back at 8pm. Immigration here was like at an airport. We actually
had to do it in the port terminal. Singapore is called the city of
fines (it's actually a city-state). There is honestly a fine for
everything. Littering is a $500-$1000 fine (in Singapore dollars…it's
equivalentish to the Euro so 1.25 to 1 USD). Smoking is the same.
Eating and drinking on the metro is also fined heavily. For carrying
large amounts of drugs (so drug dealing) you can be given the death
penalty. Yes. Drug trafficking in Singapore= Death penalty. WTH!
My favorite rule is the no Durian rule. For those of you who don't
know, durian is a fruit that is popular in Southeast Asia. It smells
foul. When I heard this rule, I thought it sounded like the most
ridiculous thing ever. Upon getting to Viet Nam I realized what a
great rule it is.
There are also no pet rules and no spitting. And one of my least
favorites: no chewing gum. They entire city-state doesn't sell gum.
Not cool (Though, I also learned to like this rule after I stepped in
it TWICE in Viet Nam). I realize now why they don't let us spend the
night. If we did, three quarters of us would end up in jail.
Anyways, I am a huge fan of Singapore. The second I stepped onto the
deck and looked at the skyline, I knew I was going to love it. There
is something about a city that just invigorates me. It's like I'm on
caffeine. I just feel alive in a city. This is definitely the first
port that I've felt this way. Cape Town is a modern place but it's
not really a huge metropolitan district.
We got off the ship and took the metro (very similar to the DC metro.
I may be in love) to Clark's Quay (I don't understand. We're on the
ship in the middle of the ocean surrounded by water and 90% of the
time the first thing we do when we get off the ship is go towards the
water) (Well the first first thing we did was go to Starbucks [first
one since leaving Wisconsin]).
We got lunch at a probably-too-American café called T-ara. Either way
it was good. Drinks were so expensive everywhere!! A mix drink
averaged $26 Singapore dollars (approximately $20 USD).
Other highlights included going to the Skypark at the most expensive
hotel in the world. It was very cool! We also went to the Raffle's
hotel (I think that's how it's spelled). It's the hotel where
Hemmingway loved to write.
Ok I'm sure we did some other things too but I don't quite remember
them right now (oh…we went to the merlion in the harbor thing) and I'm
suppose to get off the boat (in China) in 4 minutes.
So yeah, I'm sorry I'm taking forever. Viet Nam was a suck fest so
don't look forward to hearing about it (or do if you have a twisted
mind). (It actually wasn't that bad just little things were very
frustrating).
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