when it became dangerous. We thought that the danger was over and were in a hurry to get back to the city to grab dinner before dark.
Just as we were almost to the end of the trail, I saw something swimming in the water that looked like a giant snake or an alligator.
"WHAT THE HECK IS THAT!!?!?!?!" I yelled to York, as I pointed at the creature approaching the edge of the reservoir.
We were both amazed at this disgusting creature swimming our way, and backed away from the edge of the path clicking photos of the gross animal. It was slithering/swimming with its head above the water and it's tongue going in and out, looking like some sort of evil monster. It looked at us, and then continued on swimming. We finally determined that this scary lizard was a Monitor. A Monitor is the type of lizard like a Komodo Dragon. The meat eating lizards that know how to swim and also can run quickly on land and attack their prey. Fortunately, this beast stayed in the water and didn't come after us, but it was quite a sight to see.
We both were pretty impressed by the giant lizard, and our little nature walk that York was bitching about actually turned out to be quite exciting for us.
We didn't have much time left after all the excitement, but we headed to Pizza Hut for our last meal. Although Pizza Hut is not fancy, it was a nice dinner for us with soup, fries, pasta, dessert, and drinks. We finished right on time and headed to the hotel, grabbed our bags, and arrived at the airport.
York's buddies arrived and we headed to Terminal 1 for the boys to catch their flights. They chatted and smoked outside the terminal and at 1130 got ready and head off to board the plane. York and I said our goodbyes and my 2 week travel buddy headed off for some needed quality time with the boys.
Even though we usually fight and bicker, even 5 minutes after he left I wondered what he was doing. It is strange how when you meet people traveling you can form instant bonds with them, and you feel like you have known them for years, even though it has only been days.
Now it seems as though my trip is a completely different trip. I am back on my own again. I have 7 days left on this 40 day backpacking journey. I never thought that in 33 days I would jump from Vietnam to Laos to Thailand to Cambodia to Singapore and meet people that I will never forget.
So a New Year, a new country! Off to Bangkok then to Koh Tao for a week learning to scuba dive. I am really excited to jump into a world under the sea and get my PADI (license for open water). One more week on my adventure.... I can't wait!
I arrived early tonight at 10 because York and his exchange student buddies from Singapore are off to Philippines today on a flight at 12, so I went along with them to say goodbye, and now I am here trying to get through the night without paying for accomadation.
Fortunately, today was a nice end for my Singapore trip. York and I woke up and got checked out of the hotel in the Little India neighborhood of Singapore and they were nice enough to let us leave our baggage for the day while we went out and saw our last sights.
First, we decided that we had to get some food, so off to Arab street we went. Everything in Singapore is overpriced, so even the Arab restaurants were charging $15 for lunch. Although that is in Sing dollars, it is still ridiculous and not worth it. We ended up settling on a restaurant that had a $16 lunch special that included some hummus, breads, and other things. Although it was decent, we ended up heading to McDonalds where we shoved our faces with chicken nuggets and curly fries covered in salt (we both are salt freaks, so the saltier the better).
I spent the next hour at the internet cafe while York ran around the city looking for a lock to lock up his Mac Book while he brings it on the remainder of his travels. He is still spending a month in Philippines, then a month in Australia, then time in India and Nepal before heading back to his home in Germany.
After he found his cord and I had checked my email, we decided to go to this place called Macritchie Reservoir. I had read about it in my Sinapore Lonely Planet and it looked really cool because there is supposed to be all of these wild animals like monkeys, snakes, lizards, and other things living in this area. I wasn't sure if I would actually see any of them, but I thought since it was free and close we should check it out since I never made it to the zoo here.
We hopped on the MRT (Singapore Subway) and took it to a stop on the Red North South Line called Bishan where we transferred to a bus (153 or 163) that took us right to the reservoir.
I was sooo happy, and loving it the minute I arrived. Tons of shirtless runners were returning from their workouts, couples were holding hands walking quietly, and families were having picnics at the beautiful park. There were trails telling us which paths were easy to difficult, and everything was easy to navigate. At least that is what we thought.....
Once on the trail, I was immediately satisfied when I saw a huge jungle like tree to climb that would be quite picture worthy.
"I am so glad to be traveling with only boys after today," York muttered as he clicked endless photos of me stuck up in the giant tree.
