Blanchard's Oriental Travel Journal

The fat controller rules the roost at Kuala Lumpur Railway Station, the Locomotive Bar readies for the big opening and goodbye to the Pig and welcome to the Rat in Singapore, (where the rats chase the cats)

Monday 19th February, Inn of the Sixth Happiness, Singapore

The Malaysian government in their wisdom having doubled the departure tax to 40 Ringitt, and my own patience running out with the hassle of air travel from KL to Singapore for such a short distance, I took the more civilised option of train travel this time around. You see I had to get out of KL, all around me people were dropping hints about "ang pows" which I can only guess means something about bearing gifts. Not that I'm mean, its just that a trip to a shopping center has as much charm for me as the cloudy mountain squatter colony in Manila. There was a first class ticket still available for this Chinese New Year eve ($68 RM) so I took the plunge and headed down to that wonderful old Moorish/colonial central rail station yesterday night.

Being half an hour early I checked out Mindy's new Locomotive bar in the Heritage hotel for a cool lager or two before Thomas pulled out. Mindy, the grand dame of the Heritage hotel and the "Inn" was there getting her hands dirty tending the bar, and we sat down for a quick reminisce, watching the train to Butterworth/Bangkok pulling in and the big fat controller busying himself with directing passengers off upstation to see their family for the Raya and the Lunar new year. Come March and the new Heritage hotel in KL, part of the railway station itself, will be fully ready for the gala opening, but the locomotive bar and a few rooms have already made an appearance. This is a hotel of some elegance, despite being in a railway station, plus you only need your early morning call half an hour before departure time. The bar itself was rescued from a lonely existence in an old Johor Bahru hotel an has been scrubbed up, and for all the affeciandos, yes.. it is a good elbow resting height. The Orient Express passes through here 3 times a week with their cargo of upmarket tourists on the Singapore to Bangkok run at 2,000 US per plop. The rest of the time its me, the real people, and those who think that if Mohommad had meant us to fly he would have given us wings.

A quick farewell to Mindy and the new manager she headhunted from one of my other favourite KL hotels it was on to the platform and straight into the first class cabin. The guard pulled out his green and red flags for an on-time departure, the hostess came around for our free drink order (..Orange or Mango juice..that's all Sir!..) and we were speeding through the KL suburbs as we chugged south towards Singapore. The scenery is pleasant if not inspiring, with rubber plantations, palm trees, old wooden kampungs backing onto the railway line with ducks swimming away in the backyard dams. The inevitable white walled red roofed new housing so favoured by the Chinese was omnipresent as were the big yellow holes in the ground where even further new housing could be expected to spring up. You could have nasi lemak, mee goreng or nasi goreng in the dining car, or sandwiches with fairly measly fillings. But I told myself to relax and relax I did as the country whizzed past and we were treated to "Black Beauty" on the video as well as "Beyond 2000".

I stretched out in my space which was about twice the size of an airline space and took out enough work to last me for the remainder of the 6 hour journey.

Few chats along the way with an Indian engineer complaining about the Chinese, a mature looking English lady travelling alone around Asia on trains and a couple of German backpackers (these girls turn up everywhere I know..)

Before I knew it we were pulling out of Johor Bahru where about 90% of the passengers got out and the immigration officers were moving through the train checking passports. Now this is the life, I really don't mind having my passport checked while sitting down sipping a mango juice. Out at Singapore at last about 8pm at night and a short 10 minute ride to the "Inn"

The pace of restoration (or soul rejuvenation) in Chinatown is impressive. Every time I come here another block of shophouses has been restored, and if Singapore ever regains its soul from the devil it will be here. Ah..Chinese New Year eve and the Lion dances are all around me, everywhere there are coloured lanterns and red striped tents. In all my years of coming to Singapore this is the busiest I have seen it. Busy yes..amok no! Heh you're in Singapore guys..keep your emotions under control! The Inn had welcomed back Mohommad, one of their favourite sons, who had been enticed away by the glittering 5 star hotels in Orchard but now was back here with his real friends. My free pot of Chinese tea finished an a quick shampoo and shower and it was on with the blue shorts and the long white socks and it was into the crowds outside.

The pig, for whom the Chinese I would guess have little affection for, considering the vast amount of the animal they consume, was about to be replaced by the Rat, which some do assure me are eaten by the Chinese "because they eat anything", but I find hard to believe. I was once told how the Rat made it to the foot of Buddah first and became the first animal of the lunar year. Seems he knew he would never get to the feet of Buddah on time when Buddah summoned all the animals, so he hitched a ride on the slow but steady Ox. By the time the Buddah was in sight, the Rat jumped off the Ox, and completely rested, scampered up to be first at Buddah' s feet. The cat never made it in the first 12 because she had asked the Rat to wake her up when it was time to leave and the cunning rat decided to forget to wake her. So a year of being cunning. and guileful..we will have to see..

The fireworks, (government authorised of course, they banned the colourful but admittedly dangerous practice of selling firecrackers several years ago) heralded the start of the new year. A 2 hour walk around, a quick visit to Harry's Bar at Boat Quay where it was all happening as always, a quick bowl of Seafood rice and it was back to the familiarity of the Inn, where the green shutters shut out most of the noise outside and the overhead fan whirred re assuredly above me.

Today is the quietest I have ever seen Singapore. Even the birds where chirping softly as the Rat made its first entry of the year. A relaxed lunch with Chee and his family and a relaxed meeting with John Chan, (he really wasn't working today but made the ultimate sacrifice to meet me) and now its only me and the notebook writing this all down. The autobank down the road failed to cough up the required amount of Sing money, so I also made a trip on the cleanse underground railway in the world from Raffles Place to Somerset which was the closet place I knew that took my Visa Card. Thankfully this one worked, and the taxi man charged me a dollar extra for the ride home (holiday surcharge).

2am on Tuesday morning and I thought I better check.... You see Maxwell market across the road from the Inn, apart from serving the best turtle soup in Singapore also has a certain charm as the place where I once saw a cat chasing a rat. I opened up the shutters, and was startled to see a rat the size of a cat emerging from a drain and making a bee line for the nearest cat who squealed and scuttled off down Tanjong Pagar Road. The rat picked up the tasty morsel of god knows what that the cat had left behind and clamped his big choppers around it.

On this first moonlight night of the new year, sure enuff, the year of the rat had well and truly arrived...