Lessons learned this week:

• Invest in a good UV umbrella for all kinds of weather - the white one is shit for sunshine
• Animals to be seen and not fed: Turtles (Yes), Otters and Monkeys (Nope)
• Bring your passport with you on the first few days at work till you get a key card
• Botanical Gardens: UNESCO’s only tropical garden forest with nut trees (I avoided), Symphony stage by a lake full of huge lily pads and overlooked by Chopin in Bronze, Orchard Gardens (paid entrance) and a literal Swan Lake
• Sentosa is a resort central: three beaches, a free beach shuttle, imported Malaysian sands, WWII relics converted into luxury, Southernmost point of Asia and oil rigs
• Equarius Hotel is the best hotel on Sentosa (biased)
• Most international news from the UK focuses on London which seems fractured compared to Singapore’s integrated community policies
• MRT has jingles for train is approaching/ leaving certain stations/line, nothing compared to Japan that has one for every station (the UK is weak i fear) see this link for more
• Rush hour trains every 2 mins, Normal hours every 4-6 mins
• Digicam Diaries - the cutest place to get second hand digital cameras at an affordable price
• Guild Hall - possibly the safest place to play DnD
  
  
  

Part 1: Botanical Gardens

The weekend before work was spent catching up on work and exploring The Botanical Gardens with my cohort from Warwick. The weather, as always, was beautiful as we managed to miss the storm earlier that morning, sunny through the thick clouds over the hilly green plains. My favourite was an early find, the Symphony Stage on a lake downhill from a bronze statue of Chopin placed to oversee their performances. The lake around it had huge lily pads and we met two turtles swimming around close to the edge, mossy weed swaying on their backs like they were wearing wigs. Like any park, there were big signs telling you not to feed the animals but here one had to be especially wary/considerate of the monkeys and otters. Neither of which I had the luck to see.

Our stroll continued past the paid entrance of the Orchard gardens, a nighttime rainforest trail and swan lake. Funnily enough before leaving we found our way to a lab. Closed off to the public, it was part of the Botany Centre along with a library that I was excited to visit only to later find it’ll be closed till 2027. Safe to say our curiosity was sated and hunger set in. On a hunt for food we hopped on the MRT to Maxwell, headed for a hawker centre well within Chinatown and quickly got distracted by lanes that used to be death houses, merchandise stalls, the old theatre lost during the Japanese occupation and a cool 2D cafe. Although the fact that more people took pictures of it than eating inside made me feel too awkward to stay and ask questions - a negative feedback loop perhaps.

When we eventually got to the Hawker centre via the business district around Raffles Place and found they were all closing - it was 3pm - I eventually realised it was common for hawker centres and cafes especially around business districts or more residential areas to close between 3-4pm. Lessons learned, when in search for food check location and opening hours before you go a-wandering.

When Monday arrived, I had underestimated the rain seeing how much lighter it was on Saturday and how quickly it passed. There was a little drizzle while we were at the Gardens but one could easily manage that without an umbrella. I had also overestimated the water resistance of my shoes and my sense of balance, so I arrived at Proteos on my first day for work in a drenched raincoat with puddles in my shoes and scuffed jeans from when I tripped on my way to the train station. Writing this at least 8 hours later my shoes are still damp.

I tried to use hand towels and the blow dryer to dry my shoes and socks at work, but the toilet was just as drenched, the yellow hazard please keep dry sign seemed to be there for irony’s sake alone. For comparison, over the week, the MRT was dry, the cleanest public transport I had ever seen in my life. Even at 8am the stations felt airy, and people were spaced out and barely any litter. It did take me till the Botanical Garden trip to notice people standing on the left of the escalator and walking on the right, I guess the Londoner in me was just tunes into the flow. Then again, I did try to go up the down escalator two or three times in less busy places, so I wasn’t that good.

Another sign that had caught my eye in those first days was the $500 fine for food and drink on the MRT and I doubt that was a welcome idea when first implemented given the litter and rats I saw near my hotel that first day. Regardless, the view was pleasant as the weather improved over the week, if you travel the Tusa link way to Buona Vista look out for the many car dealerships at Redhill and the Ronald Mc Donald statue on a random balcony of the LemonFridge building between Commonwealth and Buona Vista. You also get a clear view of the footpath from above, the beautiful flowers and shrub that line it, at midday you can see people avoiding the heat under the underpass and hear cicadas droning away.

