Unforgettable Singapore

01 April 2017 Travel time: with 09 February 2017 on 12 February 2017
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Singapore

Journey starts here

Our minibus shuddered. Something hit him hard. But the speed was too great to stop. We continued to run. We were constantly thrown up, I firmly pressed myself against the handrail. Everyone was visibly nervous, another blow, and we fell off the path, ahead of the roof. The car finally loses control and we take off from a height of nine floors. Adrenaline in the blood, at this moment I feel a free fall. During the fall, the front of the car tilted so that the inevitable approach of the asphalt was visible. Everything in the body is frozen. But literally at the last moment, one of the transformers intercepted us and threw us further... “You did the job! “It was just virtual reality, very spectacular and realistic.


Now everything is in real life. Before us, the last defenders of the water base are fighting the attacking bandits. There is a shootout, a man caught fire from napalm flies from a height into the water. The base is attacked with machine guns and rocket launchers. One of the heroes falls off a cliff and hangs on one arm. The pirate kicks him so that he finally breaks. More attackers on scooters break into the base, breaking through obstacles, one of the men clings to the scooter with a rope and tries to repel the attack on water skis, but crashes against the wall. A military plane is flying to help, they are preparing a rocket launcher to shoot down the plane! Everywhere the most real explosions from rockets and grenades.

When the show ended, everyone gave a standing ovation. It was a real stunt show.

Oh yes, Singapore knows how to impress! But back to the beginning of this segment of our trip. The hour-long flight stretched out twice. At first we were not allowed to take off, and then landing) Fortunately, we had to circle over the cool islands of Indonesia, at a low altitude. The plane repeated three identical circles, each time flying through a rain cloud. When we noticed how the same landscapes were repeated behind the porthole, we even started talking on the same topics in a circle three times. Singapore differed from the rest of Asia in the scope of its chic. This city is vaguely reminiscent of Dubai, but very different in a favorable way. Firstly, everything is green and there is no desert at all. Secondly, the transport system is more transparent. This is a very unique combination of one of the most advanced metropolitan areas in the world and at the same time, parks, trees and other vegetation are constantly on the way. We liked Singapore right from the airport. The entire airport is covered with thick solid carpet. At the border control there are vases with sweets. It was so comforting. Then we were waiting for the kinetic rain.


These are large metal drops that move synchronously, quickly, but at the same time very gracefully in a vertical plane, depicting waves and similar figures. Everything seems to be quite simple, but the eyes are drawn to it like a magnet. The issue with cash and transport tickets was resolved in the nearest stall. The guy explained everything and sold us travel cards. Somehow everything went smoothly from the very beginning. But the unmanned subway quickly brought us back to reality. The heart of the machine is cold. While boarding the train, Dasha and I were separated by the glass doors of the car. From my side, there was even a choir sound of “Ouuu”. The tourists who were sitting in the subway divided into my position. On Dasha’s side, the guy from Bengladesh was very upset that we didn’t get on the same train. Since the doors did not let in sound, we had about five seconds to explain our future plans with gestures to each other. As we agreed, I got off at the next stop and waited for the train with Dasha. The train doors open with the platform doors. That is, if I stand in the same place where I left, then Dasha in the next train will be exactly in the same place. Everything seemed to be clear until the train arrived without Dasha. Entering the train, the carriages of which do not have partitions, I realized the depth of the problem. Either Dasha is somewhere else on the train, or she is not here. And what to do in this case, either jump back out, or go and search the cars. I had about 2 seconds to think before the doors closed. I jumped back. The train full of people left. I stood at a loss. Dasha had all means of communication in her backpack, including the address of the hotel. It was about five minutes before the next train and we had to gather our thoughts about what to do next. The next train is coming. Clearly on my door stands Dasha. She then boarded the next train. Now there is still an unresolved issue. Where did a full train of people come from between two neighboring stations. In fact, now I already understood, it was just a ghost train. And I'm very lucky that I jumped out of it.

