Day #7
Homeward Bound:
Well, since I’d seen everything by this day, it was just another day cruising around the city, checking out the sights. With a stopover in VivoCity to have lunch at Marché. This is a Swiss restaurant where you are given a card when you turn up. You then go to different “stalls” around the restaurant, ask for what you want, where you are given your food and they proceed to swipe your card, adding it to your total bill. The restaurant has different areas for different foods, such as pizza, pasta, salads, drinks, etc. So, it’s kind of buffet, but not self-serve. Also, much better presented with food that is way above buffet quality, more restaurant quality than prison cafeteria quality.
After lunch, I didn’t have much time, so I went back to freshen up for the journey home and have a farewell drink with Dad and his wife, who I give both 5 stars for hospitality excellence and tour guidism.
I was on an overnight flight back home, leaving Singapore at 9.30 landing in Adelaide with a 2 hr stop over, then continuing on home. The flight didn’t end up leaving ’til some time after 11.00, missing my connecting flight, but was put on another only 1/2 hr after the previous one had left. So it didn’t turn out too badly. In my travels, Adelaide airport may go down as one of the worst.
Considering there was such a delay, there was no express checkout for people coming off, no announcements letting people know what was happening (the last information we had was from the pilot). So, waiting in the queue for 20 minutes, behind no more than 6 people, to find out what was happening, just as I got there, one of the only 2 people on staff just up and left! If they’d had express, I would have made my original connecting flight. Since I’ve never been to Adelaide before, my only experience gives me the conclusion that this actually makes people in Adelaide less efficient than the mindless drones in Singapore.
Random Observations:
Fagbagsters; this is a word I learnt while in Singapore, one of those words I didn’t know before, but knew its meaning as soon as I read it. It describes the trend in Asia of straight guys wearing makeup, carrying handbags and generally dressing quite feminine-like, I saw many of these guys … with girls. The girls obviously love it, so I might need to get me a handbag and some makeup before I go again.
Slave trucks; When travelling around, you see a number of ute-like trucks with 10-20 people being hauled around in the back of them. Apparently they are all the cheap labour construction workers, and they get taken to shelters where hundreds of them sleep and get fed.
They take movies seriously; On our way through Malay customs, on the desk where you show your passport is a small device, and written on it, in English, are the words “liveness detector”. My belief is that it is being installed for the coming zombie apocalypse, and if you fail the test (i.e. detected as not alive) you will be shot. Yeah, sorry, I didn’t get a photo of the device, I fear guns.
Beggars; I noticed one day, that unlike cities in Australia, no one asked me for money, well, other than some of the chatty girls mentioned earlier, but they wanted a lot more money than any beggar I’ve ever seen. Also, they were dressed much better than any beggars. I did see people on the streets in KL, but they were off in their own little world. I don’t recall seeing anyone on the streets in Singapore, but the unemployment there is next to nil.
Roads to Nowhere; In Sydney, I always used to say that you could only turn left because it was full of one way streets. In Singapore, it is taken to the next level, I don’t think I saw any 2 way streets. We are talking regular 4 lanes, and up to 6 lanes, all going one way! It’s like the entire road network is a giant looping snake, where you would never be able to just turn around and go back, if you missed your stop, you’d have to keep going until you’d done a full circle.
Flora; There are flowers and plants on everything. Flowers hanging from overpasses and walk-bridges, plants in toilets, vines growing up multi-level car parks. Just, anywhere there is space they will put a plant in.
Generous Drinking; House spirits don’t seem to be your usual el-cheapo house spirits we have in AU, they seem to go the next level up. A lot of the time it is Johnny Black, if it isn’t, it’s usually only a dollar more than standard. But then again, drink prices are also much higher,
Things to do next time: Wave Riding, Indoor Sky Diving, Raffles Hotel
