S'Pore Day 2

Hello Everyone,

So today we actually sat down and made a list of priorities to get done, they were: 1) Find Work and figure out how long our commute would take 2) Find umbrellas and 3) Try like hell to find a decently priced alarm clock.  We succeeded on 2 out of 3 but solved a fourth goal we hadn't realized yet, so we are batting .750!  Getting to work is a challenge and a half!  We have to take the #190 bus into downtown (AKA Orchard Road), so we walked to the bus stop which is about a quarter mile from our front door.  After waiting for a while the first 190 came...and went right past us!  Turns out it was full, and when I say full I mean 3 to a seat, and people pressed against the windows, standing from the rear of the bus to the front door, so basically at capacity.  I would hate to see what would happen if buses were like that in the US!  Second bus came...and went, same problem!  As did the third!  Finally the fourth bus that came had enough room for Russ and I to squash up against the front door.  At this point 35 minutes had gone by.  After a 10 minute bus ride to Far East Plaza (The far end of Orchard Road) we had a 2 mile walk to Orchard Station where the MRT central station is located.  After struggling to read the map we finally asked which trains to take and which stations to get off at.  We were not told trains, just Eunos Station...well right now you guys are thinking where is that...that's exactly how we felt.  So, back to the Map!  I actually took a picture of it that is attached so you guys can see what we had to decode.  We found Eunos station on the green line but only the Red line ran out of Orchard Station, so we had to change trains at City Hall.  After 3 stops we did change trains and then rode the green for 5 stops which was quite a while, to Eunos Station.  Along the way the country seemed to change from Shopping Centers and just upper class urban life, to extremely poor areas with high rise "tenements".  People literally had clothes out on what resembled a flag pole to dry them.  Anyway so we got to Eunos station and had no clue where to go.  We asked for directions at the passenger assistance booth, and he led us out the wrong door to buses that were for tours...so discouraged, we walked to the next bus stop.  At this point we were both dripping sweat and obviously frustrated by locals' ability to assist us.  We came to the bus stop and started reading routes.  Turns out the #15 bus at this stop had Kaki Bukit Avenue listed on its route.  We work on Kaki Bukit Crescent...but we gave it a try anyway!  After 4 stops on the bus we arrived at 1 Kaki Bukit Avenue, and proceeded to look around.  We walked a good half mile before seeing any people so I asked for directions.  The first group of guys just pointed at a lady so I approached her.  She gave us directions that followed a viaduct filled with sewage for about 1.5 miles until I spotted the building.  You can see pictures of it below.  We ran into Brady's local toothless security guard and he instructed us how to get to our local food court that we can use on workdays.  Well we walked to the local food court (once again pictures are included) and checked out the local fare...upon first inspection we decided a bottle of water was the safest choice and that we would find food elsewhere.  We then figured our way back to Orchard Road where we began looking for the other things on our list.  We found umbrellas in an ultra tiny walgreens type store, and proceeded to try our luck with an alarm clock.  Things got worse in this department fairly quickly and I proceeded to get into an argument with a store owner when he wanted to sell me an analog alarm clock slightly larger than a watch for $45.  That didn't end well so we left...but we soon found a Borders where I purchased a bus route guide that is extremely difficult to read and understand, but I tried.  After that, we walked into a shopping center to have a look around and to try to find food.  We found the food court and tried to pick out the least shady looking food, and proceeded to order.  The sign read that a meal would cost $6.80 but somehow mine was $14?!?  I attached a picture of what my food looked like, and I can promise you, all of it was at air-conditioned room temperature :-(  We walked around the rest of the shopping mall to see what prices were like.  1) A pair of Adidas running shoes were $200 2) A NorthFace jacket was $566 for a raincoat and 3) two levi's button down shirts were on sale as a pair for $200!  After our mall going experience was done we came back to the apartment, ate some leftovers and passed out.  I will be posting videos of the rain on here shortly so you can see what it is like in Singapore...also my apartment is visible in the videos so check them out!  Until next time, I love you all and wish I had more comments on here...

Love Always,

Brian