Dangerous Dave's Dlog

On the first day, we stayed in a hotel in Singapore. On the 10 hours flight over, the entertainment screen in the back of my seat stopped emitting sound. they reset it, and that didn't work. So they reset the group, which was myself and two others, and they wouldn't even boot. Just black screens. So they reset the whole plane, leaving them off for 20 minutes then booting them. It worked, but there were a lot of restless people. Stupid Linux (I saw the boot screens so many times, I've almost got them memorised. I'm convinced it's a Linux kernel) There were a couple of others in my area having the same problem with sound, so it wasn't entirely for me. The guy next to me was quite angry about it, but it was my way of getting back at him for having his elbow constantly in my personal space.

The hotel was really cold in the rooms, constantly air conditioned because they are full of businessmen wearing hot suits. We appreciated it. After an hour or two of post 30 degree (C) temperatures, we were very happy to have that air conditioning.

In the morning, after a swim, we headed out for breakfast. We headed past the stalls selling "Pretty Woman" and "Parasites" and onto the food area. I had Silky Barleyz, a barley tea, seaweed and garlic bread, pork fur bread, and a desert filled with asuka bean icecream, and an odd coating of some gelatine substance of the same flavour. I had several other things as well, basically throwing money at anything I hadn't tried before.

Then we caught our $2.40 (Singapore Dollars, which are almost exactly the same value as the NZ Dollar, around 70c of a US dollar) bus trip for an hour and a half or so. They charge $2.40 to go to malaysia, and RM2.40 to get back. Singapore Dollars are worth about 2.5 times more than Malaysian Ringgits, but more travelers go across from Malaysia and back again (or the other way around) so it all works out fine for a round trip.

As you cross the bridge, you get out of the bus, take your bags, and head through the Singapore Departures, showing your passport, and handing them the other half of the form you got when you arrived in the country (they match them up). then you get in a new bus (buses are leaving all the time, so you just get one which ever one is there depending on how long it took you), and go about 2km down the road. There you find customs for Malaysia. You fill out an arrival form and show your passport again. For people who live in Malaysia and work in Singapore (and there are a lot), this is what they do every day.

Then we caught a taxi, about 25 minute journey for RM10 ($4NZ, $3US) to the apartment block where my relatives live. The area where they live in is really nice compared to the areas we drove through. It was almost slum status, houses on leans held up by washing lines full of clothes. The wage gap between Singapore and Malaysia is huge, and it shows.

We arrived, got settled it, and went for a swim. We watched as the island of Singapore faded away and then the rain started. Thunderstorms, that stay for hours. We got out of the pool before the thunder arrived.

Now we are watching the thunderstorm pass. KL tomorrow.

-Dave