During my commutes I also met a girl from Singapore Heart Foundation trying to get sign ups at the station. We started chatting after I explained I couldn’t sign up as a student and her curly hair (3C/4A kind of) gets mistaken for an African and discriminated against. Trust me her hair was stunning and bushy, the kind people put chemicals in their hair for in the west in the eighties and tried to encourage her to lean into the “Africanness” of hair texture and style it with braids or cornrows, just love it more. That was how the conversation pivoted - via my short afro (4C) and my mum being my only hairdresser for most of my life - to London. Specifically, her idealised vision via vloggers on Youtube and my prompt dismantling of such illusion. I admit to being a bit too harsh in bringing up Paris syndrome and exaggerating how unfriendly the public/commuters can be, but I was completely in my right to complain about the old trains and their dusty seats, the rats, the time a dead fox was left on the track at the station for days and people eating an putting sauce and oil on the poles/seats.

She also wanted to see the season, to feel the cold which she called a natural air con, and the snow, though London’s not the best place for that. I should have recommended more places outside London like the Lake District or the beaches like Brighton & Portsmouth but it's not hard for a Londoner to see London as the only thing that exists on that silly little island, until a few years ago a lot of the news and media did too. Hopefully, if I come back here to stay, I can sign up to the charity, help a girl out so she can go on her trip to London in the snow. I have a few people in commuter-ships know who are nice like the traffic controller guy at the carpark exit next to my station who jokingly makes sure I don’t trip again every morning or the security at A*STAR who are simultaneously serious and polite and mellow.

Part 2: Sentosa

When you get to harbourfront station at VivoCity and head to exit E you are engulfed in, you guessed it, another mall. Taking escalator after escalator in a whirl up to the Sentosa Express VivoCity station where EZ-link card is enough to board the small shuttle, there is no tapping out on return between any stations on Sentosa, so I assume it's a fixed price which is neat.

I rode the slightly crowded Sentosa Express all the way to the beach station across the bridge and past the stops to amusement park and Resort World. Beach station had a huge bus stop at with space for a few vendors, a beach shuttle for free every 10 minutes and the miniTrash lab, an up-cycle station that makes sunglasses and bowls out of old plastics. They lady running it explained that the machine was a smaller replic just for display, and you would just do the final steps (pressing I’d assume), it cost $44 whilst the nearby beach shuttle is free but one way all along this southside.

The miniTrash lab was part of a large conservation initiative, recycling the kayaks used on the beach or go karts from the Lug ensuring that everything on the island is somewhat cyclical. Further right is the beach shuttle, the best way to look around the southside for free with a snippet of each beach, Siloso, Tanjong and the popular middle Palawan. As I waited for my friend to meet me at the station, I chatted with the miniTrash lab vendor, who recommended the Wings of Time fireworks shows in the evening, got to rotate between multiple attractions and lives on the mainland like most resort workers and the temperature difference between the UK and Singapore.

The vendor recommended a few things that we could see along the beach shuttle path. The Wings of times at 7:40 & 8:40 are 25 mins fireworks on the beach show on the beach though the ice cream vendor round the corner by Kidzania said you get a better view from MRT station since you are higher up. She also recommended the Sky helix, a slow elevator with a commentary and gorgeous skyline views, it's on my to-do list, and the Skyline Lug - A go-kart track. Walking by later, on closer inspection it looked fun with a nice food stall of typical fast foods, ski lifts the hillside called Skyride and a lady singing it’s raining tacos to her kid - I had not heard that song in years.

The Lug had a night theme paired with Universal Studios Halloween Horror nights where scary creatures popped out at you as you drove making me think of a certain green brother’s mansion map except here your kart is fixed to a track so no getting bullied falling off the side into the void by a Boo. Aside from the beaches, more on them later, we found a lot of the attractions like the Wings of Time, Sensory scape and Skyride were made for nighttime view with giant flowers canopy (that looked like cotton buds) meant to illuminate at night. The Sensory scape was still beautiful during the day too with a water display of the Symphony Streams and the playground off the side of the path filled with a vanilla scent from the Pandan - balance beams and little else, perhaps I am too adult but not much of a playground.

I’m getting ahead of myself, first the beaches. We got off at Palawan beach, headed straight across the suspension bridge that sagged low enough to brush water level at high tide, across which was a 710-metre causeway - the Southernmost point of continental Asia. Buffered by a sea wall with twin two storey viewing platforms I recommend the breezy few of the blue waters in both the main beach behind you and the oil rigged coast ahead. From the height you can see the sheltered swings that were filled the time I was there, a few were book readers which made me very jealous. You might be able to see the 7-eleven in a renovated container box and Sun Club that was blaring a club mix of I’m a Creep as I walked by later on and studied the WWII pillboxes ahead.

