Recovering from Insomnia and after our 1pm breakfast on Sunday, Christian suggested a mellow day on a local island, Pulau Ubin. After lunch (I actually didn’t have breakfast, now that I think about it), we rented bikes and took them down to the beach facing Malaysia. A giant wooden fence had been erected in the water 30 meters off shore to keep Malaysians from illegally entering Singapore. But we spread out towels and read our books for a couple hours under a cloudy and humid sky. Since Pulau Ubin isn’t developed I could see the original jungle and forest and beaches (well, plus a touch of Malaysian litter that’s washed up). Singapore has also “developed” other local islands, Christian told me. They import rocks & sand from Malaysia, extend the coastline, and plant mangrove trees for their extensive root system to keep the new land from washing away. Meanwhile, Malaysia’s coastline is receding…
Saturday evening was mellow, but hey, it’s still Saturday night in Singapore. So Christian, his roommate Switchu, and I went to Sentosa Island for dinner. Sentosa is Disneyland2. A light show was in progress – Christian told us to avoid it – something about a happy spirit that gets happier when people sing. There’s a giant, uh, sculpture thing called the Merlion – a lion with a mermaid’s body. I’d call it the Sing-Sphinx. It’s just about as big as Egypt’s and gets lit up at night as a beacon – a beacon to happiness. After Japanese sushi, we sat at the edge of the water in semi-darkness looking out at the lights of all the freighter ships and talked about our experiences with ghosts and spirits, angels and demons.
Sunday we were off to the island of Batam in Indonesia. A very hot day, and the sun fried my head on the boat ride, but I’ve never seen so many huge ships at once! Singapore is the largest port in the world. We arrived at Batam and thought it would be simple to find a beach resort to hang out at, but the tourist offices in the terminal were harder to find than chewing gum. After paying the cab, we were told that we couldn’t use the resort unless we were guests of the hotel. Couldn’t even pay $10 for the towels. So Christian used the “How can you help me?” line, and we were in. The place was deserted. Looked gorgeous, though, with cabanas and a pristine pool and palm trees and jet skis to rent on the turquoise water. Christian bought us coconuts with straws and lunch, then Switchu bought us cappuccinos and snacks. I was just there for the conversation while we all read our books. Another hard day.
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