Singapore

Our train was an hour late into Singapore (mainly due to hold-ups on the Malaysian side and this is a Malaysian railway before anyone starts to question my faith in Singaporean efficiency) but Ryan’s smiling face was still waiting for me at the end of the platform and we didn’t have any trouble recognising each other, despite my tan and a mutual loss of hair. With him was his brother James who I’d met once at a birthday party Sophie had thrown for Ryan in Exeter. Due to the lateness, Ryan was keen to get back to his flat, where he was working from home and I ended up saying a very hurried and unemotional goodbye to Annie. In some respects it was probably a good thing as I still didn’t want to get too close to any of the ideas running riot in my head.
Ryan drove me and James in the ‘White Cloud’ (his name for the Toyota lease-car, on account of its colour and light, light steering) to the Funan IT Mall where I was hoping to hook up to some free wireless internet and start updating the blog with some of the 50,000 odd words I’d managed to write on the island. I also wanted to do a bit of gadget shopping (the only kind of shopping I like!) as my laptop was now in desperate need of a new keyboard and I wanted to take advantage of Singapore’s prices to get a few other bits and bobs.
First stop, of course, was the food court in the basement, where I treated myself to the ubiquitous local Chicken Rice and an extra portion of Pork Rice. These were ridiculously cheap and very, very tasty, washed down with lime juice, as recommended by James. I then disappeared upstairs to get some work done in MacDonalds of all places, while James went to get his hair cut. It was an extremely irritating couple of hours as I was unable to get any connection despite a strong signal and in the end, we met Ryan and went back to his extremely plush condo on the north-west side of the city.
The Anchorage is kitted out with a huge open-air pool, steam room, gym etc. and, most importantly for the likes of me, air-conditioning. I could already see why Ryan loved his ex-pat lifestyle here so much…and I’d barely broken the surface of the food scene and was yet to sample the nightlife. I was able to use Ryan’s broadband connection and my natty new 512MB flash-drive to start loading my blog up to the net and got a good couple of hours in before it was time to go out.
Both lads play for a local rugby outfit called The Bucks and tonight was the local Northern vs Southern hemisphere game. Ryan had a knee problem, preventing him from partaking so he and I were going to grab some fish-head curry at a local curry house before driving over to see James and the others playing. First, though, I was forced to go shopping for some trainers so that I’d be able to join the lads out clubbing that evening – my (now rather shabby) Tevas would definitely not cut the mustard and I didn’t want to miss out on what would surely be a big night. Unbelievably, I found a pair of ASICS in my size (Singapore really does cater to all shapes and sizes) and, although not what I’d consider ‘clubbing gear’ at home, they’d certainly do for the weekend.
Fish-head curry may not sound too appetising but I can assure you it is nothing but delicious and we ate our fill of the finest local Indian cuisine for a mere pittance. It was with a full belly and a fiery tongue that we headed over to the match – a dour affair (much pride at stake), ending in a narrow win for the North, much to Ryan’s pleasure.
We headed back to the flat and as I was showering and changing I began to get seriously worried about being out on the lash with the rugby lads after so long out of the fold. Would I hack the pace? Would I get sent home early in a taxi?
It turned out to be a brilliant night – I’d forgotten just how much fun it can be to get a lash on with the boys. The BQ bar on the quayside that was the main focus of the night’s entertainment was heaving and obviously an absolute mecca for the local ex-pat rugby crowd. We were dancing and singing on the bar as well as bar-diving and being ‘dentist-chaired’ by the skipper with his big, nasty bottle of spirits. I managed to remain upright and got involved in the action with this terrific bunch of lads – yet more confirmation of Ryan’s chosen lifestyle – and I think I made a few friends with my rousing rendition of Sweet Child o’ Mine complete with beer-bottle microphone and cock-rock histrionics on the bar/stage.
We eventually staggered round the corner to Attica – an extremely plush and well-thought-out club, where I found to my delight some excellent house and a half-decent crowd. More exciting, was the prospect of seeing Jim ‘Shaft’ Ryan playing the following night and I made sure that Ryan was planning on coming again the following day. Eventually, much the worse for wear, we tumbled into a taxi at around 3am…but instead of going home or grabbing a greasy kebab, we went to one of the city’s numerous 24hr food courts. Here Ryan introduced me to the delights of Chilli Ray and Baby Kylan (sp?)…absolutely bloody delicious and, again, dirt cheap!! What a city!!