BootsnAll Travel Network



Archive for January, 2006

« Home

Singapour : un autre monde !

Monday, January 30th, 2006

Notre derniere nuit en Inde fut chaude, le parcours vers l’aeroport facile, l’enregistrement tout aussi simple, enfin nous embarquions dans l’avion bien avant l’heure prevue pour le decolage et decollions tout a fait a l’heure. Le vol fut assez facile et malgre l’absence de reputation (bonne ou mauvaise) de Air India, nous avons ete tres agreablement surpris : repas complet pour un vol de 4h, snacks, films, boissons alcoolises ou non gratuites, services irreprochables. Si seulement tous les transports en Inde avaient ete aussi simple. De ce fait, nous franchissions l’ocean indien rapidement et confortablement vers Singapour situe a seulement 100 km de l’equateur !
Nous ne savions pas trop a quoi nous attendre a l’arrivee, et nous avons ete completement “bluffee”. Nous avions pris l’habitude en Inde de la salete, de la vetuste… Des notre arrivee a Singapour, nous avons eu tout le contraire. Comme des enfants decouvrant Disneyworld, nous contemplions la proprete de l’aeroport, la modernite du passage a la frontiere (quoique un peu lent, a priori tout le monde n’entre pas facilement a Singapour, surtout pas les Indiens qui doivent montrer pattes blanches, dollars et lettre d’invitation…), le fonctionnement automatique du train reliant les deux terminals de l’aeroport. Il fut un temps ou je pensais que l’aeroport refletait en quelque sorte le pays, d’ailleurs cette reflexion s’applique de temps en temps. Par exemple pour l’Armenie, l’aeroport de Yerevan s’accorde tres bien. Pour Singapour, il en est de meme dans l’autre sens. L’aeroport est l’un des plus modernes au monde, je veux bien le croire.
Cette “re-decouverte” de la civilisation moderne s’est poursuivi dans le metro qui parait si neuf ! Puis tout au cours de notre sejour sur place. Un interessant musee sur l’histoire de Chinatown, l’un des plus fameux quartiers de Singapour, nous a donne une explication a cette modernite : la ville dans les annees 50 n’etait qu’un arret portuaire sans grande richesse et au developpement anarchique. Quelle difference aujourd’hui.
La ville-pays, que l’on traverse de nord au sud et d’est en ouest par metro, ressemble a une ville americaine dont on aurait supprimer les quartiers pauvres : grandes avenues utilisees par de grosses voitures japonaises, gratte-ciels modernes presents partout, tout comme la verdure (parcs, fleurs), centres commerciaux gigantesques, quelques batiments historiques datant de la colonisation britanniques mais rien ne remontant a plus de 5 siecles. Si la majeure partie de la population n’avait pas les yeux brides et la peau jaunatre, on pourrait meme croire qu’on y est.
Le PIB atteint 25ooo USD par an, proche de celui de la France. La croissance du pays a ete vraiment impressionnante ces dernieres dizaines d’annees et celle-ci semble profiter a tous, nous sommes vraiment surpris de ne pas voir ni mendiant, ni sans-abris. Peut etre est-ce le gouvernement qui ne les autorise pas. En effet, la repression est forte a Singapour : la peine de mort pour tout traffic de drogue, quelques annees en prison pour une simple possession, pas de chewing gum, des amendes impressionnantes (500 euros ou plus) pour manger ou boire dans le metro, pour transporter un dorian dans ce meme metro, pour faire du velo sur certaines voies pietonnes. On ne rigole pas avec la loi. Peut etre aussi l’un des succes de la ville ces dernieres annees : une “dictature” liberale et si je peux dire moderne entrant totalement dans l’ere de la societe de consommation.
Singapour est aussi un vrai mixe de culture : Chinois (representant 80% de la population), Indiens, Malais, et bien d’autres nationalites. Quatre langues parlees et officielles. Differentes religions : bouddhistes, musulmans, chrétiens, hindous, sikh, taoïstes, confucianistes. Un vrai melting pot culinaire ou il est facile de trouver ce que l’on veut : de la cuisine francaise a de delicieuses preparations chinoises, en passant par le thali indien. Et il semble que les communautes vivent ensemble sans probleme… Quelle est la clef du succes ? Peut etre une economie vigoureuse. Nous sommes curieux de savoir quel sera l’avenir du pays.
Oriente aujourd’hui vers le tourisme, l’ile est aussi un vrai parc d’attraction : tout y est ou presque : zoo, plage, tours de toute sorte, randonnee dans la jungle, aquarium, parc aquatique, cinema… Tout y est pour occuper le touriste dont le portefeuille est trop lourd. D’ailleurs pour l’aider encore plus a ce debarasser de ce surplus de billets, les centres commerciaux sont gigantesques et plus que nombreux. Difficile de resister. Durant notre visite nous avons pu aussi voir les autres clefs du succes economique de Singapour : un port hors norme, le plus frequente du monde, une industrie bancaire qui semble bien developpee, tout comme celle du petrole.
Pour nous, Singapour a ete comme une vraie pause, malgre une chaleur humide omnipresente (35 degres et 80% d’humidite), et une vraie decouverte. Nous ne sentions pas ce besoin quand nous etions en Inde mais au contact de tant de comfort et de possibilite, nous avons profite pleinement de cette chance : dormir dans un lit comfortable au matelas de plus de 5 cm, manger un sandwich au saucisson achete dans le Carrefour, profiter d’un bon film au cinema (nous le recommandons d’ailleurs, il s’agit de “Memoirs of a Geisha”), sortir boire un coup le soir, manger dans un vrai italien, faire quelques courses (un objectif pour notre appareil photo, un pantalon pour Jenny, quelques autres affaires dont nous avions besoin sans vraiment les trouver en Inde)… Les visites en elles-memes sont limitees par la taille du pays et par une histoire souvent relativement recente mais peuvent facilement occuper plusieurs jours. Nous sommes d’ailleurs restes un jour de plus que prevu. Le Nouvel An chinois tombant dans notre calendrier nous en avons aussi profiter pour le celebrer.
Neanmoins, apres quelques jours, nous etions content (et notre porte monnaie aussi) de reprendre la route et de retrouver un peu plus de challenge. Dimanche, nous prenions donc le bus pour partir vers le Nord et la Malaisie. Nous sommes a Melaka depuis. Une ville vraiment interessante : historiquement et culturellement ! Pour nous c’est aussi les premiers jours dans un nouveau pays impliquant beaucoup de decouvertes… A suivre dans le prochain post.

