"Be Socially Responsible" and "No Chewing Gum" in Singapore

Day 2 in Singapore.
This place is crazy! And the signage (notice the title of this post) is pretty much priceless. And yes, there really is a law, albeit not enforced, against chewing gum. Sorry Orbit and Stride, I guess you stay in the backpack.

Before I get into the details and highlights of Melaka and Singapore, the two places we've been since I last wrote, I want to give a little "day in the life" lest you think backpacking/travelling in this way is always a breeze and hassle-free. There are many emotional super highs as well as some lows / roadblocks to power through that make you appreciate the highs SO much more. NOT that I'm complaining for a second. The arrivals, exploration and little joys (like free breakfast or finding an AWESOME guesthouse or local friend) make the hassles totally worth it. But I just didn't want to paint a false, totally stress-free image of our reality out here... Anyway, here goes:

Itinerary portion: Melaka, Malaysia to Singapore to Bali, Indonesia

Mission: Get bus from Melaka to Singapore AND get plane flight out from Singapore ASAP so that we aren't stuck in an expensive country for too many days.

1. Try Internet in Melaka to purchase airline tickets from Singapore to Bali online several times.
2. Fail: credit card won't work over the Internet
3. Go find a travel agent in Malaysia.
4. Fail: he says he can only do exactly what we tried over the Internet, AND charge $40 fee. Um, no thanks.
5. Get on a bus to Singapore at 2pm and hope to get ticket to Bali directly from airport once there.
6. Fail: traffic jam on way to Singapore makes 4 hr ride MUCH longer.
7. Try to find a place to stay in Singapore while walking with big bags on backs. Get a hostel for one night but not two because the Grand Prix is coming to Singapore this weekend...oh, of course it is.
8. Go directly to the MRT (Singapore's metro) around 9pm to ride all the way to the airport to try to get tickets.
9. Fail: Go to every ticket agent and the prices are all 5x higher. (lesson learned: it is not a good option to buy plane tickets at the airport...maybe you all knew this, clearly we did not).
10. Get back to hostel around 11pm and try Internet with credit cards again.
11. Fail: Credit cards still don't work (Note: phones are not an option here...don't ask).
12. Go to bed and hope for the best.
13. AND THENNNNN....SUCCESS: Find an awesome (and PATIENT) travel agent in Singapore the next morning who got us a cheap flight to Bali, AND helped us get our future tickets so we won't have to do this nonsense again. SMILES at last!

So it all worked out.
Reminder: Patience is a virtue.

Anyway, back to some highlights of Melaka and Singapore.

Melaka (or Malacca) was a very historical (it's a UNESCO World Heritage Site), and relatively quaint town for our last stop in Malaysia, but it was definitely extra chaotic because we got there just in time for Hari Raya, the holiday to celebrate the end of Ramadan. So, there were tons of visiting people for the long weekend, but we did find a really cool, bohemian guesthouse to stay at, called Voyage Guesthouse, so we did have a nice refuge for when we got overwhelmed from the crowds and sightseeing.

Highlights of Melaka:
- great little art galleries to wander in and out of
- live music at several cafes and bars
- went to mass (in English) at a Catholic church there with one Chinese priest, one Malaysian priest, and one Indian priest (no, that is not the start of a bad joke...it was really cool!)
- meeting and visiting the studios of Malaysian artist Charles Cham (LOOK HIM UP!) and the Orangutan House - he is somewhat of a revolutionary in his country, going against what his considered "art" there and conveying modern ideas and messages with his paintings and t-shirts. Awesome, laid-back, and totally approachable guy.
- seeing the ruins of Dutch and Portuguese buildings and churches in the town
- running along the canal that makes Melaka referred to as "Little Venice" (though that is quite a stretch in my opinion!) and checking out the houses along the water
- walking down to the actual port on the Straits of Melaka (no pirates in sight though)
- Jonker Street. A must-experience shopping street, but do not go there for long. Basically, it is utter chaos and THRONGS of mostly Chinese people selling everything you can imagine on a stick to eat, on a key chain or magnet, or in some other form...there were even really old, made-up women (or men dressed up?!) singing karaoke on stage to top off the ambiance. Arati and I briefly lost each other in the stifling, sweaty crowds...not somewhere you want to get lost!
- Finally, the decked out trishaws were AWESOME. They are 3-wheeled bicycles that have plastic flowers, knick-knacks, etc. to decorate them to the MAX, and the drivers are cranking out everything from Akon to Nelly Furtado to Michael Jackson on FULL blast as they peddle you around town if you so desire.

AND then, from the bus station in Melaka, through immigration, to the bus station of Singapore. You are now entering another world.

Singapore is really, really clean.
And organized.
And efficient.
Did I mention it's clean?
I even ate an apple without worrying about scrubbing it...and you can drink the tap water. YES!

Impressions and Highlights of Singapore:
- the Singapore River cutting through the City Center with lots of fun nightlife and a running/walking route, and lots of bridges with interesting and unique architecture crossing it
- a HUGE library (yes that was one of our first stops...you know my feelings about libraries!)
- lots of art galleries and great museums
- a super-efficient transit system
- good food of many varieties and real coffee (not Nescafe!) to choose from
- really nice and helpful people with great style

Really, if it weren't such a long flight and sort of isolated, I'd tell pretty much everyone to come experience this city at some point. While it's clearly not the pinnacle of our "third-world" SE Asia cultural immersion, it is a world unto its own, and I'm so glad we came for a few days. There really are signs in town that say "Be Socially Responsible" and signs on the subway platform that read "Respect Life" along with videos about how to react if someone hassles you (i.e. don't push someone onto the tracks or steal things), etc. And there are major fines for jaywalking, eating on the subway, etc. Kind Pleasantville or the Truman Show - esque. But then there is a definite culture and charm as well that contrasts with the sterility and lack of mayhem. It all adds up to a really cool dynamic to say the least.

That's all for now. We are staying here until Friday night when we fly out to Bali.
Hopefully this post wasn't too convoluted and wordy...I'll try to streamline a little better next time!