On my last day in Singapore I wanted to do a few things. My friend Cheryl had mentioned Clarke Quay, so I decided I want to go. She also joked about waving $1,000 dollar notes to attract the ladies, however I was down to my last $16 SG so that wasn’t going to happen.
After smashing a huge Singapore Chilli Crab in Chinatown, I was completely full. The crab set me back like $38 SG (like $35 AUS). I decided to eat away from the main street section, and not in the places where there lots of tourists. The train station had a bunch of places that looked pretty local, with only locals there (i.e. no white people lol). So I chose the busiest one, and rocked up to the counter to order a chilli crab. I had my mandarin all worked out and confidently ordered in chinese. The lady pointed to the kitchen, and said go to the other side. I thought “ok? What does that mean – do I get to pick a crab?”. Apparently, there were more seats on the other side of the kitchen. There were two sides to the street hawker street!
So I ordered a crab. They told me they only had big ones left and it was more than the standard price of $35 SG. I thought whatever and ordered a fried rice as well for $4 and a drink. The crab was really good and very messy. I figured when eating crab or ribs, you gotta go all in. I was sweating, my hands were covered in the chilli soup type thing (I thought the dish was supposed to be dry!!). Anyway, I met this two old Australians (like 65+ who were travelling for 3 months) from Blacktown! There was an old Asian guy and a german guy. It coulda been me and tim or me and ashby in 30 years time!
I bid them farewell, and took the train to Clarke Quay. I had seen it from a distance the other day from Boat Quay. I thought it was a strip with a few bars like Circular Quay. It turned out to be much more. Its a massive area with heaps of nightclubs and bars. Its jam packed full of people – particuarly young Singaporeans. There’s this bridge which connects both sides, and there’s people just sitting there (crammed might I add) just watching everyone go past.
Walking around, it reminded me of why I like the nightlife in Asia. It just seems to be a happening place, everyone’s out til really late. I checked out a few bars and ended up at this one called The Tapas Tree. I chose it because they had a coverband playing some songs that I was familar with and it wasn’t as packed. I just wanted to enjoy a Singapore Sling and a beverage or too in a relaxed place. One thing that I don’t like about Singapore is the cost of alcohol. A beer set me back $14.50 SG (thats like $12 Australian!). I reckon it was a pint size. The band started playing song requests, so I put in Black Eyed Peas, Lets Get Retarded. Why – because I like that song, and I’ve seen BEP perform it in person and it was mad!
The band asked who put it in, and laughed. I raised my hand and acknowledged it was me. I had spoken to the band during the break, and they seemed pretty cool. I then put in another song, Red Hot Chilli Pepper’s (RHCP) ”under the bridge”, which is one of my favourites. I’m a big RHCP fan btw. It was a pretty good rendition! I ended up ordering two more mojitos because I liked the band and they were playing a lot of songs that I liked and knew (top 40 type stuff). The guys from the band were called Marisol, and they had toured Australia and played in some of the music festivals. One of the guy’s East told me he’d been to Australia 6 times and loved Sydney. I spoke to them outside the bar, and they were pretty cool. We talked about RHCP, including Anthony Kiedis biography, eating Durian (and how to pick Durian fruit!), why alcohol is so expensive, and being Malays in Singapore!
A few interesting points:
- Malay is a ethnic group from the Malay area (peninsula?). These guys are not from Malaysia – as is commonly thought by most people including myself.
- pick Durian fruit that is soft but not too soft. If its too soft, it is too watery. And they confirmed that alcohol and durian is not a good mix (thanks Fozz for the tip!). Also, durian is from the same family as rambutans and heats you up. You know if you ate too much as your throat gets hot. I can confirm this!
I then left the Tapas tree in search of some more action as the crowd was dying out. It was prolly around midnight, maybe after. And the cocktails set be back like $15 each (plus there’s a service charge on top). I figured at $15 each, it was better than drinking beer.
I ended up at this nightclub called The Pump Room, which has a live band (and the guys at Marisol recommended as a happening place). After paying $20 cover charge including a free drink, I went in. It was medium sized club, with a raised area for chilling out. The band was really good, and they were playing lots of top 40 songs. I also had another drink, it was bourbon and coke, it set me back $18!! Are you kidding me!!
It was a pretty cool club, I recommend it if you are in SG! If you want to have any drinks, definently have them before you get to the clubs. But hey, it was my last night, and I wanted to go out and have fun. I was by myself the entire night and had a great time.
I left about 3am in the morning and headed back to the hostel. Singapore is a cool place, very safe, feels very honky as well! I really like Singapore (except for the cost of living). Food is cheap, not as cheap as say Malaysia or Thailand but its fairly clean.
I’m out like my last night in Singapore,
Matt
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