Singapore 5th to 7th January 2017

Day 3 - Saturday 7 January 2017

Check out........Today is departure day and I think I’ve said enough for now about my feelings about that. A post mortem can wait. Yet there is unfinished business in Singapore. We muddle through another breakfast on rations and get ready to check out of Fragrance Crystal. After leaving luggage behind for the time being, we head off to make the most of our remaining time in Singapore.
Different agendas........Both Katoon and I have a burning desire to travel having time and resources to do so but by no means do we have identical agendas. When we visit a particular location it’s usually for different reasons. Katoon enjoys visiting tourist sites as most people do just to get a selfie to share with friends. Obviously at Buddhist temples she concentrates on her religion. My interest at any site normally concentrates on historical significance. Our trip to Singapore has amplified these differences. Yesterday I gave her the opportunity to take those selfies but today is my day.
Changi chapel and museum........Google Map. The Changi museum is located north of the airport in the east of the island. The most direct method to reach it from Geylang is by bus No, 2 but due to a one way system it travels east along Sims Way which is near the MRT station. The plan is to devote the morning to this location heading back into the city by lunchtime. It all seems simple enough but the bus travels slowly through the mainly residential districts of the east consuming time and then I manage to miss the stop ending up in Changi Village. It’s time to stop making assumptions and ask somebody but curiously nobody in the village seems to know. Now, 70 years on since the end of the war, has the memory of those dark days been hairbrushed out I wonder. Only the bus drivers know where the museum is and I have to back track 5 kilometres.
When we reach the museum, sure enough it is marked on a signboard and on a wall but the building itself is discrete. The reception is on the left through an arch. Here, as I was led to believe, entry is free but with too many Singapore dollars over and in support of the cause, I pay $8 for use of the headset for an audio guide. To be honest in my case the guide is unnecessary and to some extent and actually clashes with the visual commentary as I walk around. What is clear though is the history of Changi Prison and how it accommodated internees in far greater numbers than it could humanely handle on top of Japanese brutality. It really was an awful period in the history of Singapore and lest we forget, caused immense suffering not only to the service personal who stories have survived but also to the civilian population especially the Chinese. It is beyond the scope of my notes here to add any detail; it is well recorded elsewhere, and I must move on. But owing to my past studies of military history I’m really happy to add this site to my visit list and, as with many other sites I’ve visited, connected with the horrors of war, I’m not immune to emotion. Now having given this site as much as I dare, I must head back into the city. I’m a good hour behind my schedule....more.

Changi chapel and museum

Causeway Link........Returning on bus No. 2, we try to make up some time by changing to the MRT at the next opportunity. This service will bring us to Bugis hopefully where I need to enquire about the causeway link bus service to Johor Bahru. When I arrive at the Queen Street terminal there is a long queue and there is no advance ticket sale which I was hoping for. Not wanting to wait in the midday sun, I will return later with my luggage. In the meantime we need lunch which is long overdue. Typically the first opportunity for that is in a food centre but it is crowded with hardly a spare seat to be found. Most reluctantly we find ourselves eating with others at a table filthy with waste and dishes. Did I say Singapore was a clean country?
Fort Canning........Google Map. For the afternoon there is another site I’d like to visit of military importance and that’s Fort Canning, located on a hill we noted yesterday. It’s walkable from a number of locations but we choose Dhoby Gaunt MRT station which has the most direct route up to the Battlebox (the old command centre) via staircases. Reaching the summit I head for the visitor centre but I already know there is an entry fee for this site. Well actually it’s a guided tour. You simply can’t get to the Battlebox alone....more. There is one tour slot we could try but it would mean departure from Singapore wouldn’t be until at least 7pm. I can’t risk it but it’s free to travel around the grounds. Well I have saved myself $18 and with Katoon not interested it wouldn’t be fare to leave her waiting for an hour and a half. Crossing the hill means we will not be returning to the MRT station but instead decend coming out not far from Clarke Quay. Katoon insists on using the bus but it’s a nightmare for me working out which bus goes where.

Fort Canning

Don’t assume........Making assumptions can lead to problems as I found out this morning. There is a bus stop nearby and I work out there is a bus that runs east. However will it go as far as Geylang? Well no; this bus 32 turns south before that. It’s another delay while we work out how to get back. When we ask a student which bus to take he has an answer within 30 seconds though an ap on his phone which really sums up Singapore. It’s brilliant for locals, but rubbish for tourists without data roaming.
Causeway crossing........Google Map. Finally we collect our bags and make it back to Bugis where I need to get my deposit back for the tourist passes; another delay. Crossing to Queen Street terminal however we get lucky. The queue has disappeared and we board a bus immediately as it’s about to depart. Surely now the nightmare is over. Well no! This word ‘assume’, crops up yet again. This time it’s Katoon who makes the error. Having left the bus and passed Singapore immigration she doesn’t pause to check where the pick up point is but goes through an exit gate into no mans land. We’re stuck. The only way back is back though immigration where we explain the situation. Thank God they speak English and immigration officers escort us back to the bus collection point. I admit there are signed walkways for each bus company but they direct you backwards under the building but it’s still safe not to assume what seems illogical is not logical right? Now that’s wasted the best part of an hour and it getting dark. We’re still not through Malaysian immigration yet. At this point I close my blog for Singapore as we head for the immigration building. The tour continues to South Malay Peninsular.