Explorer in Singapore

Well the first thing to hit me in the face in Singapore was not the fact that the place was unusually clean or that the cars seem to fly along the streets. It was also not that the cars waited in a traffic signal without trying to get to the front of the line and it was most certainly not the presence of over 30 hindu temples but it was the fact that I have been here for over 14 hours and I have been in the streets for about 4 or 5 hours and I haven’t heard a single car honk its horn! Come on guys, back home in India we honk at anything and everything. If you don’t sound your horn, you are regarded the most incompetent idiot alive.

It was with a mild sense of apprehension that I boarded the Boeing 737 800 to Singapore. The air hostesses were very pretty( Well, it was Air India Express and when are you are raised in India for 21 years of your life, you learn to be easily satisfied :) The food was bad( As usual) and the movie that they showed was .. well I am not writing this blog to describe a Boeing am I? Anyway, the flight got over soon ( Thank God) and about 3 hours and 30 minutes later, the Captain announced that we would reach Singapore shortly and that we could open the window flaps. The first view of Singapore from the sky was pretty much less than dramatic. The sky was full of rain bearing clouds and I couldn’t make out a single light in the city that is supposed to have more lights than the whole of India. 5 minutes, later we had landed. After scurrying through Changi airport along with the rest of my Indian brothers and sisters, I queued up in the immigration queue and finished the procedures in record time. It was here that I played the ‘bright’ guy and stood in a queue for 10 minutes just to hear “ You didn’t have to come here. You can finish the procedures at ICA on Monday” . 10 minutes for that! I moved towards the baggage claim and by the time I got there, everything was gone! It was then, that I saw a lady taking away 3 bags and my big RED delsey was among the 3. I ran up to her and asked her about it. She said “ I am sorry. You are late. Please go to the baggage section to claim your bag. That was the last straw. I was about to burst, instead I decided to use my ‘irresistible charm’ :)and appealed to her heart saying “ Look here lady, this is my first time here, I dunno anybody in this place and I cant wait because it is getting late…Please” she melted and let me take the bag after I showed her my ticket. One thing though: You had to say "Sorry! come again" about 15 times if you wanted to ask where the toilet was!

I was greeted warmly by my uncle and his kid who had come to the airport to receive me at around 6.30 Singapore time (the flight was late by 2 hours and I got there at around 8.30) we took a taxi to his house. I was not tired or anything but I just cannot remember seeing anything spectacular on my way home. When we got home, I got my first surprise. You had to swipe a card to access the front gate and you had to swipe to access the lift and get to your floor! We got home and ate a great dinner. This was followed by 15 minutes of me trying to read Harry potter and failing miserably because my mind wasn’t up to the task. I just could not get over the fact that I had just crossed the sea.

10 hours of blissful sleep later, I got my first glimpse of a Singaporean morning. It was quite pleasant. The streets were spotlessly clean and the traffic was immaculate in following rules. Utopia? After a breakfast ( Adai and butter slurpppppppppp!! ) and a bath( Nothing different from India. They still use water as we do back home !) I was ready to go to.. Believe it or not, a Temple.

More than the temple, I would like to describe the bus journey. Well, firstly the buses do not have conductors. Small boxes about a feet long and wide have replaced their human counterparts (wait till Jyoti Basu comes here!). I got into the bus, swiped my card and sat down. My aunt and uncle gave me a lot of insight into the Singapore way of life on the way. After 5 minutes, the bus came to a halt. My uncle finished the conversation slowly and the said ” We have to get down here” I was about to do a 007 stunt and exit the bus using my unique acrobatic skills but then... we didn’t shout at the driver to hold on and nor did we push the guys ahead to get to the exit. We took our sweet time to get out and the driver was not even complaining ( these Singaporeans are crazy :) : with a reference to Obelix). On our way out, my uncle asked me toswipe again. I was wondering why and then slowly I understood. When you swiped at the start point, you were telling the bus that you had entered and when you swiped on your way out, you were telling the bus that you had come to the destination and that you be charged for the journey. The money would automatically be deducted from your card and you can go on. Neat huh? But I cant imagine it working in India. As for the temple, I am a good actor and did my act perfectly!

15 minutes later we went to a supermarket! Here I understood fully the advise my Uncle had given me last evening : never ever try to convert to Indian rupees. Every thing was costly for me. I remember thinking how I was going to survive here. Shortly, we got back home. And here I am typing this out. Nothing much but this was my first look at Singapore and my impression: Pretty impressive. My uncle says “ Wait till you see your University” Hmm you better wait for me to type that out too!