Historically the island was used as a military post by the British to defend against Japanese assault, many other places including the Oasia Hotel are converted from their old military buildings e.g recreation grounds and barracks. The historical plaques, recycled plastic windmills and Ashanti blood paper roses were captivating but steal no match for the undefeated quest for food – more specifically an authentic Singaporean meal.

I was not surprised to find more Greek and Italian foods, at least three places with pizza, its safe tourist food. We walked through Palawan green behind hyperdrive to what I later found out was a sunset viewpoint and got a clear site of the oil rigs and container ships as well as three more of Singapore’s offshore islands accessible to the public Pulau Tekukor with a Turtle sanctuary, St John Island with its alleged Dolphin sightings and The Sister Island’s with its marine park. No otters though.

Circling back inland passed more food trucks and fast-food places before being lured into the merch store for hats (min $23) and I brought some presents for the family. This was where my friend finally explained the obvious name of Merlion (mermaid and lion) as we debated buying their furry keychain. Most sources explain the name as a combination of tribute to Singapore’s roots as a fishing village (mermaid) and old name of Lion city apparently by a Malay prince that got shipwrecked here and saw one. Speaking of creatures in strange places we also saw plushies that look like the Hollow from Scavengers Reign (to make a dated reference).

We continued wondering passing the Oasia and I joked about walking in and asking for a tour. Remember this irony. Following the road down towards the cable cars we could see high above we walked into Resort world Sentosa, a sparkling palace for tax free shopping with many beautiful replica statues in its lobbies including Space elephant by Salvador Dali. This lobby also had ethereal music echoing from the dimly lit escalators, I will admit to temporarily abandoning my friend in the toilets to go explore, only making it as far as the lift before coming back up. In hindsight if I had ventured further, we might not have gotten lost.

We kept going straight, through the lobbies, past the convention centre with a closed off ballroom and along the thin walkway along the road with the screaming and music of Universal Studios attraction just over the large blue wall to my left. Shielded somewhat by our umbrellas we very quickly reached a dead end and the Equarius Hotel. The very kind receptionist informed us that some of the island is restricted/fenced off jungle so we can’t just walk across it wherever we want. He let us sit in the lobby, gave us free water and told us to wait for the shuttle to take us back uphill to Resort world. Five-star service will visit again.

Of course, the shuttle bus dropped us off back at the first Resort Lobby we started at but here with instruction to go straight through the second glass door and not right into the shops. This is how you get to the plaza leading to Universal Studios, Sea Life Aquarium, Lego and Hershey’s shops. Best of all - Malaysian Street Food! Quest almost complete. The indoor hawker centre had multiple stands you could order from any of the central machines and desk at the front, one of the vendors assured me it's quicker than ordering through your phone, and for their credit clearly demarcated which stalls were halal or non-halal. They did not as easily label their allergens, even seemingly innocent desserts like ice kachang had peanuts and unknown traces of other nuts. They were more than happy to ask the chef and accommodate but at this point my social skills were in negative points, so I bailed to the confectionary store choosing instead to buy the final sugar bun on display - and maybe a chicken cookie from the jar on the counter - that was non-halal so no splitting it between us, time to split.

After resisting temptation from more plushie keyrings of the Genshin Impact x SEA LIFE crossover merch that the vendor told me sold very well and circled back to Twelve - popular cookies and cakes vendor for a $5 chocolate chip cookie. I lamented that I probably could get a set of 6 at Subway for that price - it was a really nice cookie - and my friend declared that to be our next target. Back on the Sentosa express and to Vivo City in search of the Subway I think I remembered seeing or anything else that looked good to eat. I am sure you can guess from how well venturing aimlessly went in Chinatown that we could not decide on anything again. We did get a cheesecake to share (10-90 between me and her) from Paradise Fruit, passed a Jollibee’s, a Toy R US (RIP UK version) and a Sketchers selling SpyxFamily themed shoes which were really cute. We never found anywhere and honestly the cookie and water filled me up enough as we walked. The most surprising find in Vivo City - which is very busy on weekends beware - was a Fairprice Extra next to a Marks & Spencer’s, one thing to note it that these malls are huge and stores are too, but I did my training, thrice in the Mustafa Centre and was in and out in minutes insert slow clapping applause thank you, thank you.

Quest abandoned, I confidently led the way down the escalators once again to the MRT, remembering my direct entrance, and got us lost in a car park instead with a map saying the MRT station was on the opposite side. The car park was not that hard to navigate, just follow the exit signs to the harbour front and Lobby Q which looked like a staff only path way emerging immediately into the food court.

