After few weeks of doing nothing on the Malaysian islands we started to think about when to go to Singapore. We already had a flight booked out of there, and we should get visas to the next country before that. We should allow at least three working days for that process. And Singapore itself should be an interesting place, so 4 days would be ideal. Problem was that we didn't remember when our flight was nor what day it was. We had planned to go to Pulau Tioman first. We kind of had a feeling that we should start moving soon.
After a quick check on calendar and plane tickets we noticed that we would have only one full day for Tioman, and even that would mean packing our bags right then and jumping on the ferry an hour later and hoping to find available seats for the evening's bus. Sounded like too much of sudden action after none in two weeks. So instead we stayed for two more nights, skipped Tioman island and left towards Singapore in an overnight bus like it was how we had planned it anyway.
Malaysian buses are generally quite good. Most of them would be the most comfortable buses ever with their soft, huge seats and not too many karaoke videos. But of course, there always has to be at least one thing that ruins it all: thanks to air conditioning and its full power button, it's more like a survival camp in Finnish winter than a nice drive through a tropical country. But we had learnt our lesson already with these buses. This time we were prepared. We had tape! So before starting to sleep, we taped the air con holes closed, so tightly that no air came through. Still cold, but a lot better! From now on we will always carry tape in buses.
We arrived at the border town early morning, only half-frozen and super sleepy. We had breakfast and hopped on a bus and only a short drive away was the Malaysian border. We got our exit stamps and using the same bus tickets we jumped on to the next bus, which drove over the river to get our Singapore stamps, and the next bus dropped us off somewhere in central Singapore. Only one metro stop later we were already at our hostel.
We rarely stay in dorms. That is because double rooms are mostly same price or sometimes even cheaper than dorms, and it is more convenient being able to leave everything in room, be as messy as you want and be sure nobody turns on the lights or invites people to party when you'd just rather sleep. On these travels we stayed in dorms a few times and Singapore was one of these exceptions. It is too expensive for us even when you sleep in a dorm. For about 15 euros per person we managed to get beds in a small 4 bed dorm in Mercury backpacker's hostel on Lavender street. And small it was. You could barely turn around without bumping into something. We also had the privilege to share it with two Thai ladyboys, who spread their luggage everywhere, always turned the much loved air con full power, woke up in the evening and went out after spraying the whole room with perfume, came back around 5 in the morning, after which they chatted and ate chips for at least an hour, eventually falling asleep to stay in bed until next evening, when they started the routine all over again. What a reminder of dorm life. We could't but feel a bit too old for that. Nicely enough the hostel staff let us switch rooms the next day. And we got a 4 bed dorm just for the two of us for the next nights!
Our main task for Singapore was to visit the Philippines embassy to get a 59-day visa. That would be our next destination. As soon as we arrived, we started to get prepared. We took passport photos, printed pages from online bank and took our credit cards with us to proof that we have sufficient funds. The Philippines are very strict with many things. First of all, you can't even board a plane without an onward ticket. So we had to buy a flight out of the country. So we bought one from Cebu, 3 days before expiry of the assumed 59-day visa. To visit the embassy to get the visa, you have to be properly dressed, which means no sleeveless shirts, no flip-flops and no shorts. All that in Singapore hot and humid weather. Thanks for that.
Sweating like pigs in jeans and shoes we left for the Philippine embassy. First thing we noticed was that the dress code did not seem to apply, everyone was wearing whatever they wanted. A bit pissed off about that we got our numbers and started to queue. After a few minutes of wait and discussion with the lady at the counter we found out that we wouldn't get the visa anyway, because the requirement of proving sufficient funds means having an official bank statement showing all transactions made in the last 3 months and the amount in the account should never be less than 2000 dollars. Okay, we did not have that. So we left the embassy, wondering what to do now. We already paid for the flight within 59 days, but without the visa we could not use that. Without visa we had to have one within 21 days or we couldn't enter the country.
We decided to leave it for a day and instead enjoy sightseeing in Singapore. The bus ride through the city-country had been stunning and we were anxious to see more. Singapore is super modern and clean, but also beautiful and green with trees and parks everywhere. One second you feel like you are walking on a paved road through a rainforest and suddenly you are in the middle of the most modern city you can imagine. We bought ourselves the Singapore tourist pass, which allowed us to use all public transport for 10 dollars a day. And we used that a lot. It's amazing how you can go through a whole country by metro! We walked around the city admiring the architecture and wondering how much money did they pour into these buildings. Just when you walked into something that was ridiculously over the top, you turned around and saw something even bigger and crazier. The botanical gardens were also absolutely beautiful, you could easily spend a few days there. Like everywhere you go in Singapore, you see that someone had way too much money, but you also have to admit that most of the time it was used with style. Must be the best architects in the world behind these things.
We had been afraid that Singapore would be very expensive. We weren't wrong there. But we were lucky enough to find a cheap food court close to our hostel. And what a variety! Local, Chinese, Indian, Western, Japanese and Korean food for about 5 dollars per meal. A nice change after eating pretty much the same things for a few months now.
One day before our flight out it was decision time. What to do with the Philippines? We needed a flight out within 21 days, which would be the amount of visa free time we would be getting upon entry. We knew that three weeks would not be enough for us. We could extend our stay in an immigration office when we were already in the country, but first we needed these tickets. A visa would have been easier, because we did not know how long these extensions would take and if we'd get stuck to a place we didn't really like for a week or so. But now we had no other option. We went to the airport thinking that we could buy an expensive but fully refundable ticket, which we could return as soon as we had entered the Philippines. Easier said than done. We tried the ticket counters with no luck. We found a travel agency, which could get us what we wanted, but the ticket price would be a four digit number, and cancellation fee over a hundred. That was too much for us. Still not knowing what to do, we went to one of the airports free internet stations. (By the way, Singapore airport is for sure the best in the world. Amazing staff, good restaurants, free internet everywhere and you could lick the toilet floors if you wanted to. And it is stylish.) Air Asia saved us this time. With 15 euros each we bought tickets from Clark to Taipei. Cheap enough to throw away, we now had flights out of the country!
The rest of the day we spent in Singapore zoo. For any animal lover it is a perfect place. Animals are well taken care of with big areas for them. You feel like you are walking in a jungle, sometimes only water separating you from monkeys and other animals. Only bad thing about it is that they close early, probably to sell more tickets for the night safari next door, so we only had a couple of hours to spend there. And with our luck, it started to rain like crazy. Having paid the admission, we had to buy raincoats to be able to walk around. The good side was that we basically had the zoo for ourselves, nobody else around! The highlight of the zoo was seeing pandas, which we had never seen before!
Soon we had to leave because of closing and got back to our hostel. Happy that everything had hopefully worked out for the Philippines, and happy about having had such good time in Singapore, we were now ready for our next destination.
