I set off to the west train station about 8:30 in the morning in Beijing, China. The train left at 11:00. Later I noticed there were electrical plugs in the hallway of the train, the first I’ve seen in China, so I could charge up my computer. I forgot a book in Wuhan, but my train stopped there for six minutes on the way to my destination. My friend was able to give it back to me right on the train platform, which was so nice.
In the morning I arrived in Guangzhou after 21 hours on the train. I looked at the news and noticed there was a huge train collision the same night I was on the train, killing 70 people. And the train that crashed (T195) left the same city and same day as mine (T15), but had a different destination.
In Guangzhou, I walked from the train station to the airport express buses to Baiyun International Airport. It was one of the nicest airports I’ve ever seen. Then I flew on Tiger Airways to Singapore.
Getting off the plane at Changi Airport, I felt the blast of hot and humid air. I decided to walk around this airport since I was here. There was a new terminal which opened this year. Then I took the MRT (subway) to the hostel I reserved. It was a little different than I expected since the “hostel” was just a guy’s 4 bedroom apartment on the 23rd floor of a building. So it was really small and crowded, but oh well.
When I walked to the hostel, I was shocked that cars would stop for me when I cross the street. I was wondering why the drivers were not trying to run me over after spending so much time in China and other countries like that.
By this time I was hungry, so I went out to look for food. I didn’t see much around besides apartment buildings in the area, but one local resident asked me if I needed directions in English. I said, “Food” like I was starving. He told me to go to the train station. And there I had some kind of Malay style chicken and then a hamburger (with egg, of course!).
After 30 hours of traveling, I was tired, but Singapore seems like a nice place to stay at least.