Mere Memories of Singapore

For our last adventure while living in Japan, we recently decided against an all-inclusive relaxing beach vacation in Saipan (remind me to always go with my first instinct) and instead opted for a free military (AMC) flight to Singapore to experience a little more Asian culture (and English-speakers, for an easier time of things). We arrived with such ease (especially in comparison to my October AMC trip to Okinawa) and set off to enjoy our week in this tropical city full of great food, upscale shopping and fun activities.

Although note that there are no relaxing beaches in Singapore. And come to find out, their rainy season is in March (which is not advertised clearly on the city state's website).

We did notice the rain showers right away, so the first day we made our way to Orchard Road for some window shopping decked out in our rain gear. We enjoyed some local Singaporean food for lunch at a hawker stall. It was fast and delicious and the price of a full meal, S$3.80 ($2.50) was a pleasant surprise.

When we saw sun our second full day, we headed straight for the Singapore Zoo, where we started our day with a buffet breakfast alongside free-roaming orangutans--the zoo's main claim to fame. We spent a whole day watching the animals in beautiful, and what appeared to be fairly natural, habitats. Sydney had a blast at a water playground within the zoo, where she played for more than an hour and a half.

On the way out of the zoo, while Sydney took a catnap in the stroller and Brian treated Miranda to some ice cream, I stole 10 minutes for myself at a nearby spa to "try my feet" at the Turkish fish pond. These minnow-size fish literally feed on the dead skin of your feet--if you can stand the tickle/slight sting and the mere thought of the fish sinking their teeth into your feet. I had to continually stifle a little scream that welled up within me as the number of fish attached to my feet increased exponentially within seconds. The two young Asian men sitting opposite of me, with our backs to each other, were kind enough to be entertained by my squeamishness. They laughed and spoke enough English to try to encourage me to put my feet and lower legs all the way in. I simply shuddered, shook my head, nervously laughed and tried to keep my feet barely below the surface, while every 30 seconds my autonomic nervous system kicked in to send a message in the form of a jitter to the fish: back off. I think my feet were in the water for at least three of the ten minutes.

On a second sunny morning, we took in the Jurong Bird Park, where we saw two fun bird shows. Our favorite featured a parrot who sang three songs in three languages; of course, we only recognized "Happy Birthday." Then we stopped off at Little India on our way back to the city to try some great Indian food at Banana Leaf Apolo. Many dishes in Singapore were actually served on huge placemat-like banana leaves. Very green, we noticed.

We were on a roll, fitting in one sight on my list of things to do after another, so we weren't terribly upset about the full day of rain that set in the second to last day of our trip. Although we were disappointed that we couldn't use more relaxing pool time due to the weather. (This is when we most regretted not choosing Saipan.) So, we tried to make the best of it and spent some time running around (Brian, Sydney and Miranda) and shopping (me) in the Raffles City Shopping Centre attached to our hotel.

After a great Chinese dumpling lunch, while I tried on a shirt over my clothes at a kiosk in the center of the mall and Brian chased the girls around, my purse (and accompanying sweater wrap) was stolen right out from under me. It was at my feet as I looked around the cart, but then distracted, I left it out of sight for a few weak moments...and in those moments, Brian was "entertained" by an ugly woman paying false attention to the kids, whole another person rustled in the clothing near my purse, which Brian hadn't realized was there and in jeopardy.

Well, I've said it before in regards to free AMC flights, you get what you pay for. I suppose losing a purse, a few bucks and a camera was my karmic payment for saving a few bucks on a flight...and being stupid enough to take it off my body and leave myself vulnerable. But unfortunately, the universe didn't take into account that the photos in that camera were priceless. Among them, a gorgeous, sunny aerial view of snowy Fuji as we flew over it on the way to Singapore. And even more precious--at least one family photo (that I know of) in front of the Singapore Zoo orangutans, where all 4 of us were looking at the camera with pleasant expressions. It was so good, I didn't buy the photographer's photo, because Miranda wasn't looking in his photo.

Later as I needed them, I thought of all the relatively inexpensive conveniences that had been in my purse, which later turned into inconveniences, roughly in this order: chapstick, hand sanitizer, two toy cell phones for the girls, Hello Kitty pen with an okonomiyaki from Hiroshima, a plastic travel bib, sunglasses, and my jump drive.

But...it could've been worse, I realized even immediately. I noticed within 10 minutes of last checking my purse at my feet, and pulling it closer to me. (Yet another time I should've gone with my first instinct.) We canceled two credit cards and my bank card, and put a fraud alert on both our credit reports because my military ID has both our SS#s on it, which is the real identity theft fear, especially because it's a popular crime in Singapore. But I had placed most cash, both passports, both driver's licenses, and my mp3 player in the hotel safe. So, after our last and sunny day on the island of Sentosa (the last place to check off my list), at least I could return home on the military flight...a day earlier than we'd planned. Can you blame us?

You might say Singapore screwed us. But maybe this negative event only cosmically makes up for the fact that Sydney appeared to be gesturing inappropriately the whole week as she showed everyone she met her black and blue middle fingernail, which was dangling and finally fell off our last day in Singapore. Just as well; by then she'd unknowingly communicated all we needed to "say" to Singapore already.