Statue of Francis Xavier in Malacca. Doesn't he look a little like Singapore's Stamford Raffles?

You may wonder, is this all to SE Asia?  Of course not!

If you can find a day or 1/2 day free, you might find a chance to go out of the city center, to experience other parts of Singapore, or if you’re more daring (and have more than 6 months validity on your visa, try going out of the country to visit nearby Malaysia or Indonesia.  Johor Bahru (JB for short) and Malacca (about 2-3 hours away each way) in Malaysia offers a contrast to the super modern urban landscape that makes up downtown Singapore.

Our tour desk offers two tours going out of town to JB and Malacca and gives you a safe return.  We recommend going with the tour (especially if you’re thinking of going to JB; tourists are often targets of scams).  You can find the tour desk near the foyer of the Ballroom.

Enjoy!

(PS – want more detail?  Check out Chris’ earlier post on traveling to Malaysia)

(Also see Mary Ellen Foster’s comments on this post below).

There have been very recent changes to how Wireless@SG registration works.  As reported in the conference handbook and earlier on the website, international phone numbers used to be accepted for registration — this is no longer the case.

Registration confirmation and password are sent via SMS; local Singapore mobile phone numbers are required at the moment. We advise you to purchase a prepaid SIM card upon arrival to Singapore. The prepaid SIM cards for all 3 mobile operators are sold in a number of shops including convenience stores like 7-Eleven. Passport is required to purchase a SIM card.  See the earlier post about hand phones for more information on obtaining a SIM card.

Bak Kut Teh (pork rib soup), another local fav (courtesy u m a m i@flickr)

While Singaporeans are well renowned for their attention to detail, this carries on most distinctly in food. Yes, Singaporeans are especially proud (read: finicky) of their local food sources. No trip to Singapore is complete without a trip to a local culinary institution, the hawker stand.

(Hainanese Chicken Rice, S'pore style? (courtesy currypuffy@flickr)

There are many food stands here, gathered into “food courts” (air conditioned centers or hawker centers: open air plazas. What we’re after here is the hawker center. Why hawkers? Well, they are called hawker centers, named after the hawkers (callers) who used to go around the neighborhood crying out to advertise the food that they had to offer (”get your fresh fishball noodles here!!”). In more recent times these mobile food vendors were legislated and localized to a specific food stall for inspection purposes, among other things. Each center consists usually of about 15-50 stalls (although usually many fewer will be actually open) offering various Chinese, Indian, Muslim and occasionally other foods, such as Japanese, vegetarian or Italian. Within each plaza there is always a central stand serving drinks (thus you buy your beverages at a different stall), which sometimes doubles as a fresh fruit stand (because many of the beverages are freshly squeezed/pulped fruit juices). There are many variants of Chinese food that I didn’t recognize here when I first arrived in SG and for the most part I have been ordering what I can pronounce reasonably ok (it’s easier to use English and you probably sound less like you’re trying hard if you do). Also, family is a big thing here. There are practically no single people eating at these plazas, unlike the food courts of the US. Mostly families or friends or couples going out. The price of food at these hawker stands is also very cheap. Your average dinner at the food plazas will be around 6 SGD (4 USD), although our local school’s canteen, you might be hard pressed to spend more than 4 dollars for a regular meal. Eating times vary a bit from other global metropolises, where it is always possible to get a meal 24 hours a day. That can be done easily in Singapore too, but just in certain areas (ask me!). I find the hawker food good to eat and sometimes have a hard time in justifying the difference in cost to eat at an actual restaurant (the cost is about 15-20 SGD or much more), since the hawker food is already quite good for my taste.

Hawker Center at Ghim Moh (courtesy food_in_mouth@flickr)

Hawker food comes in many different varieties but there are some simple rules to remember about eating out:

- Bring tissues. Those small packs of tissue are essential for the traveller in Asia. If you don’t have one by the time you are at a hawker center, buy one from the drink stand (there’s always one open), or borrow one from your friend who came along and was better prepared than you

- Make sure to reserve a seat. One of the customs here is to “reserve” a seat at a table. Send your friends to buy their food first and then when they return it’s your turn. You did bring someone to eat with, didn’t you? Yes, it does waste valuable table space, seeing as many people in a hawker center are there just to reserve a space. But when in Rome…

- “Self-service” In the US, this means you pump your own petrol. But in Singapore, it means that you have to get the food after it’s cooked and return to your seat. If there’s no such sign, you can let the stall owner have their helper deliver it to your table (yes, that’s what the table number is for).

- “$2 $3 $5″: Don’t let someone fool you into thinking these are different prices for locals, expats and tourists. Nah, it’s for the portion size you might want to eat. Many dishes can be made with more ingredients to make a richer plate of food. You can tell the stall owner how much money you wish your food to cost. Typically, a higher price corresponds to more meat/veggies and not carbo, so it’s not quite the same as upsizing your McMeal.