I had met a family while waiting outside Fairprice Xtra and told them the Food Court was upstairs, I don’t think they believed me because they thanked me and walked in the opposite direction but just in case they did - I am sorry that was just lots of restaurants.

From there the MRT was just around the corner. I have to admit some of the signs to an MRT on the streets are clear, plentiful and make the MRT much easier to find than anything inside these malls. Sorry, Subway I bet you had banging cookies - maybe even chicken cookies that I saw at the confectionery store at the Malaysian street food centre.

Part 3: Joining a Guild

On Sunday, a week and a day after the Botanical Gardens trip, a thunderstorm woke me up at 3am and did not stop until around 9am. My friend had made a good point that have a balcony room makes these storms infinitely more terrifying and that electrical/fuse boxes would be at risk of lighting - the risk is lower since she is on the lower floor and with all of Singapore’s towers, I doubt they don’t have surge protectors and lightning rods.

Despite the restless night the storm did not deter me from the secondary goal of finding the Guildhall after mass that day, the ground had already dried up and the sun was bright through the clouds as I walked towards Rochor and down toward Selegie Road. Here I found the GIRD and ParkLane shopping centres fused together. If you are ever heading this way google maps will try to direct you around the back, do not be like me and ignore your instincts just find your way through the inside, it's still a confusing building but less so.

Parklane is oval shaped with a basement leading to a McDonalds and my destination Guildhall but before that I went around the back and in at the side, so I found a bookstore called Treasure instead. I have no idea how long i was there chatting with the lone owner among the stacked plastic wrapped books in stacked boxes talking about UK politics and how international coverage is skewed to London only, the difference in immigration and diversity policies and how, on his side, it sounds like the UK is collapsing. I doubt it, it feels more like the manosphere, anti-migrant echo chamber’s mashup melody of fear mongering but given the state of the world in Oct 2024 I cannot say I would be entirely surprised if things get a little worse before they get better. I eventually chose three books and handed him a $50 - that was $5. And the cash machine outside refuses to work on my card so, no books. Not that I needed more but at least I’ve made another acquaintance and have a place to exchange my old books.

Another detour to the comic books store, that did take card, so I brought Frank Miller's Ronin, and I made it to Guildhall. Guild Hall had a sign-up sheet on their website for one shots (single sessions) and campaigns (multiple sessions) as well as independent groups wanting to use the space. You have to sign up and go to a one shot as part of their vetting system felt a little tedious since I was so excited to finally play a game after month but also makes a lot of sense, there are endless stories of how things can get very weird, aggressive or uncomfortable with certain players or DM not establishing boundaries or following rules so I think it's an admirable, necessary process.

However, I had arrived just as they opened to independent groups/customer and while I waited for lonely looking players or or someone who looked incharge I was taken in by the spacious dark wood panelled hall with tables and tavern vibes and in a small corner at the entrance, a pocket dimension of pink, fluffy carpet, soft fairy lights and lots of digital cameras.

This is Digicam Diaries in-person stall complete with no shoes policy and a comfy couch I quickly slipped into whilst perusing their wares. The vendor was setting things up for her boss, taking cameras out to display from an anti-humidity box that looked like a plastic pet enclosure complete with an overhead lid. Mostly run online instagram and telegraph they sell good quality second hands at reasonable prices complete with a little drawstring bag with their logo, free stickers, memory card and (I believe) charger, converters and other accessories are on hand to in the in person pop up shop.

Along with a row of handheld console PSP and Nintendo DS and some horror books - for the vibes she said though I am not sure how Stephan King and Pokemon plushies have a matching vibe, the effort made it all more endearing and cosier. Lord knows - probably the botched cash machine and $35 comic book - how I did not buy anything but got to meet a few customers coming in from browsing or placing an order to pick online. They all seemed so excited to test out the cameras and accessories - one for a birthday party and the other for a guided tour of Seoul - assessing the quality and complimenting the collection of Coolpix cameras. My favourite though was a video camera that looked like a perfume bottle and playing Super Mario Bros some left download on to a DS. Highly recommend visiting their store, if anything for a little nostalgia trip, and for your digital camera needs.

My second week ended with a better understanding of the MRT, a weekly routine established, my local bookstore confirmed and a recommendation from the Digicam Vendor to go to Bras Basah for endless shelves of second-hand books. Apparently, there are good food places too, so here's hoping, l when the gang and I go there, we will finally settle on something to eat.