On the way to the hotel, we met fairly ordinary streets. You can’t say that this is one of the most advanced cities. Although, in fact, every centimeter cannot be brought to futurism. At the beginning of the story, I mentioned that the authorities are strenuously fighting prostitution. The fighting is so strong that every 20 meters someone sells a batch of Viagra, prostitutes are constantly catching their earnings, and there was a brothel opposite our hotel. Women with numbers languidly waited for their stallions. I thought that Viagra could only be photographed underground, but the surprised seller even allowed me to take a photo with a flash. They decided to shoot prostitutes on video without a flash. But alas, when the camera was ready, the women were "on a mission. " But perhaps we were just so lucky with the hotel street, we didn’t see this on other streets. But all the same, we were amused by the whole fact. We were waiting for the most important moment, it was necessary to have dinner. From the stories of bloggers, I have heard how expensive everything is here. Especially as one guy said in an interview that coffee costs $4. We found a more comfortable street, open restaurant. The cook was shown with a finger that we want two portions of different noodles with some marvelous-looking meat and adjika. The cook cut our meat into pieces with scissors, put our portions on paper, paper on a tray and said a rather mysterious number. Dasha came to the conclusion that this clearly meant 40 Singapore dollars ($28). I hoped for luck and gave him 4 SGD ($2.8).

The cook happily thanked us and motioned for us to sit down. We sat in shock that in a rather touristy area of ​ ​ Singapore, we eat very tasty large portions for 2.8 US dollars. Something to eat here is definitely not expensive. The most important thing is to find these open-type cafes. Adjika Singaporean is very similar to the one that our grandmothers make. Later we also ordered 0.8 SGD ($0.6) spiced tea with milk, similar to what we constantly drank in Malaysia. A local resident shared a meal with us, who was interested in talking with tourists about how business flourishes abroad. One of the most interesting things to do abroad is going to supermarkets. There you can always buy a delicious curiosity. Immediately, the trip was remembered by the meeting of the guys who spoke a very understandable language among themselves. Moreover, we could not understand what exactly this Slavic language was. The guys were from Lviv))) I really wanted to see the city center as soon as possible, but it was already around 22:00. Someone told us that the subway runs here until one in the morning. Having learned that we had about three more hours, we hurried to the unmanned train for walks. Wow!


And we are at one of the central stations. Everything was really pathetic and unusual. In front of us, some expensive sports cars passed indicatively for the races. The skyscrapers inside had a lot of greenery, fountains, bridges, passages and lights. As if each skyscraper was trying to surpass the neighboring one in scope. Walking around the city really brought impressive emotions. And the real emotions began when our new tablet sat down, and the old powerbank did not fit. The main thing is that we remember the nearest metro station to the hotel. Yes, and in the hotel there were times when things were thrown. Wandering aimlessly, we reached the bridge in the form of DNA.

The bridge offers stunning views of the business center itself. But the most beautiful thing in Singapore is the views of the artificial trees in one of the gardens. We already see them, they are far away, but the fact is, we saw them with our own eyes. It's a pity not to add them to today's night route. After admiring the views of skyscrapers, we took the metro to the hotel. The Singapore Metro is not very confusing, but getting on the wrong side or on the wrong line has been an integral part of our trips. Finding a hotel without GPS was not easy for the second time. But the benefit of prostitutes does not change their location. And on prostitutes as a landmark you can get. Some kind of monster lived in the sewers near our metro and oozed menacingly from the depths.

Every evening, returning home, we bought a drink from some strange fruit in the local market. Once I even got juice from dirty socks. Anyway, the taste was the same. The introductory part with the country is over, tomorrow you can go to the outback. At two o'clock in the morning, impressed by the metropolis, we went to bed.

Zoo


Early in the morning I watched my sausage cut into pieces with scissors and kindly handed over my dish. Yes, this restaurant without scissors is like without hands! While we were eating, the cook was defrosting the meat, simply pouring water from a hose that was glass and flowed further along the ground. Another great Singaporean meal.