- So are you ready? Listen to what locals tell their hawkers when ordering. If you can pick out the meaning, you’ll hear the dialogue being negotiated in a semi-fixed order. Usually, people tell the hawker what dish they want, followed by the dollar amount, whether they want chili or not, and specify *exactly* how they want it cooked (Burger King’s got nothing on this.) Other details follow: whether they want it “packet” (to go) or to “makan” (eat here, “makan” is eat/food in Malay) and where they are sitting (if it is to be delivered to your table).

-Min’s 2009 ACL-IJCNLP update. ‘Food Republic’ downstairs from the conference venue is *not* the same as a hawker center, no matter what it advertises.  That’s not to bash Food Republic, just that the atmosphere (and heat and humidity) are completely different.  Go out and explore.  The closest (food-wise) bearable hawker center to Suntec City would be Lau Pa Sat, Newton Circus or the Bugis (pronounced ‘BOO-gis’; try saying ‘BUG-is’ to a local is a sure way to get them to fall over laughing) hawker center.

Talk to any Singaporean or resident here and they will always be able to chat about their favorite hawker stands.  Beats talking about the weather for a conversation opener (”Man, it sure is hot and humid these days…”).  Wise up by checking out some of the hungrygowhere or makansutra websites (you do remember what ‘makan’ means, right?)

keropokman commented on this post in SIGIR ‘08, so I’ll just share it here too.  (Visit his site if you want to salivate about food):

The term Hawker Centre is an oxymoron.

A Hawker moves around

If you realise, they have all been renamed “Food Centres” in almost all the ’so called hawker centres”

Even when you do manage to find one (hint: big shopping malls in Suntec City or in large hotels), sometimes they are just phones that take electronic prepaid cards.  How do you then make the call to look up your friends in Singapore?

Always on the phone? (Courtesy jeremyfoo@flickr)

A good option is to bring your mobile phone with you.  Singapore runs standard GSM service through several mobile providers.  If you have a (dual, tri, quad-band) GSM phone it should work with Singapore’s providers as long as you get a new SIM card.  This would be my recommended option — to purchase a short-term prepaid, refillable SIM card.

Getting a prepaid SIM card in Singapore is generally quite easy, activation is instant, and calling rates are quite attractive.

The prepaid SIM cards in Singapore come in various denominations ranging from S$10 to S$50. There are 3 mobile phone service providers that offer prepaid phone service in Singapore – SingTel, MobileOne (M1) and Starhub.

Prepaid SIM cards in Singapore for any of the three phone companies can be purchased at the following locations:

• Retail outlets of Singtel, Starhub, and M1.  There are outlets for these stores in Suntec City.
• 7-eleven stores and Cheers Convenience Stores.  These are everywhere, including the Changi airport.  If you have to have your phone connection right away, this is it.
• Singapore Post

Since 2006, the Singapore government has made prepaid SIM registration a mandatory requirement. This means the card must be registered under the name of the person who will be using it, in this case you. As a result, you will be required to produce your passport when you buy the prepaid mobile card (that means you should not forget to bring out your passport when you want go buy it). Once registered, the card is ready for use immediately.

Prepaid SIM Card balance in Singapore is normally valid for 6 months which means any unused balance will expire after 6 months, if not refilled (topped-up) by buying additional credit.  10 dollars may seem a lot of money but I personally find the peace of mind in having local rate calling at your convenience.  The prepaid cards all features slightly different long distance rates to your family and friends back home, but don’t vary too much.

So those linguists out there will wonder about the origins of the word ‘handphone’, more popularly used here than ‘mobile’ or ‘cell’.  Well that’s easy: ‘手机’ the Chinese translation is literally ‘hand machine’.  How’s that for pop etymology?

ACL-IJCNLP Plug

Hello! This is Swee Lan from Singapore. Now that you’ve seen the conference bag posted by Haizhou, I believe you’d be interested to know what special stuffs you could find in there. Right?

Well, a hint here. You probably want to check out the voltage and frequency used in the country you want to travel to, so that you can make sure that you bring appliance(s) of correct voltage and frequency to use in that country. But what if the plugs do not take the plug configuration of your appliance(s)? It’d be rather frustrating and an unpleasant experience, isn’t it? [Editor: When I got delayed in Narita, I was given a stay at Hilton and we had to pay $10 to rent out the adapter; not cheap!] Well, when you attend ACL-IJCNLP 2009 conference, you’ll not have such trouble.

Oui! You’d receive a universal travel adapter in your conference bag and voila! No more plug trouble. So don’t forget to check it out in your conference bag (along with other stuffs). It’ll look like the picture on the right, with ACL-IJCNLP 2009 logo printed on it. Having said all these, I’d still like to remind you that the voltage and frequency used in Singapore is 230V/50Hz, and the socket type is the G plugs (same as that used in United Kingdom, Ireland, Malaysia, and Hong Kong).

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Wow, and did you read the posts by Chris and Su Yuen about Singapore and Malaysia? The places look interesting and exciting to visit. While you are here, you might want to try exploring some of these places (and the editor, Chris, has informed me that more posts like that are coming). There are still many more interesting places in Singapore that you can also visit: Chinatown, