kerouac2
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|  | Off-loaded in Singapore
« Thread Started on Feb 17, 2009, 11:46am » | ![[Quote]](http://images.proboards.com/buttons/quote.gif "[Quote]") |
My first trip to Singapore happened by accident. I wasn't going there at all but to Noumea, New Caledonia. I knew the flight was full, but airline employees are sometimes overly optimistic, so I figured I would try my chances anyway.
So off I went from Paris on UTA with a stop in Bahrain and then Singapore where I had to leave the plane to try to check in again, but it was not my lucky night, so the flight went on to Sydney and Noumea without me. It wasn't at all a daily flight, so there wasn't any project of stopping just one night and trying the next day. Without any preparation, my vacation had changed from relatively well documented plans in New Caledonia to a surprise holiday with absolutely no preparation in Singapore.
Oh, and it was midnight. Anybody who has ever been to Singapore knows that there is nothing scary about it -- the airport is nice, the roads are nice, the city is nice (even 'back then' it was all impressively nice). But I had no idea where to go so I just took the airport bus into the city. "Airport buses always go to the dead center of the city and you can figure out everything there." Well, Singapore was different. The airport bus took me to Newton Circus, which was a sort of municipal bus depot in a residential area. It most definitely was not the center of town, because I had seen the glittering towers in the distance and they sure as hell were not here! It was just trees and houses and about 1 a.m.
A taxi driver finally asked me if I needed a place to stay, and there was certainly no point in lying. I asked if he knew a reasonably priced hotel. Of course he did, and off we went.
But we did not head downtown. Instead, he stopped at what appeared to be an apartment block on a quiet street. "Wait here," he said and went off into the building. A few minutes later, he came back and I was taken to a room. There was most definitely no hotel sign to be seen anywhere, but the rooms had numbers on the doors, which reassured me for some reason. I think I paid something like US$20 and the room was mine.
It was rustic without being sleazy and was not air conditioned, so the tropical air came in through the window along with insect sounds and maybe a bird having an erotic dream. There was just a sheet over the mattress with no top sheet, not that one was needed, but it was the first time I had ever seen that. (I've seen it plenty of times throughout Southeast Asia since then, but it was a minor shock that first time.) I was all psyched up from the adventure -- not planning to be in Singapore and not having the slightest idea where I might be in Singapore! -- so it was pretty hard to get to sleep, but I finally did so.
I woke up at dawn because all of the tropical birds were having breakfast conversations. Nothing was stirring in the building at all, so I just got my bag and walked out, never seeing a soul. I just followed my nose and walked for many kilometers, but the day was young, I was full of energy and I had full confidence in my ability to find the city.
I had a great time in Singapore and have been back there about 20 times. I have still never been to New Caledonia.
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bixaorellana
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| | Re: Off-loaded in Singapore
« Reply #1 on Feb 17, 2009, 4:28pm » | |
Amazing story, Kerouac -- very dreamlike with the quiet and birds and the seemingly empty building. I feel like I have almost a bird's eye view of the young traveler walking through the empty morning streets towards the big city.
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bixaorellana
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| | Re: Off-loaded in Singapore
« Reply #2 on Jun 23, 2009, 5:14am » | |
I just read and enjoyed this story all over again. It really captures some of the magical surprise of travel and how the day can be saved in the oddest way sometimes.
Not as purely charming, but a somewhat similar experience -- My sister and I got off the bus in Tampico after a particularly drawn-out and unpleasant ride. There's nothing really around the bus station there except for two hotels, one of which had no vacancy and the other of which was horrible.
As we stood on the sidewalk dithering, up swooped a cab with the most outrageous, flamboyantly effeminate driver. He took us under his wing, zipping a couple of blocks away from the bus station and setting us up in a very pleasant room. It was a completely residential street, but a lady had converted the side of her house into a four-room hotel. He left us there, promising to collect us in the morning in time for our bus.
We were so galvanized by this lucky save that we went into downtown Tampico and had a lovely time in this city dismissed by the guidebooks.
(and yes,we were picked up on time the next morning)
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kerouac2
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| | Re: Off-loaded in Singapore
« Reply #3 on Jun 23, 2009, 5:28am » | |
Not all taxi drivers are evil; it just seems that way sometimes.
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casimira
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| | Re: Off-loaded in Singapore
« Reply #4 on Jun 23, 2009, 12:58pm » | |
This is one of my favorite stories you have told and there are many. I have an indie film version in my head, Thanks again.
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kerouac2
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| | Re: Off-loaded in Singapore
« Reply #5 on Mar 8, 2012, 6:13pm » | |
I was rereading my own story and I would love to know exactly where I was that night. In fact, I would love to just walk around in the Singapore night, far from the glittering areas, as much as I enjoy them, too.
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tod2
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| | Re: Off-loaded in Singapore
« Reply #6 on Mar 23, 2012, 8:34am » | |
Well, I know Newtons Circus pretty well having eaten there everytime in Singapore( easy walking distance of 10=15min from the Far East Plaza in Scotts road), but as for the taxi ride depending on how long it took, you could have been taken to one of the "guest houses" situated along Bencoolen street or Beach road or the few that are in nearby Little India or south of the river in Chinatown. The classic guest house address is Peony Mansions on Bencoolen street where a cluster of establishments are shoehorned into several floors of an apartment building.
Bencoolen street has long been the mainstay of the backpacker industry -
I have a comprehensive map and listing of all the accommodtion on Bencoolen street and surrounds if you would like me to scan and post it here - just say the word.
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bjd
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| | Re: Off-loaded in Singapore
« Reply #7 on Mar 23, 2012, 10:45am » | |
Not a Singapore story but an "arrriving in the unknown" story. When I was 20 a girlfriend and I were hitchhiking around Europe. We had planned to go from Greece to Spain up through Italy, but ended up in Tunis, wanting to go to Morocco. (a different story). We bought train tickets but didn't realize that the train stopped at night in various places in Algeria.
Got to Constantine and discovered that the train was stopping until 6 am and that we had no Algerian money (it wasn't convertible and we hadn't planned to go there). A guy at the train station said we could follow him so we did. He toook us to the police station where, after a tour of the prison, we were allowed to sleep on the floor outside the chief's office.
Next morning at 5:30, the guy came back to lead us back to the train station where we continued on our way.
He even brought us croissants for breakfast!
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