Welcome to Asia- Our Arrival in Singapore

Monday, January 30th, 2006

Our flight from Chennai to Singapore was nice and easy. We were fed well for a four hour flight (which was a savior since we had saved only a few rupees to have lunch at the airport and when we arrived we found out the prices were about 4X Indian standards.) We crossed several time zones, so we had a 2 1/2 hour jet lag, it was almost 10pm by the time we got through customs. Getting off of the plane was a culture shock, western automatic toilets with toilet seat covers…an enormous shopping mall in the airport. We took the incredibly efficient and immaculately clean metro (MRT) to our hotel. I couldn’t help but feel self-conscious, not because people were staring at us, but because I immediately felt incredibly dirty. My backpack cover was filthy, my shoes and socks still stained red from the clay roads in Matheran, holes in the pockets of my capri pants. As I looked around the metro, everyone was dressed in the latest Western fashion, listening to their Mp3 players and writing text messages on their mobile phones. Had I just gotten off and airplane or a spaceship to the moon?
When we arrived at our MRT stop, Farrer Park, appropriately located at the edge of Little India, we emerged to a world that reminded me of Walnut Creek, California. Wide freshly paved roads, with digital walk signals that told you how many seconds left you had to reach the otherside of the crosswalk, numerous highrise apartment complexes, perfectly manicured lawns and sidewalks. We checked into our hotel (situated next to a Buddhist temple) and asked for advice about where to get a late night snack. They directed us to the main road where we could find 24-hour stalls selling delicious and cheap Chinese food. We each had an ice cold Tiger beer, and shared fried rice and BBQ pork ribs, perfect snack right before bed…
The next morning (Thursday), we woke up bright and early around 10:30AM, I had to drag myself out of the comfy bed (soft mattresses, fluffy pillows and sheets are a rarety in budget guesthouses.) Our itinerary: visit the colonial district and waterfront, do some shopping (much needed restocking of supplies) and catch a show at the Boom Boom Room (a cabaret.) First stop was the Colonial District, where our friends the British, left their mark on Singapore. The area is on the waterfront and encompasses the City Hall, the big Asian Civilizations Museum, the Opera House and several important bridges and statues. We took an easy walk (a nice pedestrian sidewalk where bikes are not allowed; fine: 1000SD, about 500USD) until we came into the heart of the business district. Here we decided to look for lunch (along with all of the Singaporeans on their lunch break.) We found one of the many infamous food courts, that offers up numerous varieties of Chinese, Indian and Muslim foods. Here we chose another Chinese dish, this time a giant noodle soup with with chicken and various other flavourful creatures. Singapore feels like a very miniature version of the U.S.A, with a lot of Asians. After lunch, we decided to visit the Fountain of Fortune (the largest fountain in the world) which was inside of a giant shopping mall. Actually most of Singapore is a series of shopping malls connected together by underground walkways. (It’s a bit of an exageration, but at times it did feel like that.) We were a bit like kids in a candy store because we found everything we needed and didn’t know that we needed easily, including things like Skippy peanut butter and root beer for me, and French baguettes and saucisson for Fabien. After a full afternoon of shopping, we returned to the hotel to grab a bite to eat before heading out for the evening. Unfortunately, we found that the Boom Boom Room (famous for it’s drag cabaret) was closed, so we chose a little bar on the waterfront to enjoy a cocktail and some live music before heading home for the night.
