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Exploring the known and unknown
Coffee beans and Tea leaves.
Last November, after the great time I had with my mate Gert, we had decided to do some more travelling in the near future.
The "near future" arrived a few days ago on Saturday the 16th of April when we started another journey, partly into the unknown.
We both flew into Singapore at around 3.15 pm. Gert from Amsterdam via Doha and I from the Gold Coast near Brisbane. We had decided to meet at a coffee shop aptly named “The Coffee Bean and the Tea Leaf located in terminal 1 of Singapore's Changi airport.
When I arrived, Gert had beaten me by 10 minutes. An important part of this journey had been achieved. After taking the MRT (the more than excellent metro system with its driver-less trains) we arrived at “The In-Crowd” Hostel in the suburb of “Little India”. At first, after we reached the underground station’s street-level, I was a bit confused as I did not recognise where we were. An Indian man approached, I think he guessed that we were kind of lost when he said: “This a new station and a new underground line; Dunlop Street is now very close." He was right, instead of having to walk 1.5 km is was just a mere 200 meters away.
The people who manage The In-crowd Hostel really understand how to run the place - I was impressed when the lady at the counter greeted me by my name and said: “I remember you from last year, I may forget a face but don’t forget names so easily, and now that I see you I know who you are.” Wow!
An hour later, after e few cups of coffee, we left again to find a place to eat, then after walking about a hundred meters a man waved at me and said: “I think you lost something and pointed behind me”. I looked back and saw my small camera bag (with my camera in it) on the road, about 50 meters back. The strap had broken away from my belt without me noticing it. Lucky for me that the man had spotted it as I just bought the new camera only a few days ago.
After first visiting a Hindu temple we walked over to a nearby square with an eating area and ordered a great curry and ate it like the locals do- using fingers only. I had asked if the curry was spicy, “oh no, not spicy” said the man. Sure!
On Sunday we checked out and walked to Orchard road, which is a location with more shopping malls than you point a stick at. All the “important” brands of the world are represented in these shops with prices to match, needless to say that we didn’t hang around for too long after being charged $12 for a cup of coffee.
Chinatown was different with a fairly normal pricing structure. We visited the large Buddhist Temple and checked out some shops. For Gert all of this was a first time experience and an excellent time to observe the way business is done. I was after a new camera bag and checked some prices. The owner of a store looked at my camera and tried to sell me a high powered battery which would last three times as long as a standard battery that came with the camera. How much? I asked. To make an impression he got his calculator out and entered $126 and said; “ I will give you a discount” while pressing the buttons on his calculator to create the illusion that he was serious. The result showed a new price of $50.
Well thank you, I said but I only need a camera bag and not a battery. Half an hour later we walked past another shop where the owner offered the same battery for $50. When we walked on he quickly said: “ I give you a good price, you can have it for $30, that is my best price”. Sure, I thought, I probably get is for $20 in the end- if I needed and wanted a battery. Anyway for Gert it was a good example how things are done in Asia.
Singapore can be criss-crossed easily with the MRT underground train and it cost very little to do so. We ended up going to the Harbour area to see the light show at 7.45 pm. In the end we had to give it a miss as a tropical storm came down showing us how it is done when water is poured from the heavens by the bucket load. Via underground tunnels we ended up in another shopping mall which was that large it even had an indoor canal where you could really be “ taken for ride”.
Our plane to Taiwan was going to depart at 00.45, so we headed back to the airport at 9 pm and got ready for the four hour flight to Taipei- the capital of Taiwan.
Last November, after the great time I had with my mate Gert, we had decided to do some more travelling in the near future.
The "near future" arrived a few days ago on Saturday the 16th of April when we started another journey, partly into the unknown.
We both flew into Singapore at around 3.15 pm. Gert from Amsterdam via Doha and I from the Gold Coast near Brisbane. We had decided to meet at a coffee shop aptly named “The Coffee Bean and the Tea Leaf located in terminal 1 of Singapore's Changi airport.
