On the way in to Chennai, India, we stopped at Singapore. It's a hub for travelers in that part of the world and the airport is world class.
"Singapore Changi Airport is recognised as one of the best airports in the world. With over 80 airlines serving more than 180 cities in over 50 countries, Changi Airport has established itself as a major aviation hub in the Asia Pacific region. With the recent opening of Terminal 3, Changi Airport now has an annual handling capacity of 70 million passengers a year." - http://www.changiairport.com/changi/en/airport_guide/?__locale=en
I looked at a map later and discovered it's very close to the equator. I wondered, in fact, if planes flying in or out actually swing over the line, but suspect not, it's about 70-80 miles (120-130km) to the south. Flying to India gave us the distinction of crossing the International Date Line and I had hoped maybe I could add a crossing-the-equator notch to my life's experiences' belt, but not likely.
We had a layover of 5 or 6 hours before our flight into Chennai and decided to try to run into the city of Singapore itself. Unfortunately it was very late on a Sunday night - early Monday morning - and not much figured to be going on.
We swung through the passport checkpoint and got some suspicious looks from the agents - what were we expecting to see in the city that late at night? But we must have looked like the goofy tourists we were, and we got a stamp in our passport!
A cab driver commandeered us, English-speaking of course. He (was his name Ben?) was our unofficial tour guide for the few hours we were there. He pointed out hospitals, military buildings and chatted about the name of the country - lion city (simha pura). He told us the only place worth seeing at that time of night was called, I believe, Clarke Quay.
Even at close to 2 a.m. on a Monday morning, there was loud music coming from a few clubs on the Quay. The place is like a little open-air shopping mall, but with a harbor, shuttle-type boats in the narrow channels, night clubs, restaurants, hotels, and some high-rise business-type buildings. We wandered around, looking for life other than the clubs, but, except for a few teenage kids laughing and squirreling around (2 a.m.!), saw very few people.
It started to sprinkle on us and we dashed back to the cab. In a few minutes it was a downpour, apparently typical for that time of year. We could have looked around some more, but we were fairly exhausted, a little anxious about catching our next flight, so we called it a night.
Though it was only an hour or two, we loved Singapore's beauty and cleanliness (we heard a story that spitting gum on the sidewalk could get you arrested!). A place I'd like to see again when I have more time.
Comments