The Rarely Found Singaporean Hospitality

I've been to Singapore several times before but my last visit was totally different. I'm really impressed with the people I met, their sincere help and priceless hospitality. And no, I'm not talking about those employees working in fancy hotels or fine dining restaurants.

Life on this island is harsh. The competitiveness is just incomparable in Southeast Asia. You gotta go deeper and explore out if the tourism zone to see what it is like, the Singaporean way of living. Orchard Road and Marina Bay show nothing of it. Honestly, greet and smiles to random people or foreigners are just not their thing.

So this time I chose to stay in Geylang Serai area, Joo Chiat Rd to be exact. I came just in time, Friday night. I didn't expect I would walk down the road seeing so many pubs, from the Vietnamese pubs to Indian to Thai. People say Singapore is perfectly clean, clearly they've never been here. The road was dirty. And the music was loud. People know how to party there.

I stayed at Betel Box Hostel, 200 Joo Chiat Road. I didn't expect that the check in process was taking quiet a long time, again with no smiles. They greeted me in formalities tho. They didn't provide guest with towel, that's normal for hostels in Singapore. But there was no locker in each room too! Not to mention the worse part, we gotta set our own bed sheet and pillow case. I've been to other hostels, this one was clearly disappointing. I don't like the basin outside the toilet either coz there was no mirror.

I was about writing a nasty review until I realized in the following morning that this hostel has a good neighborhood to explore. Another side of Singapore that I never got to see before. The housing just behind the road, the community club and still, the business. I found some amazing dessert and cupcakes store!

I left the hostel early, I didn't have reason to stay longer. When I was about to go to Paya Lebar MRT station, I passed the lively Geylang Serai Market. I thought Singaporeans always find their needs in modern shopping mall. This definitely provided a new perspective to me. They still have traditional market, tidy and clean ones unlike here. Life in Singapore isn't always as glamorous as we thought.

I had appointment with Qianying, a truly Singaporean whom I know from Youth Leadership Summit this summer. Even we didn't get much time to talk during the summit, she was really friendly and helpful with my visit. She recommended me place to stay, food to eat, place to go even created a day itinerary to spend time before the concert! That felt so warm and welcome, I didn't expect Qianying would do that because we're not even that close.

And the greatest part is, she was more than willing to accompany me.

We met at Raffles Place MRT station. She greeted me with smiles then off we go to a hawker center. I always wanted to try the Singapore Hawker Center but honestly I'm afraid of auntie or uncle who didn't get my words in the first say and reply me in an unfriendly way. I've experienced that a lot. This time I felt so secure as I have accompany so I wouldn't act strange in a new place for me.

We talked quite a lot during the lunch then we went to National Museum for the Biennale. I'm not a fans of art but I really enjoyed the biennale. We walked to 3 museums in total and the visit was even nicer with having Qianying as a company. Would be awkward lah if I go alone.

Because the time is already show 5.45 PM, we proceeded to the Bras Basah MRT station as I had to catch the long-awaited JJ Lin concert. We did take pictures before saying goodbye. I can't stop smiling. I really didn't expect such a warm and sincere welcome. To be honest, I have some Singaporean friends in secondary school and junior college but none of them would actually go seeing me when I come because they are really busy or because they thought I'm just someone from another project. That's what they said to me, "We normally think things like this is just another project."

Quite sad but true. The system in Singapore is so tight and demanding, compared to here which allow people to slack and procrastinate - do it everything last minute coz the tasks given would never be that hard. The exams pressure also not exist here.

The concert was nice, I'm not going to recount it here. But it was a really great concert with nice crowd and wonderful fanbase. The JJFC Singapore was always helpful and generous in helping overseas fans like us, the JJFC Indonesia. The concert was finished quite late tho that I didn't catch the MRT to Changi in time. I had to go for a taxi and it was a pleasure experience, despite the cost tho hahaha.

The taxi driver was a Chinese auntie named Chua Teng Teng Karen. She was really friendly and made me safe and comfortable on my late-night journey. She definitely the friendliest taxi driver I've met in Singapore. We talked about several common things, not to listen each other's life stories. The journey to Changi felt so short, thanks to her.

Waiting is always boring.
So instead of settling in a place, I walked around the Terminal 2. There I found another middle-aged auntie who works for Mc Donald's. She cleaned every table and I saw a lot of people leaving their table dirty so I cleaned up mine before leaving and she thanked me with a smile and warm greetings. Wah, last time I went to Mac in Singapore I saw the cleaner scolding and I rarely find employee who serve with smile in Mac.

That night, I couldn't stop smiling.
Now I have another reason to love Singapore.