I knew he was getting annoyed with the constant picture taking and forced sightseeing, but it was our last day traveling together so I thought he could deal with it. Afterall, I did spend 2 days at a wakeboard cable park shooting videos of his backflips... What is so bad about a few photos at a park? hahahh (By a few photos I mean actually like a million!)
Anyway, just after I managed to clumsily get out of the tree we came upon a sight that excited me.
"OH MY GOD! Look York! Monkeys! Please, take a picture!" I begged as I tried to get close to the group of monkeys jumping around in the trees.
"It is just monkeys! This is not a jungle.. you need to go to a real jungle," He complained.
"Ok, whatever! Just shut up and take some photos of me and the monkeys,"I answered back to him as I tried to get closer to the group of monkeys.
"Get closer!"he barked to me.
Just as he said that one of the baby monkeys that I had been trying to get closer to ran at York. Although he thinks he is tough, the small baby monkey the size of a kitten startled him and he scurried away in fear causing me and a boy standing nearby to burst in to laughter at the sight of the grown man running from the baby monkey.
After the monkey photo shoot, we headed onto the trail trying to get going since it was already close to 6 and the park closes at 7. The trail was muddy and our flip flops were slashing mud all over the backs of our legs and Yorks shorts. We resorted to walking barefoot on the muddy trail, which seemed to be a good idea until parts of the trail became rocky and painful on our feet.
"Don't worry, it is just like a pedicure with a mud treatment included,"I encouraged him, although he was growing bored and annoyed from the painful trek.
We began bickering as usual until we came upon a sight that stopped us in our tracks. More MONKEYS! This was a big group of maybe 10 monkeys all blocking the path, with no way for us to get around them. Some were large(the size of a raccoon) and others were babies, but they all had sticks in their hands. The scene probably looked ridiculous as 2 adults came into this face off with the cute furry animals, but in my eyes they were evil scary gremlins with weapons.
We had no idea how to get around the monkeys, and York was not as brave as before due to his prior scare from the baby monkey, so we stood contemplating a plan until 2 runners came. Without hesitation, they ran right through the group of monkeys without making eye contact at them. How did they make it look so easy? I thought.
York leading the way, we broke through the pack of cute furry critters and continued on our way. We were both laughing at the fact that it was scary to us, and York even admitted that the nature walk was fun when it became dangerous. We thought that the danger was over and were in a hurry to get back to the city to grab dinner before dark.
Just as we were almost to the end of the trail, I saw something swimming in the water that looked like a giant snake or an alligator.
"WHAT THE HECK IS THAT!!?!?!?!" I yelled to York, as I pointed at the creature approaching the edge of the reservoir.
We were both amazed at this disgusting creature swimming our way, and backed away from the edge of the path clicking photos of the gross animal. It was slithering/swimming with its head above the water and it's tongue going in and out, looking like some sort of evil monster. It looked at us, and then continued on swimming. We finally determined that this scary lizard was a Monitor. A Monitor is the type of lizard like a Komodo Dragon. The meat eating lizards that know how to swim and also can run quickly on land and attack their prey. Fortunately, this beast stayed in the water and didn't come after us, but it was quite a sight to see.
We both were pretty impressed by the giant lizard, and our little nature walk that York was bitching about actually turned out to be quite exciting for us.
We didn't have much time left after all the excitement, but we headed to Pizza Hut for our last meal. Although Pizza Hut is not fancy, it was a nice dinner for us with soup, fries, pasta, dessert, and drinks. We finished right on time and headed to the hotel, grabbed our bags, and arrived at the airport.
York's buddies arrived and we headed to Terminal 1 for the boys to catch their flights. They chatted and smoked outside the terminal and at 1130 got ready and head off to board the plane. York and I said our goodbyes and my 2 week travel buddy headed off for some needed quality time with the boys.
Even though we usually fight and bicker, even 5 minutes after he left I wondered what he was doing. It is strange how when you meet people traveling you can form instant bonds with them, and you feel like you have known them for years, even though it has only been days.
Now it seems as though my trip is a completely different trip. I am back on my own again. I have 7 days left on this 40 day backpacking journey. I never thought that in 33 days I would jump from Vietnam to Laos to Thailand to Cambodia to Singapore and meet people that I will never forget.
So a New Year, a new country! Off to Bangkok then to Koh Tao for a week learning to scuba dive. I am really excited to jump into a world under the sea and get my PADI (license for open water). One more week on my adventure.... I can't wait!
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