Singapore

This blog comes to you from the future, as I've been too busy (read intoxicated) in Thailand to write this until now.

Death eyes for Recliner Girl

Let’s start with the flight to Singapore and the chick in the seat in front of me becomes enemy number 1 of the trip. She has earnt this prestigious honour by yanking her seat back, resulting in my laptop getting awkwardly wedged. After plotting extravagant means of revenge, I went with the more subtle strategy of politely asking her to put her seat back to the normal upright position. I gave her death eyes though, just so she knows that if she tries it again, bad things will happen.

Cheap if you stay on the train

Singapore is a very dense city.. massive skyscrapers everywhere. The public transport is fantastic here, and incredibly cheap. The train from the airport cost about $2, and this is about 45 mins from the city. The rest of Singapore is expensive though, especially alchohol. Luckily for me, I’m currently on a non-drinking period in preparation for the onslaught in Thailand.

A beary crap hostel

So for some strange reason, I decide to stay in a hostel called ‘A Beary Good Hostel’. This hostel is just weird. There are big teddy bears everywhere, you’re not allowed to walk around with shoes on, and they haven’t actually finished construction of this hostel yet. It reminds me of my old place in Brisbane, where half the place is dark because there isn’t functional lights where there should be.

Winner winner chicken dinner

So with only one day here, naturally I walk straight to the casino at Marina Bay Sands. The whole complex is quite fascinating. Three linked towers with a ‘skypark’ spanning them on the roof. The skypark has an infinity pool, gardens, a few clubs and an observation deck. Very nice, me says! Although, only the observation deck and one of the bars is open to those not staying in the hotel.

Anyway, in order to deceive myself into thinking I was doing something cultural, I went and played Sic Bo at the casino. I can only assume this is an Asian game. Turns out, it is really simplistic. Three dice get thrown, and you can bet on a whole ton of different outcomes eg. Total, numbers on each dice etc.

I also seized the opportunity to learn Craps. I was quite the novelty and the Craps table.. the Western guy amongst a flock of Asians (or whatever the collective noun is for a group of Asians) and I think they somehow believed I was good luck, so they kept backing my bets and getting excited when it was my turn to be the shooter (i.e. throw the dice).

The local gamblers come here for business, not pleasure. Locals have to pay ($100 I think) for the privilege of gambling at Marina Bay Sands. I assume this is a one off fee. Low limit tables are virtually non-existent, and there didn’t seem to be a bar anywhere.

Bottom line was I walked out of the casino triumphantly with a 10SGD note and a couple free bottles of water. Winner winner chicken dinner!

Oh and I went on the roof:

Summary

Awesome:

Marina Bay Sands complex, gambling with the Asians.

Craptacular:

Alcohol prices, hostel

Lessons learnt: 

Don’t stay in bear themed hostels

Enemies:

Recliner girl

What’s Next

Drinking, debauchery and de beaches in Thailand with one G. Sheedy.