I’m finally starting to feel settled! Let me explain.

After New Zealand, Ben headed back to L.A. while I carried on to Singapore. My flight was routed through Kuala Lumpur, so I spent a few hours at the airport chatting over an open wireless access point (which belonged to an airline, oops). I arrived in Singapore quite late at night, where a friend who had arrived earlier met me at the airport. I compared the price of a taxi with the airport shuttle and chose the shuttle.

The shuttle ride was quite interesting. As those who have read my earlier entries know, I had a wonderful time in Singapore on my previous visit. This trip began a little differently. The shuttle driver kept suggesting expensive hotels. I had been travelling for almost two months and was quite broke, so he moved on to “less expensive” options. What he did not realise was that another person on the bus could understand the Taiwanese he was speaking on the phone. My suspicions were confirmed: a hotel would quote him $35 in total, then he would tell me, “I have a nice hotel for you to stay at for $50.” I already had a list of hostels, so I declined his help.

Upon arrival, I searched for a hostel, but they were all closed. Admittedly, it was almost 1:00am. I took a quick taxi ride to the hostel where I had stayed before, checked in around 1:30am, and promptly fell asleep.

When I woke, I was extremely excited. Curry time! For those who do not know this about me, I have a deep enthusiasm for curry. There is one place in Singapore where I will always eat it: inexpensive and delicious. I can taste it now. I ate there about six times during my few days in Singapore.

Overall, this visit to Singapore was enjoyable despite the rough start. I wandered around Little India, went over to Sentosa (a resort island next to Singapore with an impressive light show), and visited a cousin I had never really met before. Lots of walking, lots of curry, and a very good time.