Singapore - Homeward Bound!

I woke up at 6:00am and after having a shower and getting dressed, I headed off on foot to the railway station. As I walked to the station, I realized how much shopping I had done in Kuala Lumpur, as my backpack was extremely heavy! The train to Singapore left Kuala Lumpur on time at 7:40am. The train arrived at Johor Bahru, just after 1:00pm. Johor Bahru is the last Malaysian town before you cross the causeway into Singapore. After all of the remaining passengers cleared Malaysian Immigration, the train crossed the causeway into Singapore, stopping about a kilometre later at the Singaporean Immigration and Customs Point at Woodlands. All of the passengers had to disembark from the train and go through Singaporean Customs and Immigration before boarding the train again. As I was waiting to go though customs, I noticed a sign next to the Luggage X-Ray Machine, stating that it was illegal to bring pirated software, video's etc into Singapore! I started to panic as I had a backpack full of pirated CD-ROM's and Video's, but when I picked up my backpack, the customs officer just smiled and waved me through!

Singapore Railway Station

It took about 30 minutes to travel from the Woodlands Immigration and Customs Point to Singapore Railway Station. After disembarking from the train, I walked about a kilometre to the Tanjong Pagar MRT Station, where I caught a train to Dhoby Ghaut MRT Station.

Tanjong Pagar Mass Rapid Transit Station

 I was going to stay at the Strand Hotel, but as I was walking down Bencoolen Street, I noticed a new budget hotel called the Hotel Bencoolen. I got a brand new air-con room with attached bathroom, color TV, mini-fridge and room safe for SG$80! Which I thought was good value for Singapore. That night I went to see the movie "Rogue Trader", which was mostly set in Singapore.

Orchard Road, Singapore - back where I started.

Clifford Pier, Singapore

My flight to Brisbane wasn't due to leave until 9:15pm that night. So after having breakfast, I packed my bags, grabbed my camera and went sightseeing. I went to Clifford Pier and then I caught a cable car from Mt Faber to Sentosa Island. Sentosa is one of Singapore's main tourist attractions. You can see the old British Fort and Gun Emplacements, the aquarium, and the museum's which show's the history of Singapore. After spending the rest of the afternoon at Sentosa, I caught a taxi back to my hotel where I had my luggage stored. After grabbing my luggage, I walked around the corner and caught the No. 36 bus to the airport. The No.36 bus is a local bus and I think the bus driver and some of the passengers weren't that keen, on sharing their bus with some smelly foreigners with heavy over-sized backpacks!! 

Homeward Bound!

It took me over a hour to check my luggage in at Changi Airport. It wasn't Singapore Airlines fault, but a busload of disorganized Greek package tourists. They where pushing in, shouting and causing mass confusion. I thought, I was going to miss my flight and I would have, if it wasn't for the efforts of Singapore Airlines ground staff.  After checking in and clearing immigration, I had just enough time to change my Singapore Dollars into Australian Dollars, before I had to board my aircraft. The flight to Brisbane, Australia went smoothly and I landed in Brisbane just after 7:00am. 

In Conclusion!

I enjoyed my holiday, but I found it a bit tiring, as I always seemed to be on the go. Vietnam seems to be moving ahead in leaps and bursts. If only they could do something about their red tape and bureaucracy. I think Cambodia is going to become a  major tourist destination in S.E. Asia in the next 10 years. Thailand seems to have gotten very expensive and the Thai's seem to be sick of foreign tourists. Places like Ko Samui and Phuket have been wrecked by mass tourism and pollution. Malaysia is still a great place for a holiday and its still inexpensive. Singapore is a great place to spend a couple of days on the way to Europe, or as a starting point to explore S.E. Asia. I was very impressed with Singapore Airlines and I wouldn't hesitate to fly with them again. If anybody has any comments or suggestions, please email me at the address below.