AI Recreation of Goh’s Guest House based on my memory
We had already decided that we would start our trip in Singapore. Jack knew that I had researched Singapore already, so it was OK for me to pick where we stay. We had been best buddies since we met in the 7th grade, so we trusted each other. We wanted to live life to the fullest. Jack was recently divorced and I had been diagnosed in 2000 with potentially life-threating heart disease.
We had already decided to wing it. We wanted to see it from the street where real people live. We decided to travel cheaply, like students: backpacks, youth hostels, public transportation, street food. No fancy business for us.
Both of us had retired from our management jobs in relatively prestigious institutions in 2000. We wanted to go off and see the world together. I wanted to go to Southeast Asia because of birding and Jack wanted to go perhaps to find an inexpensive place to spend his retirement. We said, “Let’s start in Singapore “ as it is an easy place to get flights and is a very modern place where we will not have to make major adaptations right away. In addition, I had some extended family living there (more on that later).
Jack left from Philadelphia, and I from Washington. I was scheduled to leave from Dulles Airport on Saturday, January 13. Sounds good, but …….here I was during the first week of January lying on a gurney having a catheterization of my heart to decide whether or not I should have open-heart surgery.
When it was done, the doctor said, “ Brian, you can leave for Singapore. Your heart arteries have a lot of blockages, but just under the amount where I recommend surgery. Start taking these cholesterol medicines and I think you will be alright”
Talk about a close call. Well, off for final preparations. By this time in my life I was a regular user of the Lonely Planet series of travel guides books for the independent traveler. I had one for Singapore.
I checked out accommodations. Goh’s guest house jumped out at me. It said it was located in Little India within Singapore. “And the price? Well.” I was getting there a few days before Jack so would have to pay the full price which was listed as 40 Singapore dollars. At that time the exchange rate was about 2 to 1, so it was about $20 a night for me. And when Jack arrived it was 50 dollars Singapore for a double. So, $25 for 2 or $12.50 per person, per night . I went over it with Jack and he loved it. He was even more frugal than I. Everything else was at least twice that price.
To the best of my recollection, I called Goh’s and made the reservation. They definitely did not have web access. I was pleasantly surprised that English was spoken. I should have expected it, as Singapore entered the modern age as a British territory. Also, Singapore’s path to global prominence was helped by the government’s focus on English as the language of commerce
So off I went to Dulles airport. I do not remember the exact airlines or routing, but I do remember that there was at least one stop and maybe two and that it took a full day. I am pretty sure I arrived in the morning local time (which was of course nighttime at home).
And, to my great surprise, I arrived at a super-modern airport. Everything from baggage claim to customs to cab pickup was super-efficient. I marveled at the efficiency, a characteristic I later learned was typical of Singapore. I later learned that it had been voted the best airport in the world in 2000. This picture is an AI rendition of Changi Airport, Singapore in 2001.
I grabbed a cab and headed to Goh’s. I did not meet the modern Singapore at Goh’s. Here is the street scene from my cab.
Well, it wasn’t the Ritz, but it was clean and basic, completely in line with what I expected from the Lonely Planet description. And, yes, English was spoken
My buddy Jack was not scheduled to arrive until the 17th, so I had three days by myself. I chose to spend them birding, the tales of which I will tell on our sister site (Birding With Ian & Brian). I will say that I went to the Singapore Botanic Gardens on the 14th, Sime Forest on the 15th, and Paser Ris on the 16th. When it came to eating there was plenty to eat as this AI reconstruction shows.
Jack arrived on the 17th. And there we were with Goh.
We immediately got out to really check out the neighborhood. Wow. Here are the typical street scenes.
Jack loved it and I was right with him. We spent two full days exploring this part of the city. No high-rises, essentially no well-heeled tourists. Just other locals and backpackers like us. We had no trouble getting in conversations. It was great. But sometimes we just sat on the porch and watched the local world go by.
The next day my relatives were coming to pick us up for dinner. My sister’s oldest son had met a Malaysian Chinese woman at Princeton, and they eventually married. Her Chinese sister and brother-in-law, both doctors, lived in Singapore. When they came to pick us up at Goh’s, they took one look at where we were staying and laughed. Longtime Singapore residents, they told us they had never even been to this part of town. It was simply too seedy for them.
We kept our mouths shut and had a wonderful dinner with them. They were lovely people
Jack and I thought our living arrangement was just fine.