Chapter 22: Where the Tourists Go

Our two Shanghai colleagues Zhang Qin and Xiao Di were coming over to Singapore to join us in a Six Sigma training course. The course would be ending on a Friday and they had got a full Saturday to tour Singapore before departing on Sunday afternoon back to Shanghai. Rose had gathered the team to brainstorm on where we should bring them around.

“Guys, this is their first visit to Singapore, and they’ve only got one free day. We’ve to make that day worthwhile and memorable,” Rose reminded.
“Rose, I think Sentosa Island is the best choice,” suggested Sally. “We can take them to the island by cable car, which is quite cool. There is a new attraction called the Sky Tower that’s supposed to offer panoramic views across the island and Singapore, and some said even Indonesia…”
“That Sky Tower is not worth it, Sally,” Nicky interrupted. “I took my Hong Kong friends there previously and really regretted about it. The whole ride up and down was only about fifteen minutes, so by the time you figured out a famous building, you’re going down. And that ride cost me ten dollars! It was way too expensive!”

“Okay, maybe not the Sky Tower. But there is still the Fort Siloso and that museum that shows some wax British surrendering to the wax Japanese…”
“I thought it is some wax Japanese surrendering to the wax British?” Dawn interrupted Sally this time.
“Whatever! Anyway they’ll get to see some wax guys surrendering to some other wax guys.” Sally grunted.
“Actually those old cannons at Fort Siloso and the Prisoner of War artwork are pretty cool as well,” I added. “And there is also the famous Underwater World. I actually quite enjoyed that long moving travelator tunneling underwater through those sting rays, sharks, squids, huge groupas and other fishes.”
“Yah, they do look delicious,” Choi commented.

Everybody raised an eyebrow at Choi.

“Personally, I quite like the beaches there. Both the Siloso and Palawan beaches are pretty and their sand is soft and white,” Ju brought us back to Sentosa.
“And I like the Musical Fountain! So romantic!” Dawn exclaimed.

“Okay, so Sentosa Island is one good choice. Any other suggestions?” Rose asked.
“How about Haw Par Villa?” Choi suggested. “There we have statues and figurines that tell stories of Chinese mythology and legends. And that Ten Courts of Hell is my favorite! We can scare these gals with those tortures that the ghosts go through, like hooking their tongues out, boiling them in a pot of oil and cutting their bodies into pieces!”
“Choi, No. First of all, I think they’ve got enough of Chinese mythology and legends. And secondly, I don’t want them to have a sleepless last night in Singapore,” Rose chided.

“Jurong Bird Park?” KZ suggested.
“Yah, great idea!” Sally agreed. “There is this part where the whole area is enclosed with some sort of big net over the top and…”
“Erm… you meant the walk-in aviary” I corrected.
“Yah, the walk-in aviary. There you’ll have those birds flying all over you so freely. And they also have this world's largest man made waterfall somewhere inside and a simulated natural freshwater river habitat that has ducks, fishes and turtles. The whole place is so unlike Singapore!” Sally continued avidly.
“And with that Penguin Parade enclosure in a re-created Antarctic setting, with more than 200 penguins of different species, you’ll feel like you’re in Philips Island right?” I teased. “Why are we taking them to somewhere that tried not to look like Singapore?”
“Err… guys, with that bird flu spreading all over the world, I don’t think Jurong Bird Park is a good idea,” Rose raised a valid concern.

“Hmm… why don’t we take them to the Botanic Gardens?” Dawn suggested. “There is this National Orchid Garden inside the Botanic Gardens, which has lots and lots of beautiful orchid plants on display! They are so enthralling you won’t even want to leave there! And sometimes they even have musical concerts at the serene Symphony Lake!”
“But walking in the hot and humid Botanic Gardens is a real torture. Furthermore, I think we bound to have mosquitoes in a park. Are you sure we are safe from dengue fever already?” Nicky objected.
“Don’t worry. There are the Mist and Cool Houses where the temperature are dropped to a cooling level,” said Dawn.
“You mean there’re air-con places where you see air-con plants?”
“Not air-con plants!” Dawn hollered. “Those are delicate flowers, like some special orchids, that are grown in cold climate countries and in the Mist House they are constantly sprayed with a mist of water to keep them humid and cool!”
“Okay, flowers from cold climate countries. But the point is, if they’ve got only one day to tour around Singapore, why waste the day in a park looking at some flowers?” Nicky argued.
“We’ll reserve the Botanic Gardens as a second choice and ask the gals if they’re interested in flowers, okay?” Rose intervened.

