Day 28: Halfway, for real this time

I’ve double checked my math, and I’m pretty sure that today was actually my halfway point in the trip.  Anyways, Greg had this morning free, so we decided to do another adventure outing, this time a high ropes course.  The course was in a lake recreation area, so it had a nice area around it, and it wasn’t completely in a forest, rather it ran above many walking paths in the park.  As we walked through the park, we found out that there was a dragon boat race going on nearby.  It turns out that this race was the Singapore national championship; we saw many of the races on the lake from the treetops.  The teams were from all across Singapore, some from institutions, while some were all expats, such as the American Dragons and Spanish Armada (who were so late that they were disqualified).

We arrived at the ropes course before they opened, but once they did they started us with a safety demonstration.  It was far longer than necessary, probably about an hour, but some of the other people there could barely get the safety down, so it was probably good for them.  We met an Australian guy who was there with his two kids.  They live in Singapore and have done the course several times, so they reminded us that we needed to start ahead of the slow pokes or we would be waiting for them at every turn.  So, we followed them as the first ones into the trees, and together we went through the course.  Sure enough, when we finished the others were still on site two of four.

At first, climbing up the trees and walking or climbing between them was a bit nerve racking, but after about three or four stations I got used to it and had no problems.  The whole course was fun and challenging, with all sorts of different challenges, from different kinds of ladders and bridges to Tarzan swings and zip lines.  There were a few places where you could choose between easy or difficult challenges, and we always went with the difficult ones.  When we neared the end of the course, our comrade’s wife finished the kiddie course with their smaller kids and kindly took some photos for us.

Geared up and ready! Actually, we already did most of the course by now.

Climbing a very narrow ladder.

Greg climbing

You had to Tarzen swinng into this net, and then climb to the platform.

Greg took the whole Tarzan thing a bit literally when a student said she wanted a photo of the "Modern Day Tarzan."

Greg hit the net way harder than I did. Note my facial expression.

Mid-air bridge

Coming in backwards…

I managed to not land on my butt, but stand at the last second.

Here comes Greg.

He did land on his tail on a previous zip line.

When we finished the course, we headed back and got lunch at Outback Steakhouse for a throwback to normal American food.  They even had free refills!  Afterwards, Greg headed off to a meeting, and I walked towards the giant Ferris Wheel, where I got on a bus tour of the city.  The tour did about a one hour loop around the city, stopping at many spots along the way.  If you wanted to check that place out, you could get off, look around, and then come back for the next bus in thirty minutes or so.  The ride was kind of neat, but I think I prefer going and doing one big thing for a long time than lots of little things.  Moreover, none of the places I stopped were overly exciting.

For example, I stopped in Chinatown, which certainly had Chinese influence, but after going to China, it pretty much looked like a random section of Beijing.  I also stopped at Fort Canning Park.  The park was hilly and a nice place to take a break in the middle of the city, but there wasn’t really a “fort.”  In the past, the British had a fort there, but now there is only a tiny, wimpy gate left, and the other buildings are event spaces that fit in with the British style.  In Little India, there were lots of Indians, but the place hadn’t really gotten started.  Also, it didn’t look quite like India, as it was far too clean.

The Fort Canning Park

The gate at the Fort.

When the bus got near our hotel again, I got off and walked across the bridge to our hotel, which looks massive sitting by itself away from the city.  When Greg had finished all of his meetings, we headed back out towards Little India, as Greg was looking for some Indian shoes that he didn’t get in India.  This time there weren’t tons of Indians, there were thousands of Indians completely jamming the streets.  In the evenings on the weekend, Indian workers, many only temporary residents of Singapore, come to Little India to hang out.  And hang out they do, literally.  Everyone comes to see one another, so they just sit or stand along the streets and don’t move, making it rather difficult to get through.  We couldn’t find any quality shoes, but just seeing all of the people was incredible.

Next, we headed over to Sim Lim Centre, which is a mall that sells only electronics.  On all six floors, computers, phones, TVs, and other electronics are all that are sold.  Unfortunately, though, it was closing and many of the shops had already been shut.  We headed back to the hotel after quite a full day.