Just a day in Singapore

Kandahar Street

The Peace Boat docked in Singapore having navigated the pirate infested straits of Malacca. We poured off the boat into an hour long wait at customs. The effiency of the MRT (subway) wasn’t what I’d expected either. (When purchasing a ticket you have to pay an extra dollar deposit which you need to claim back when you get off.) We had only 12 muggy hours in Singapore so a small group of us planned to head uptown to the Arab and Indian towns first. An unintentional detour led us around Midtowns parks and colonial buildings, watched over by towering sharp angled skyscrapers. But in the Arab district the ’scrapers gave way to colouful shuttered buildings and narrow lanes and a food market on Kandahar street. The Indian district was full of (surprise!) Indians. But not only.. the multicultural feeling of Singapore is total. Noone is a foreigner.

Clarke Quay

In the evening we met up with the rest of the crew at Clarke Quay to scope out some street food. In general, Singapore is not cheap and certainly not in the way the rest of South East Asia is. We ate well and headed down to the river with a beer in hand to hang out under the bright lights. Our taste of Singapore had flown by.

***
I appreciate my buffet breakfasts every morning on the ships stern. I’m surprised that there are usually a few other ships visible to us all the time. On the Peace Boat there is never a dull day . At our pre-English/Spanish Program party Raul opened a can of worms: I have now tragically danced the Marcarena more times than I’ll admit. We had over 100 people doing it at the Salsa party last week. But now classes have started and for this first week our free-time has disapeared. I have been given 2 absolute beginner classes. One is quite young and genki, though the older one will take a bit of work. (Suze, I have your mums Japanese doppleganger in my class!)

We GET teachers are pretty popular on board, partly because we stand out from everyone else. But some of the comparisons are ridiculous; I’ve been told that I look like Bruce Willis before in Japan, but NEVER Keano Reeves?!? My supposed similarity to my boss Phil (ie we both have a shaved head) creates daily confusion for a few passengers. An English teaching highlight was the first free Open English Class which I ran in Broadway Theatre. Over 200 people turned up and it kicked arse. You can call me an English Mega Star. Rock ON!

(sorry, no time to add the photos in this blog, but you can check them out in my Photolog)

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