I love Singapore. Genuinely. It is clean, efficient, illegal to smoke in most public places, illegal to drop litter, Cadburys is available, people queue AND they have Marks and Spencers. What is not to like?
On Monday I went to Raffles Hotel and was instantly hit with a wave of nostalgia for the glory days of Noel Coward at the piano and Elizabeth Taylor at a fitting in the onsite dress shop. Raffles is an institution in itself, and wandering along the hallowed halls, I imagined myself, for an instant, being a guest there. (As opposed to my hostel in Little India, which is nice except for the electrical wiring hanging out of the showers).
Raffles is opulent but tasteful; the famous Long Bar is decked in mahogany wood furniture with comfy rattan chairs. Overhead, bamboo fans mechanically waft patrons with refreshing air. I considered ordering a Singapore Sling but it was 10am and therefore far too early for a shocking pink cocktail. My favourite Raffles legend is about the time a tiger slept under the billiards table- which for me, sums up the old school glamour that the hotel epitomises. One day I'll come back for my honeymoon, mark my words!
I tried to go to Toastmasters on Monday evening but it became a bit awkward. You see, when I emailed the organisers to ask about going, they could not have been more welcoming and even informed me that there would be a dinner first, for networking. I thought, "This is my kind of Toastmasters- free food and the chance to practice speaking? Count me in!"
When I arrived at the Sheraton Towers Hotel for the meeting, I tucked into the spread of battered prawns, fried noodles and spinach quiche followed by 2 doughnuts (and 2 more which I smuggled into my lunch box- you can't take me anywhere!), and was thoroughly content...until, the organiser came over to ask me for my $30 admin fee (about 15 pounds). I have never paid to go to Toastmasters and I don't intend to, so using my best assertive first sound, I explained my hesitation, grabbed my bag, and left sharpish before they asked me to pay for the food. It was not agreeable at all!
Speaking of speaking, my plan for the week was to literally speak to anyone and everyone who came my way. I was all buoyed up, confident and had centred and clarified who I am and what I expected from each speaking situation.
Trouble is, in my hostel, I've seen 4 people, none of whom can speak English. To compensate, I have done more contacts than usual, specifically focusing on assertive first sound to counteract the tendency to hold back. I decided to multitask and did contacts at the same time as exploring the ciy, which was very efficient and ensured my feet and brain were both tired. I'm hoping that my Melacca hostel will be busier but I couldn't help reflecting that pre-McGuire, whenever I travelled and stayed in hostels, I actively avoided any speaking situation and hid away from other people socialising in the common areas. Now, I actually want to chat to other travellers and there is no one here. Typical!
My speaking aim for the next week is to continue to actively use assertive first sound to overcome the tendency to hold back. Holding back has been giving me problems recently so I need to use this in every speaking situation. I'll let you all know how I get on next week.
I booked the bus to Melacca for 8.30am on Friday morning, so by the time you all wake up, I shall hopefully be in Malaysia. The border is apparently straightforward and the bus stops once each side to complete formalities. Hopefully the immigration officers will agree to my request to stamp on a page that already has stamps on- the pages are getting ever more limited now...
PS I posted this on Thursday 7th October at 7pm Singapore time (12pm London), so I don't know why it is showing as Monday!
