Singapore Again (Part 9)
Last night, it rained. Today I woke up, and it was still raining. The sky was overcast, and it looked like it’d rain all day. Maybe.
On my way to Suntec on the bus the other day, I noticed a shopping centre I hadn’t explored. Plaza Singapura. Just near Dhoby Ghaut MRT. Today, I decided to see what they had inside.
Armed with my umbrella and headphones, I left the flat. By the time I got to the bus stop, my pants were pretty much saturated from the knees down. My bag was also a bit wet, but luckily it’s waterproof so my camera was safe.
I waited awhile for the bus to arrive, and then hopped on when it did. I sat up the front on the second level (double decker!) so I got a few interesting photos on the way;
This is at the intersection on Tanglin Road. As you can see, it’s been pouring, and everything is thoroughly soaked. Unlike when it rains back in Melbourne, which is barely enough to cover the ground.
Here’s one of the new shopping centres that is going up in Orchard Rd. They seem to have put up a lot more structural stuff in 2 1/2 months since I was last here, though it’s not yet taking shape. Maybe next visit.
The Homo Gym. Otherwise known as California Fitness. Not cheap. I think Gage’s friend, Chad, mentioned that he pays about $1000 for 6 months or something. I could be wrong tho.
Here’s another shopping centre that’s going up. This one is taking shape, from what I can see, anyway.
A short time later I alighted at Plaza Singapura. *Tap* with my tap card. I wonder if Melbourne’s Myki cards will be this easy when/if ever we get them?
There were quite a few levels to explore, but first stop was lunch! I headed downstairs, as that’s where I figured the food court would be.
I was tempted to try Burger King, but explored further. Then I saw a Carl’s Jr burger chain, and thought they might be decent.
I saw the big ad for the Jalapeno Chicken Burger Meal, and decided that would be lunch.
I ordered, and was given a cup and a number. I filled my cup with their own ‘Iced Lemon Tea’, which, when I tasted it, was like normal tea gone cold. Not cold, not sweet. Bleah. I hoped the rest of the meal would be better.
The burger and fries arrived, and surprisingly, the fries were half cold. I held out hope that the burger would be ok. It was the size of a whopper, but it didn’t look anything like the picture on the billboard. It tasted pretty crap, so if all the Carl’s Jr chain stores taste this bad, I don’t know how they survive. I want my money back. I couldn’t finish the burger and the fries. And it’s not just coz they tasted crap, my stomach was reminding me it was smaller now. Good tum tum. 
Good old Americans. At least if they don’t have big penises, they still have their big burgers. And big trucks. And big egos. [Penis Envy?]
After that rather disappointing and slightly unsettling lunch, I began my shopping adventures.
I found a funky canvas belt in one of the department stores, as well as some ankle socks. I only wanted the socks because I was short 1 pair, so this way I didn’t have to do washing again until I got back to Oz! 
I also scored two really cheap powerplug converters in Best, which is like our RetraVision or Good Guys stores. $1.50 each. Even in Sim Lim they were trying to sell them for $4.50. Ripoff!
Then I wandered into Carrefour. Similar to our Coles stores because it sells groceries, but that’s about where the similarities end. Apart from some of the meat being grossly overpriced (it all is, everywhere – Australian Beef? $33+ per kg, depending on the cut..) most things were relatively cheap. Either that or it was just really fresh, or huge range.
For example, look at these tongs. They’re normal size tongs. Now look at the King Prawns. SAME SIZE! Our King Prawns back in Footscray are nowhere near that size. That’s just too good. I want Thai prawn curry. Now.
I wandered around the store, either giggling or gaping at the prices and selection on offer. One thing Singapore lacks though, is decent Salt & Vinegar chips. That’s why G1 asked me to bring a couple of packs over with me. Here, if there’s such a thing as artificial vinegar, they use that. Not the real (good) stuff.
After I headed to the checkout with a few things from Carrefour, I continued browsing through the rest of the shopping centre, and found a furniture store having a sale. They had some quite nice stuff, but no way would it fit in my luggage. I needed a Mokona to swallow it. (If you don’t watch xxxHolic, don’t worry about that comment)
After I finished there, I walked across the road. Furniture stores. Very expensive ones. But they had nice stuff. Then I walked back along Orchard Rd, and called into a Camera shop. I got the guy to fit a new screen protector to my camera, as the old one had started peeling off. $15. Not bad.
While I was in the camera shop, I got a call from Aaron. He had an hour to kill before heading back to work for a meeting, so we decided to catch up for a coffee. I walked back to Dhoby Ghaut and caught the MRT back to City Hall, and then we met up at Coffee Club.
I ordered an iced coffee, and Aaron got a Chicken Pie, and chatted until it was time for him to head back to work.
I accompanied him as far as Bugis on the MRT, then did a bit of window shopping for an hour or so. Then I headed back to Orchard Rd, and dropped in to say hi to Gage. After that I wandered around Centrepoint, and found a pair of work pants at Domanchi for $39. Bargain!
It took awhile to get a pair in my size that I liked, as the stupid sales girl couldn’t get through her thick head that when I said I wanted 32, I wanted 32. Not any other size. Did I mention it’s hard to find good help these days?
I met up with G2, and we had dinner at the foodcourt nextdoor. Yummy Pad Thai. G1 joined us, and then we took a taxi home.
I surfed the net for awhile, looking up some prices on Sim Lim’s website. I found that hard drives were a lot cheaper here than back in Oz, even though I can get them at wholesale price. Hmm…
With that thought, I got ready for bed, and slept.
14.May.08 
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