When we arrived in Singapore, we found out that we had chosen our timing well, we were there just in time for the Chinese New Year. (Singapore is 77% Chinese, 14% Malay, 8% Indian) So it was sure to be a big event in Chinatown. Friday morning, we decided to visit Little India in the morning, do some camera shopping, then check out Chinatown. There are a couple of spectacular Hindu temples in Little India. Most of the Indians are Tamils, from South India, and the architecture is similar to what we saw in Chennai and Mamabalipuram. The temples have very colorful and elaborate carvings on the roofs and the inside. There’s also some good souvenir shopping, but we passed, considering that we had already sent home several boxes of goodies from India. We then went to a giant IT shopping mall (Fabien’s dream.) Due to a little camera mishap (see last picture post), we needed to get a new flash memory card, and we also found a nice zoom lens for my camera. We are ready for the birds in the jungle!!! This country is dangerous for the budget. After a nice break, we went to Chinatown to see the New Year’s light up (there were red lanterns strung from building to building as well as other colorful decorations) as well as big new year’s markets selling noisemakers, firecrackers, and lots of little Chinese odds and inns. We escaped a small rain shower, by visiting the Chinatown Heritage Center, where we learned about everything from the desperate plights of the Chinese immigrants in the 19th and 20th century to their modern successes today. The evening, we decided to be glutionous Westerners, feasted on hamburgers and fries and went to the movies. We saw “Memoirs of a Geisha,” which I liked as much as the book and would highly recommend.
Saturday (our last day), was Chinese New Year’s Eve. The morning, we packed a picnic and went to the park. We climbed up to the highest point in Singapore where we could see Sentosa Island (a resort island) and the big, bustling port. Apparently, Singapore is the busiest port in the world, and we would agree after seeing the the number of ships going in and out of the port. We visited another park, Fort Canning, in the afternoon, where we could see remants of the old fort, as well as lots of exotic trees and spices. We splurged and went to a restaurant on the waterfront, then ended the evening in Chinatown with fireworks at midnight to welcome in the Year of the Dog.
Sunday morning (Chinese New Year’s Day), we packed up and caught a bus to our present destination, Melaka, Malayasia. It was an easy 4 1/4 hour bus ride. It is a very tropical climate here, hot and humid, and everything is extremely green. Melaka is a historical town in Malayasia, it was occupied at various times by the Portugese, the Dutch, the British, and the Japanese (during WWII,) so it has a unique blend of history and architecture. Our first impressions are that the people are very, very friendly here and that things are very modern (though it’s much cheaper than Singapore.) There are several major ethnic groups; the Malays, the Chinese and the Indians are the main groups. Last night we went to Chinatown to visit the night market, which was alive with people out celebrating the New Year. Today we had full day, visiting Villa Sentosa, a typical,old Malaysian house that is now a living museum. Various family members give tours of the house, showing you traditional Malayasian furniture, clothes and telling you about various customs. It really gave us the feeling that Malayasians are serious about hospitality. Then we wandered through Chinatown by day, and visited a couple of Buddhist temples. The first, the oldest and Malayasia, was packed with people putting incense in front of the various statues and praying. Then we had a typical local dish, chicken rice balls and a fish cake, made with a delicious coconut curry. We also visited the old Dutch quarters, which is now mainly museums. We got a good dose of Melakan colonial history and saw some nice exhibits on the traditonal local wedding customs. (It is a long and involved ritual to get married here, so don’t worry, we won’t elope 🙂 We’ll visit a few more sights tomorrow morning before catching a bus to Kuala Lumpur (the capital) which is only two hours away.

