China Town and farewell to Singapore 29 Jan 2017

Our last day in Singapore before we head for pastures new!. We arranged a late check-out for 1400. I asked if I could extend it and got quoted S$150! We will sit in the hotel lobby instead I think!

We headed back downtown this morning, but this time to the end of the Metro at Chinatown. The last time I was here, it was still possible to see rickshaws and drivers sleeping in them in the shade. The shop houses are still there, but the streets have lots of tourist tat on sale on stalls in front of the houses.

We walked to two of the temples. We went into Buddha's Tooth temple, it is spectacularly decorated for New Year. People were praying, making devotions and contributing to the temple, it was very busy. 

It's difficult not to notice hand-written signs that don't make sense in English, but some are amusing. Things are very cheap in the touristy shops. I saw one with three watches for S$10, t-shirts for S$1 and material shopping bags, there for S$10. We resisted the bargains, just buying a fridge magnet for S$2. The same ones at the zoo yesterday were S$6.50.

Back at the hotel, we showered and packed and took our bags down to the lobby for storage. Then it was back to Food Republic for lunch. Sadly, as New Year is still affecting commerce, most of the food stalls were closed. We chose an Indian stall that was open and had a very mediocre chicken and fish biryani. I shouldn't complain as we've had some wonderful food in the city. As a melting pot of food cultures it is a foodie heaven. After lunch we returned to the hotel lobby.

After a couple of hours watching the comings and goings, including a very noisy birthday party, in the lobby, we collected our bags from storage and headed for the door. We only waited 2-3 minutes for a taxi and we were on our way to Changi airport.

The journey only took 20 minutes as traffic was light and the fare was just over S$20. It would have been 25% cheaper if we had done the journey before 1800. 

It didn't take too long to check in, but passing through emigration was very slow. Our finger prints were taken again, I guess to compare with the ones we gave on entry into Singapore. Oddly, now we are airside, our bags haven't been x-rayed! I guess that will happen at the gate. Now we have a 2 hour wait for boarding. At least we have free wifi and comfy seats!

Next post will be from 'Down Under'!