Back home

So, I’m back in the US. The trip back was horrendous. The only bright spot was the night we got to spend in Singapore, the city that never sleeps. Literally. We missed a connecting flight to Tokyo because our flight from India was delayed. One of the airlines (Indian/Singapore/Japan) had booked us a room at Hotel Royal. We told the receptionist we wanted separate rooms because I’d imagined I’d soak in the tub for a while to get rid of all the grime and aches on my body. Alas, Hotel Royal was not as grand as I expected. Or maybe it was the floor we were on. My room looked really old and I’m sure it hadn’t been cleaned recently. I even found a condom on the floor (or did it fall from between the sheets?). No, it wasn’t a used one but seeing it made me think Hotel Royal could be one of those freak motels with hourly rates. I didn’t make a fuss since we were supposed to be there only a few hours. Anyways, I took a shower, slept and then took another shower when I woke up. I had to. I wasn’t sure the sheets were clean but I was too tired. Thought of sleeping on the couch but what if the previous guests were freaky and had done the nasty on it?

Well, the good part about the whole Singapore thing was the walk Bryce and I took around town. I don’t know how far we walked but it must have been in the shopping district. We also walked past what we dubbed “Little India”. It had all these Indian stores, boutiques and restaurants. Bryce was reading the city guide and discovered there was a 24-hour store nearby called Mustapha’s. So we headed there because I needed a change of clothes and I think he wanted to see if he could get a new watch. It was a huge store with three floors and any kind of merchandize you can think of, a real one-stop shop.
So if ya’ll find yourself in Singapore in the middle of the night needing to buy toiletries or jewelry or even a fridge, go to Mustapha’s. I think it’s on Selengie Road.

We’d stopped at an Irish pub (Muddy Murphy’s) earlier on and had a couple of pints and some food. The mushroom thing that Bryce got was d-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s. I got fish and chips and wished I’d gotten the mushroom thing after I tasted it. Don’t get me wrong, the fish and chips were ok but the mushroom snack was better. We also walked by several cafes that looked like they were open 24 hours. Many of the cafes and stores stay open till 2-3AM. The town was jumping considering it was a Sunday night. There were several people walking around too, I’m guessing they were also tourists. To cut the long story short (ha ha), Singapore might be a place to visit again. If you happen to be there, check out the night safari (we didn’t get to go), Muddy Murphy’s and Mustapha’s. Ciao.