Hilath's Home Page - My First Trip to Singapore

My First Trip to the Lion City

Sept 23, 2000. Time: 1:30pm.

"Hey, would you like to come along to Singapore?"

Is my friend kidding? On second thoughts, no. This could be the makings of an adventure.

"Now or neverI" I thought.

For the past two years I was in Malaysia, I had always been wanting to go to Singapore. No particular reason; I only wanted to get my feet on Singapore soil (and that was a harder task I later found out as I had to walk around sometime before I could find a non-paved patch of ground on a public park!)

Anyway, when we do big things without much planning ahead, there's always the chance of risks, surprises, things unexpected and that's what that makes the journey an adventure. So the trip became an adventure after all.

The bus from Pudu Raya was going to leave at 2:30pm so I had only a few minutes to pack some T-shirts into my bag. And off we went.

The bus fare was cheap, too. Only 25 Ringgits. But the best thing was the seats were much more comfortable than even the Malaysian Airlines airbus that shuttled between KL and Male! So I didn't mind the five-hour journey.

On the way, we made two stops. One at a public toilet. The second time at this great gathering place for travellers. Let's call it the "Travellers' Spot." There were all sorts of travellers there--locals and foreigners. Everybody was hurriedly eating something, going to the toilet, etc. Hectic. It was kind of exciting just to drop in there because we all felt like part of a great travellers' community. That feeling was just great!

On the way to Singapore, we made friends with two Scottish girls, Fiona and Ruth, who came on the same bus as us to Singapore. They were here on holiday after finishing their degree. They were travelling from Thailand and were boasting to us about how great that place was and how beautiful Phi Phi beach (where Leonardo DiCaprio shot The Beach) was. I was surprised how much Westerners are taken in by Thailand, and how much influence Leonardo DiCaprio can exert on young girls by making them come travelling half way around the world to a beach where he shot a movie!

Overall, the trip to Singapore was OK. We went to Orchard Road, the Majeedee Magu of Singapore, and to the famous Sentosa island where we went to see the amazing Underwater World aquarium there. It was truly amazing. Fishes of all sorts and sizes swimming above and all around us. Sort of like a nature ride.

I had wanted to go cable-car riding, too, but because we had only three days--as this was a business trip for my friend--we stuck to priority places.

We came back by air. I could have come back by bus but then I wanted to see the famous Changi airport which is much talked about. Surprisingly, I found nothing unique about it.

Despite all this excitement, I have mixed reactions about Singapore.

For one thing, the place is so small, once you have seen all there is to see, there's nothing more to look forward to.

Another thing is, Singapore is too perfect a place to be living in. Buses, trains, arrive on time. Everything goes like clockwork. If there's a real Pleasantville on this earth, then it must be Singapore. But because of this, there is an artificiality, an air of unnaturalness to about everything that's Singapore. Everything is in its "rightful" place.

It looked as if Singapore is a country which had already achieved nirvana. But I didn't like the looks of it. Life there looked mundane, routine and monotonous.

To my mind came the times when I, in Malaysia, waited for buses which sometimes arrived half an hour--or even one hour--late! I remembered the times I waited anxiously, my eyes glued to the highway, anticipating the bus just to turn around the corner. Although that could be a frustrating experience, in a way I guess I cherished the moment because I never felt bored, only kind of anxious and full of anticipation. Hence, comparatively speaking, there never was a dull moment in Malaysia because of the "risk" and "uncertainty" factor.

I think life will be boring if everything goes according to a certain set of rules. As far as I am concerned, life for me will be more exciting if there are uncertainties, risks and irregularities, so that I can always expect the unexpected and look forward to surprises. Now that is truly something worth living for.

For me life is an adventure that has to be lived up to the full :-)