When I arrived, Gert had beaten me by 10 minutes. An important part of this journey had been achieved. After taking the MRT (the more than excellent metro system with its driver-less trains) we arrived at “The In-Crowd” Hostel in the suburb of “Little India”. At first, after we reached the underground station’s street-level, I was a bit confused as I did not recognise where we were. An Indian man approached, I think he guessed that we were kind of lost when he said: “This a new station and a new underground line; Dunlop Street is now very close." He was right, instead of having to walk 1.5 km is was just a mere 200 meters away.
The people who manage The In-crowd Hostel really understand how to run the place - I was impressed when the lady at the counter greeted me by my name and said: “I remember you from last year, I may forget a face but don’t forget names so easily, and now that I see you I know who you are.” Wow!
An hour later, after e few cups of coffee, we left again to find a place to eat, then after walking about a hundred meters a man waved at me and said: “I think you lost something and pointed behind me”. I looked back and saw my small camera bag (with my camera in it) on the road, about 50 meters back. The strap had broken away from my belt without me noticing it. Lucky for me that the man had spotted it as I just bought the new camera only a few days ago.
After first visiting a Hindu temple we walked over to a nearby square with an eating area and ordered a great curry and ate it like the locals do- using fingers only. I had asked if the curry was spicy, “oh no, not spicy” said the man. Sure!
On Sunday we checked out and walked to Orchard road, which is a location with more shopping malls than you point a stick at. All the “important” brands of the world are represented in these shops with prices to match, needless to say that we didn’t hang around for too long after being charged $12 for a cup of coffee.
Chinatown was different with a fairly normal pricing structure. We visited the large Buddhist Temple and checked out some shops. For Gert all of this was a first time experience and an excellent time to observe the way business is done. I was after a new camera bag and checked some prices. The owner of a store looked at my camera and tried to sell me a high powered battery which would last three times as long as a standard battery that came with the camera. How much? I asked. To make an impression he got his calculator out and entered $126 and said; “ I will give you a discount” while pressing the buttons on his calculator to create the illusion that he was serious. The result showed a new price of $50.
Well thank you, I said but I only need a camera bag and not a battery. Half an hour later we walked past another shop where the owner offered the same battery for $50. When we walked on he quickly said: “ I give you a good price, you can have it for $30, that is my best price”. Sure, I thought, I probably get is for $20 in the end- if I needed and wanted a battery. Anyway for Gert it was a good example how things are done in Asia.
Singapore can be criss-crossed easily with the MRT underground train and it cost very little to do so. We ended up going to the Harbour area to see the light show at 7.45 pm. In the end we had to give it a miss as a tropical storm came down showing us how it is done when water is poured from the heavens by the bucket load. Via underground tunnels we ended up in another shopping mall which was that large it even had an indoor canal where you could really be “ taken for ride”.
Our plane to Taiwan was going to depart at 00.45, so we headed back to the airport at 9 pm and got ready for the four hour flight to Taipei- the capital of Taiwan.
- comments
Rob Great story to read, Can feel the atmosphere . Good luck Guys
Ab Brielle HI mate, Had je net een mail gestuurd deze morgen met een foto van Otto van Zuilen. Weet je nog ? Leuk verhaal weer vanuit Singapore. Leuk dat je Gert nu weer hier ontmoet. Laat je de arme kerel ook af en toe wat slapen ? Niet iedereen heeft genoeg aan 4 uurtjes per etmaal :) Good on you mate. Keep on traveling. See you later.
Karel Hoi Richard en Gert, Singapore, de stad die op mij een enorme indruk heeft gemaakt. Ik voel het klamme klimaat en herinner mij ook een enorme plensbui. We gingen toen schuilen onder een luifel van een kleermakerswinkel. De eigenaar wees ons naar binnen en bood ons een stoel aan. zonder verder te proberen iets te verkopen aan ons. Wonderlijk, want elke passant werd aangesproken. je begint aan een nieuw blog en meteen maak je al weer boeiende dingen mee. Goede reis en veel plezier. Groet Gert van ons. Ik kijk uit naar je volgende verslag.
Paula Was it just your camera bag that you dropped or did you have your camera in it too? Very nice person that told you that you had dropped it. Nice pics honeyxxx
Mitchell Veel plezier !
[email protected] Mooie fotos zeker een erg mooie reis Volgende keer tulpen velden retour van ons. Veel plezier,en goede reis! Groet els dirk Holland