Finally, some new pictures

Saturday, January 28th, 2006
It has been an ''picturesque" adventure to upload these pictures since we lost most of them when we format by mistake our memory card. Then we upload a software on Internet to recover the pictures but we needed Win XP ... [Continue reading this entry]

A few last words on India

Wednesday, January 25th, 2006
Fabien wrote a beautiful, all-encompassing, reflection on India in French. Sometimes when I read his posts, I feel like he captures the feeling better than I do. But for those of you who are only reading the English version, I ... [Continue reading this entry]

Un Nouvel An pas comme les autres

Tuesday, January 24th, 2006
Arrive a Mumbai le 29, nous devions trouver une soiree pour le reveillon. La tache s'averait assez facile pouisque le 29 au soir, nous avioms trouve. Me promenant dans la rue menant a l'India Gate, je tombais sur un restaurant ... [Continue reading this entry]

La fin de l’aventure en Inde

Tuesday, January 24th, 2006
Le moins que l'on puisse dire est que le voyage vers Pondichery fut long. Partant de Palolem, nous prenions un premier bus de nuit vers Bangalore. Cette premiere partie fut mouvementee : notre etroite couchette placee a la verticale de ... [Continue reading this entry]

A Little Taste of Tamil Nadu and French India

Tuesday, January 24th, 2006

Pondicherry was the capital of French India until 1952 when it became part of the new free Indian Republic. The city seems to have had two strong influences, first the French and second Sri Aurobindo who along with "the ... [Continue reading this entry]

India : I’m lovin’ it… mais

Sunday, January 22nd, 2006
Il y a trois mois quand nous sommes arrives en Inde, nous ne savions pas a quoi nous attendre, nous ne savions meme pas ou aller apres New Delhi. A l'origine, nous avions prevu de passer 5 a 6 semaines ... [Continue reading this entry]

Let’s go south

Wednesday, January 18th, 2006

Hello from Pondicherry. Fabien and I have just one week (after 3 exciting and exhausting months) left in India. We are flying to Singapore next Wednesday to start the next leg of our trip in southeast Asia.
The last weeks, ... [Continue reading this entry]

Combien ca coute ?

Wednesday, January 18th, 2006
Avec un rythme de vie qui semble identique a celui des maharajats les plus riches, bien entendu vous devez penser que nous depensons toute notre fortune dans ce voyage. Bien heureusement pour nous, il n'est pas difficile de voyager en ... [Continue reading this entry]