Now you need a hotel with Wi-Fi to call a taxi. While Dasha was calling a taxi, I decided to ask where their toilet was. The answer puzzled me very much “What kind of business do you want to do? ". At first I went into a stupor, then I suggested that this could be an analogue of the question “Big or small”. But even in this formulation, you need to know the correct answers. I clarified whether we are really talking about the toilet. The receptionist nodded in the affirmative and named the answer options “Small business or big business”. They just had different toilets in the lobby for different occasions. At this time, our Uber arrived and we went out of town. Dense forests grew along the tracks. This is probably the greenest metropolis in the world. One of the world's best zoos welcomed us very cordially.

Rather, there were two zoos. One water, the other classic. Before closing it was necessary to visit both. But for this you have to skip some shows. Of course, we are used to visiting everything and everywhere and not missing anything, but we could not spend more than two days traveling into the future. But, fortunately, the elephant show, which we have already seen 6 times, could be safely skipped in favor of the second zoo. Outside the entrance to the zoo, monkeys frolicked joyfully, birds flew, and under the bridge a hefty crocodile lay and waited for someone to fall.

All 2530 animals were waiting for us. The zoo is truly unique. It was built on the site of the jungle, while preserving the vegetation. The first zone impressed me the most. From behind the bushes, growls of different intonations could be heard, behind the bushes... real dinosaurs!

They were practically alive, moving and growling menacingly. Or whatever the sound that dinosaurs make is called. Just a year ago, we saw living mermaids in the Canary Islands, and here are dinosaurs!


Electric trains criss-crossed the area. You could get hooked at the nearest stop and go to the next zones. Although the size of the zoo made it possible to get around everything on foot, even riding such a train was a separate entertainment.

It was like a jungle safari. Drivers were happy to give advice on what activities, what time is better to be in time.

One of the entertainments was feeding the animals. At the indicated time, every five minutes the animals were fed in different enclosures. That is, you just need to follow a certain route in order to observe all this. Filtered drinking water throughout the hot zoo was free, but you had to buy a bottle once. Or come with your own.

We now have a bottle in memory of Singapore. The day was so hot that if the water was paid, I would have to open a bank loan. Meanwhile, everyone started moving towards the arena for the snake show. During the show, the presenter asked the question “Who is afraid of snakes? ” All the visitors were very courageous and brave. Dasha was honest. The presenter pointed to Dasha, who had raised her hand, and beckoned to the stage with a gesture. At such moments, the main thing is to keep the camera ready. A tourist sitting next to me praised my camera. Apparently, she, too, was looking for a compact pseudo-SLR. Dasha stood facing the audience, the presenter took out a small snake and gave it to Dasha in her hands. The whole hall fell silent, alarmed and surprised exclamations swept through the rows. Something definitely happened that Dasha did not know. It was clear to Dasha that the audience was unlikely to be so worried because of some half-meter snake. In fact, behind Dasha's back, four men carried out a huge fat snake. Dasha was also given a part of the snake. After such snake therapy, Dasha is no longer afraid of snakes.

There was also a memorable aviary with birds and bats. The mouse chewed the watermelon so appetizingly that we ourselves got hungry and went to dinner. In fact, you can safely spend the whole day at the zoo. The number of zones with animals is still infinite)


The second zoo was nearby. It was located on a lake and was dedicated to aquatic animals and activities. We first went on a boat. The zones of the first zoo were located in such a way that when you sail on a boat, it seems that the animals are walking in the wild. If you do not know about the presence of the first zoo, then you will remain amazed at the density of animals in the wild jungle. The water zoo differed from the first in a more measured and calm atmosphere. There was no need to rush here. After a 20-minute walk along the lake, we were waiting for a mini show with different birds and reptiles. The show was ten people. The bottom line was that they took out various living creatures and let them touch, stroke, or even seated them on those who wished.

