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Mike's Journal

3 Dec, Singapore

Friday, December 3 –East Railey Beach – Krabi, Thailand - Singapore


Airport Taxi, Krabi Style

Today was, I think, one of the oddest days I’ve ever experienced. Began in the pre-dawn semi-darkness, following an old Thai boatman with no English whatsoever, with my full backpack on, wading thigh deep into the muddy water of East Railey Lagoon, for my boat ride to Krabi. Never gone to the airport in a longtail boat before. Instead of going to the main pier at Krabi, he beaches the boat on the tidal mud flats outside of town. And I get to lug my stuff across the mud flats, over the rocks at water’s edge, up to a deserted road where a minibus, amazingly, is waiting for me. Again, I’m the only passenger. And with Railey’s mud drying on my feet and pants legs, it’s off to the airport.


Laem Phra Nang, from Longtail

Leaving Railey at 6 AM for a 9:10 AM flight seems to have been a bit of overkill. When I get to the terminal, I’m the only person there except for a few cleaning ladies. They haven’t even turned the lights on yet. I had to wait for an hour before I could check in.

Flight was uneventful – SilkAir is remarkably punctual, compared to a certain other airline of my acquaintance – and two hours later, I’m back in Singapore. I wander around the terminal at Changi for a bit, and then jump the subway and head for the city centre. My plan was to kill a few hours downtown and then start phoning people.

After strolling around Raffles Centre, Boat Quay and Stamford Road, checking email (apparently not possible at Changi), I decide to phone people. Then the fun began.

Making a Public Pay Phone Call in Singapore (all done in 32 oC, high humidity, with a 50 pound backpack.)

Look in mall A for pay phone. None evident.
Walk around outside looking for pay phone. None evident
Return to mall A, study floor plan. Shows phones at location X
Go to location X. No phones evident.
Go to mall B. Find pay phone.
Try to use credit card payment option – get error message
Phone has “SingTel Card” slot. Ask info about where to obtain one. Am told, “Go down the street to mall C”
Go down the street to mall C. Finally find corner store selling SingTel Card. Guy tries to sell me international card. I rather curtly instruct him to give me a local card.
Card in hand, return to mall B
Phone eats card, gives same error message, does nothing further.

[Getting a bit wild eyed at this point]

Return to mall C, where I’d noticed some cash pay phones
Entire bank of phones all refuse to accept any of my coins.

[At this stage I started thinking it might be easier to go ballistic, rip the phones off the wall and spend the evening in one of S’pore’s lovely jails. Another possibility was standing on the street with a sign that said “Let me use your cell phone and I’ll pay you $10]

Ask hotel bellhops for directions to a pay phone. They direct me to Malls B and C, vide supra.
Walking disconsolately along the street, I notice a bank of phones. They only take SingTel cards.
Return to corner store in mall C. At this point I think I’m snarling and twitching uncontrollably. Buy another local phone card with a line usually used only in pubs (“the same again, please”).
Return to phones in street.
Make call, call gets through. Jubilation!!!

Both Lisa and Keli noted that I was a bit incoherent on the phone with them. Sorry girls, it’s been a long, long day.

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