"Singgapore to start our 2008 Southeast Asia Trip" Singapore by Slooper

Our United flight via Hong Kong ended here, but this will be where we will leave on our homeward bound trip in February 2009. We only had time to get some rest - try unsuccessfully to obtain our Thai visas from their embassy here - so not much time for touristy stuff. After a couple of nights, we were up early on November 13th to catch the train for a trip up through the west side of Malaysia - destination Butterworth & Georgetown. More later as time permits.

More pics & comments will be posted to this WheelerFolk.org website:
"Peg & Keith visit Southeast Asia 2008-09"

Singapore city map

This was not our main tourist destination, but we did want to at least see this city-state. As a terminus for our trans-Pacific flight it gave us a time to shift our biological clocks and try to take care of some business. One of our main objectives was to obtain a 90 day visa from the Thai embassy. We trekked across the city to the pleasant embassy grounds only to be told that in our particular situation, it would be impossible to get such a visa. After 3 levels of bureaucracy we gave up. (We would later easily obtain the visa with the help of the staff of the Mingood Hotel in George Town, Malaysia.)

Our trip to the embassy did give us an opportunity to see some of this very clean and orderly southeast Asia city. Sadly, we forgot the camera so we have no photos to share from that day. We can only offer an image of the map we used.

Interesting murals on train station interior.

No success with the Thai embassy and after 2 nights in a less than great hotel in a very inconvenient location, it was time (an early morning time) to catch the train north. In the early hours this station was quiet, but as departure time neared, bus loads of tourists (mostly Japanese) filled the waiting area. Even with the crowd, the loading and departure was orderly and on time.

We will be back in February or March for our return flight to the States. Hopefully we will have more time to explore this city.

• Pros:Squeeky clean and orderly city - efficent transportation system.
• Cons:Didn't feel like southeast Asia
• In a nutshell:Maybe the quote "Southeast Asia light" does fit . . . ??