I think I like this city.
Yesterday I left the hotel early and navigated my way to a nearby MRT station where I met with a guide and a few other people for a small group walking tour around the Colonial District. It was very interesting. We saw churches and hotels, bars and historic buildings. The tour ended at Raffles Hotel, where it’s customary (albeit somewhat expensive) to down a Singapore Sling in the Long Bar. Very touristy, but it was tolerable and a reasonable experience. Some people from the tour and I hung around for a while drinking beer and throwing peanut shells on the floor before we realized that each bottle of Tiger cost eighteen bucks. Ouch!
In the evening I wandered around Little India for a while and had a few beers at the Price of Wales, an Australian run place. Spoke with a few people there, ended up hanging around for about three hours rather than the quick beer I had planned! Found a tasty chicken rice on the way back to my hotel – see, I said I’d do better than the night before.
After the walking tour yesterday I decided to do today’s tour, which started from an MRT station that wasn’t within walking distance. It turns out the MRT is simple to use, and I arrived and met the group right on time. Today’s walk was through Chinatown, and was fascinating. The history of the area is incredibly interesting, as are the stories of the people who lived (or merely existed) there.
Some of the other walking tourists and I visited a yum cha place for lunch – the photo shows roughly half of what we ordered. The bill worked out to twenty six Singapore dollars each, and that included two jugs of Tiger at twenty two dollars each. Delicious and cheap.
I’m waiting for some Laundry at the moment, and I’m uploading a stack of photos. Check ‘em out here.
I’m meeting someone someone for dinner (and I guess more beer!) tonight, and tomorrow morning I’ll take another walking tour around the area near where I’m staying. I’ll probably check out the museum in the afternoon, and leave the zoo and other stuff until I pass through again on my way home in nearly four months time.
