Liew's Views

too little time to type (for now).

My apologies, but my detailed on-goings in Korea will have to wait since I don’t have much time left here and I have to make the most of it by notwriting about it.  I’ve got the best personal tour guides in Korea who keep me busy – we really don’t stop til 6 in the mornin. sometimes 7.

This is most likely going to be my last post. so Cheers to my readers, commenters, and fellow travellers. Big Thanks to all the people who contributed to my wonderful trip by providing and participating in endless entertainment, taking time out of your day to inform me and show me around, and by providing accommodation.  And farewell to those who I’ve met along my travels – it’s a small world, so i might see you sooner than you think.

See you Torontonians soon.

I realize that I didn’t update much when I was in Singapore. This is because there’re far more better things to do in Singapore than go to an internet cafe. Sorry to disappoint my avid blog readers ;)

I shopped a lot. And when I say a lot, i mean A LOT. I have to figure out how to stuff the clothes and shoes and purses into my suitcase now seeing as I never did have a lot of extra room in the first place.  The cheapest place to shop is Bugis Market/Junction. You can get cheap stuff (i.e. $10 shoes) and bargain, to boot. Luckily Richie likes shopping, so he didn’t get too bored when I made him go shopping at multiple places. What a good sport.  For those who know him, Richie says hi and he misses everyone in Toronto.

We ended up going to Chatterbox restaurant in the Mandarin hotel for Chicken Rice. yup, apparently it’s the place to go for the best Chicken Rice if you’re in Singapore. It’s their signature dish. We also went to Raffles hotel for Singapore Slings (which is their signature drink). Good eats, good drinks. And then we headed off to Clarke Quay which is the place to go out at night. They have amazing restaurants and they have a strip of clubs  (read: a strip of clubs…not strip clubs). Think Richmond Street, Toronto, where there are just clubs on both sides of the road. In Clarke Quay though, they’re just clubs on the side of a huge sidewalk so no cars can drive through – which is a lot better, I think.  Anyway this area was built up during the last year, so it’s still pretty new. These clubs/pubs have better designs than ours, that’s for sure. There’s one called Clinic. They have hospital beds where you sit, and IV drips from which you drink your alcoholic drink out of. Creative huh?  I gotta tell you guys though, there isn’t much of a hip hop/reggae scene in S’pore. They love their Euro and trance stuff. And there are a lot of drunken foreigners/ex-pats. a lot. and weird asian girls who like to stand in front of mirrors and watch themselves dance crazily – while providing me with endless entertainment. :)   Another thing I like – the fact that you can get pitchers of mixed drinks. That’s right, folks. Get a pitcher of RedBull Vodka with 4 straws in it for you to share with your friends. None of this individual drink garbage.  Clubs go past 3:30am here…I don’t even recall a mention of ‘last call’. Downside of drinks: one amaretto sour costs $11.00…ya that’s right. you know we can get that for about $3 at our clubs. Drinking is expensive in S’pore.  But the shisha ain’t bad.

I just got into Malaysia yesterday – and I’m already bored. If we have nothin’ better to do, we’re gonna go back to Singapore early before we have to go to Hong Kong.  I think it’s boring here because we’re not in the main city that everyone knows – Kuala Lumpur (where a lot of shopping is!). I’m in Kajang – the city of satay (y’know….meat on a stick. think of it as a simple shishkabob) where there isn’t much to do…you have to hop on a train and go into the main part of the city if you want something worthwhile to do.

Did I mention that it’s insanely hot in S’pore and M’sia? So…very…hot. sweltering. Everybody likes the mall because it’s air conditioned.

The internet is ultimately slow here. you’d be annoyed. but i have nothing to do all day so i have all the time in the world to be patient.  But I doubt I will update much in M’sia – because I doubt there will be anything interesting to update about.  Stay tuned anyway.

but I hate that it’s probably going to make me fat.  The food here is amazing…and it’s cheap.

Oh and the city’s so much cleaner. And the people don’t have disgusting manners like some of the citizens in China (i.e. spitting on the tiled airport floor, picking their nose blatantly and obviously in public, cutting everyone in line – everyone who is also trying to get through customs at the airport to catch their flight…)

This is my second day in Singapore (June 28, 2007) and all I’ve done is shop and eat. There are so many shopping complexes with all sorts of nice and cheap things to buy. and I already mentioned the food was cheap. I got a meal for $2. When have you ever gotten a meal for $2? And that’s in Singapore dollars which is worth less than the Canadian dollar.

I’m finally getting a chance to take it easy….only because I’ve been here before and seen all the sights on previous trips. The weather here is amazing – a little too hot in the day, but the night is wicked. Perfect summer nights.

My dad’s telling me to get a job here so that I can be an ex-pat and move here. I don’t think I’d mind too much either. I know that a lot of you would LOVE it here. Visit Singapore whenever you get a chance – trust me, you won’t regret it.