Day 167 - 07th December
What the bloody hell do Starbucks puts in their coffee? I haven't slept right for two days!
By the time six thirty rolled around, I'd only managed four hours sleep. I showered and packed up before heading aross to Times Square Mall and checking in.
I had a Krispy Kreme start to the day which was good and the sugar helped me get back to normality again.
The coach was forty five minutes late in leaving and the air conditioner conked out ten minutes into the journey so we had to stop at the roadside for another twenty minutes while they fixed it.
I was befriended by a man in his sixties from Malaysia who now had emigrated to Australia and a couple who lived in Kuala Lumpur but we're off to visit their daughter and two grandchildren in Singapore. We discussed politics (that was actually a lot of fun), language barriers and my writing. They seemed fascinated by it, or so I thought so. We chatted for a good hour or so before I had a little snooze.
At the customary rest stop, the emigrated Malaysian guy offered to buy me some lunch as I swigged from my bottle of Coke. He really was a great chap. I thanked him but declined, knowing I had my snacks with me.
He shook my hand and wished me well with my onward journey. I reciprocated. He reminded me of an Asian Dustin Hoffman. If you can get that picture in your head, you'll know how great this guy really was.
I lost the couple at the entry border to Singapore but I did manage to have a further conversation with them between the pitstop and the border so I didn't feel too bad.
We arrived in Singapore just after five thirty and I jumped on the subway and moved over to Chinatown. When I came up from underground, the exit was right in the middle of Pagoda Street and what a fantastic way to open up my trip in Singapore. It was lively, it was vibrant, it was like being back in China again. I loved it.
I walked to the end of the street and immediately in front of me, there was my hostel. It looked swanky but it can go one of two ways with one of two sayings - badly (looks can be deceiving) or well (don't judge a book by it's cover).
As I was led up to my six bed dorm I thought, this looks alright. It's all door fobbed, there's a communal ironing board, nice toilet block and a cafe. Yeah, I could stay here for a while happily. Once inside the room, I was told I had a loft bed. I looked up a giant ladder to see a horizontal platform and well, I was blown away. It was private and comfortable. I was delighted.
I headed back out for dinner. I had a tasty Brisket that later didn't agree with me (heed your own warning Dan, avoid the beef!) and wandered Chinatown looking at trinkets and souvenir shops.
I'm loving Sungapore already and it's only just begun!
Broski, drop us a text when you see this. Cheers bredge. Lots of love your youngest older brother x
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