One proud bird even left marks on my arm. In the end, they brought out something completely healthy, fluffy, loving and lazy.

After the show, we went to the area with the monkeys. In general, it is worth noting that monkeys are everywhere on this trip, both on the streets and in zoos. Sometimes I myself wanted to be a monkey and not worry about any garbage like robots. Oddly enough, but even for the hundredth time meeting monkeys, you begin to be fascinated by watching them. They are all so different and cute. The next area was a large oceanarium. At the entrance above a transparent tunnel in the water, otters were waiting for us, which frolicked like children.

Consider watching the unscheduled otter show. They played really well together. In the oceanarium itself, giant manatees were waiting for us. It was still an hour before feeding time. During this time, you could just go into the woods to the pandas. These were the first pandas we saw in our lives.

Let me tell you, they are just as amazing as the pictures. Nearby in a cafe, Pao steam pies in the form of pandos were served.

When it was time to move the monkeys and manatees to feed, it began to rain. Before it turned into a whole natural disaster, we barely had time to slip under the canopy. When it didn’t rain, we didn’t even notice that there was always a cover over the main paths of the park in case of rain or sun. Lilo so that the energy of the elements was felt in the air. It was real natural power. Through the wall of rain it was not possible to see what was tens of meters away. Feeding the monkeys on the occasion of the rain was canceled. Apparently monkeys are not good to eat when it rains. It's good that the Manatees were already in the water. A man with cabbages came down to feed them.


Apparently he was very brave, or the manatees were just vegetarians. Why eat cabbage if such a delicious Asian entered the water. But oddly enough, these giants limited themselves to vegetable snacks. The rains here are massive, but brief. After feeding, the weather was already without precipitation. The zoos were closing, and all the tourists went to the bus. The peacock also ended his shift. He made his way through the zones and strode proudly across the road to the bus. The peacock didn't fit in our bus. The main thing is how to go to the zoo, Google showed that we need three buses. And it turns out you can go back on one. But on the other hand, it's good that we saved time in the morning. We got off the bus, obviously in an expensive area. But even here it took us less than five minutes to find a cafe where we ate at a very affordable price. A little more expensive than breakfast, but not expensive at all. To be honest, the second week eating Asian food was difficult. Although it is really tasty, but the long-term habit of Ukrainian food is still felt. Then we headed to the central station, where at 20:00 there should be a show of singing fountains. While we were on the subway, a girl just googled the timetable for us. But there was one problem. A brief downpour came back too to watch this show. Lilo is epic again. Near the observation deck is a large mall. You can hang out there and wait out the rain. As far as this city was not modern, only buckets saved from leaking roofs. High tech! We still had time before the fountain show and wandered up the escalators hoping to find something interesting. But apart from endless carpets and empty business halls, there was nothing on the upper floors. The first show was canceled due to rain. It was hoped that there would be a show at 21:30. We had another hour and a half.

Gardens by the Bay

Meanwhile, the downpour turned into a drizzle. I had an original idea to take a walk to the park with Singaporean futuristic trees. The route was through open country, over bridges and terraces through skyscrapers. Dasha did not strongly support this idea, but nevertheless we went. Although the route was actually on the roofs, palm trees grew everywhere. Singapore is a country of strict laws, from time to time you wonder if we are breaking any law. As soon as we got to the park with trees, all the trees went out abruptly. Dasha and I automatically raised our hands in preparation to surrender to the Singaporean authorities for such a late invasion of this most beautiful park. Somewhere from the tops of the trees came a voice in English “We have prepared this evening show for you, enjoy! ".

And then the romance in the air exceeded all limits. Music began to play throughout the park, and the trees synchronously changed their lights to the beat. The melodies were of different rhythms, some calm romantic, others fast and energetic. It felt like nothing was real. Everything was somehow perfectly beautiful and comfortable, like a pleasant dream. The show lasted 20 minutes.