Nova’s Singapore Trip Days 2 & 3 – Just Post Already Lah

Author: NovaJinx

Day 2 – Thursday 19th of Nov.

Yeah, it’s day three already but I was honestly too beat last night to push out a post. My 747 from Frankfurt arrived on schedule to Singapore and as soon as I marched out of the baggage claim, I was greeted by Xak and Hakuro who helped me getting things set up (public wireless access, mass transit pass etc.) and escorted me to my hotel. This is actually my first time to a truly big city (Singapore has about as much inhabitants as Finland) and Singaporean English is very difficult to understand sometimes, so it was really a lot of help to have a few locals to show me around.

Somewhere above Afghanistan.

Now, in Frankfurt I was considering changing my sweater and jeans for a t-shirt and shorts but I thought that since it’s the rain season over in SG, it can’t be all that hot. I was wrong. I absolutely agree with ANN’s Justin Sevakis who also arrived here to attend AFA: the first impression on Singapore is definitely OH MY GOD IT’S SO FUCKING HOT.

My first meal in SG.

After dropping off my stuff at the hotel, we went to a local food court and I got acquainted with some local specialities such as the infamous durian (tastes like fried baltic herring fillets and smells like a sweaty t-shirt). I was pleased to note that the dishes were pretty damn huge – I’ve heard people complain that Asian dishes tend to be too small, especially in Japan, but this was certainly not the case here. The food was good, cheap and plentiful, so at least I’m not going to starve here. Next up was a visit to the AFA site where frantic construction was taking place. I also met quite a bunch of new people, some of whom I already knew from IRC. After walking back from the Suntec Convention Center we split up and I decided it was about time to hit the hay.

A new day, a new beginning. Not bad views for a cheap hotel.

Day 3 – Friday, 20th of Nov.

Woke up around 8 and joined Xak, jin and ume for a visit to a hawker center with an army market. This was one of my main places of interest and I immediately made a deal for an SAF LBV and a boonie with the new Singaporean camo pattern. Too bad they did not have the new type of uniform in stock yet.

Singaporean breakfast. With beer.

After my first contact with Singaporean breakfast with its weird drinkable half-boiled eggs and playing a little prank by calling Akai (since he had no idea I was in Singapore), we went over to the Convention Center and after a bit of confusion I was granted with a media pass and thus access to the AAC ‘09, which I ended up skipping because I didn’t really feel comfortable in my rather casual wear in the midst of actual media folk with fancy suits and stuff.

View from an overpass, on the way to Suntec.

I took a cab back to the hotel to drop off the gear I had bought from the army market and decided to head for the Lower Peirce Reservoir, but apparently I somehow boarded the wrong bus (the damn thing had the right number) and ended up right next to the Suntec Convention Center again. After a bit of walking around and hogging down some fish-n’-chips I felt the jet lag kicking in and got my ass back to the hotel for a 4-hour nap. I woke up at 8pm, still tired but even more hungry, and headed out to the food court nearby for some fried chicken rice and a jug of ice cold Tiger. What I’ve noticed thus far is that food is pretty much everywhere in Singapore and it’s very cheap – at least for a European. I can get a decent meal here with 1.20 euros which back home would be barely enough for two packs of instant noodles or a canned soup. That said, beer is very expensive. The local beer brand Tiger is actually cheaper in Finland than in its country of origin thanks to a crazy alcohol tax.

That’s pretty much all for now. Everyone’s busy with AFA and I think it’s best to save all my energy for its first day tomorrow, so I better hit the sack for today. My overall impression on Singapore is very positive. It’s always very warm outside no matter what weather (it feels like it just gets hotter when it’s raining), people are used to foreigners and getting around is relatively easy. The dreaded Singlish is as incomprehensible as they say and I’m still in the process of getting the hang of it. Singaporeans talk really fast compared to Americans and British so keeping up with them is quite a challenge at times. Singaporeans are actually a lot like Finns – friendly but formal, at least compared to Americans who invite you over to their house the moment they meet you. Works for me. Anyway, I’m really looking forward to the first day of AFA. More posts and a bit more relevant pics coming soon.

Tags: beer, offtopic, singapore