“Hey Rose, which attraction would you recommend then? Let’s hear from you!” I was curious where Rose would recommend.
“Actually, personally I like the Night Safari. Do you know that it is the first wildlife park in the world that is built and dedicated for night visits? I feel that there's this mystery about seeing the animals at night, when you have all kinds of nocturnal creatures, from pumas to snakes, and owls looking at you in their light reflective eyes. It’s a really very special experience.”
“Err… Rose, won’t the tigers and snakes scare the hell out of those girls as well?” Choi asked.
“Well, if they’re scared of walking the trails, they can always choose to take the tram ride,” Rose argued.
“But they’re not allowed to take pictures right? I heard that no flash photography is allowed in the Night Safari,” Dawn commented.
“That’s not a problem. The girls can visit the zoo during the day time to take their pictures and scare themselves to death in the Night Safari during the night time. And that settles their one day tour in Singapore!” Nicky giggled.
“Good idea! Let’s put the Night Safari down as our third choice!” I suggested.
“Okay, so our third choice is the Singapore Zoo and the Night Safari and we can check with the gals if they’re interested in animals,” Rose wrote ‘Singapore Zoo and the Night Safari’ as the third choice on her notepad.

I wondered did our local travel agencies have such headaches when they were planning those N-day tour packages for the tourists. But then again, they could fill in the slots with visits to the souvenirs stores and expensive but not very delicious meals at those conservation shop houses. And talk about conservation shop houses…

“Rose, how about we take them to Chinatown?” I suggested.
“Erm… Beng, I don’t think our friends from Shanghai will be very interested to see a stretch of artificially and flamboyant conservation shop houses selling expensive souvenirs and even more expensive local seafood,” Choi rejected. “And why will someone from China be interested to see our not-so-Chinese Chinatown?”
“But they can visit the Sri Mariamman Temple along South Bridge Road, which will be quite an unique experience for them,” I argued.
“Then why don’t we just bring them to Little India?” Nicky commented.
“But they can taste the nice food at the hawker center above Chinatown Complex!” I still tried to argue.
“Yeh, actually Beng is right. After taking their lunch at the hawker center, they could get some cheap parallel import music CDs from the shops downstairs,” Dawn supported.
“Err... Dawn, do you know that those cheap music CDs are parallel imported from China?” I had to correct Dawn though I appreciated her support.
“Oh…”

“Yah, Chinatown doesn’t really sound like a good idea,” said Rose. “In fact, I’ll rather take them to Kampong Gelam. At least they get to see a totally different kind of culture.”
“Rose is right. I don’t think there’re that many Malays in Shanghai right? So that place should be pretty exotic to these girls,” Dawn supported. “And we can even bring them to the Malay heritage Centre that showcases the history and culture of Singapore’s Malay community.”
“True, and the restored architecture there are more authentic than and not as artificial as Chinatown,” Choi agreed.
“We can also show them the Sultan Mosque which is the largest mosque in Singapore. I’m sure they’ll love taking pictures there,” even I agreed with this idea.
“And we should also take them to Bussorah Mall and Arab Street. With the slew of traditional Muslim clothings, artifacts, handicraft and jewellry available there, I’m sure they’ll be able to buy some souvenirs home.” Rose grinned as she wrote ‘Kampong Gelam’ as the fourth and last choice on her notepad.

A few weeks later, Zhang Qin and Xiao Di arrived at Singapore for the Six Sigma training course. On the last day of the course, we asked the gals where they would like to visit for their Saturday free day.

“Girls, we’ve singled out a few places that are worth visiting. They are the exciting Sentosa Island, the scenic Botanic Gardens, the natural Singapore Zoo and Night Safari, and lastly, the exotic Kampong Gelam,” Rose passed the flyers of these four attractions to Zhang Qin and Xiao Di.

The two Shanghai gals flipped through the flyers, pondered over the choices for a moment, then Zhang Qin said: “Rose, actually we have some other places in mind.”
“Oh, where would you girls like to visit?” the surprised Rose asked.
“We’ve heard of this big twenty-four hours shopping center called Mustafa Centre where the prices are very cheap.”

Geez, it had never occurred to me that Mustafa Centre’s fame had already spread from India to China. Talk about globalization!

“And we would also like to visit Chinatown…”
“Chinatown?!!” the whole team shouted.
“Erm… is there anything wrong with Chinatown?” the shocked Zhang Qin asked.
“Err… no, nothing’s wrong with Chinatown,” Nicky explained. “But why would you girls want to go to Chinatown?”
“To buy BBQ pork slices” the two Shanghai gals grinned.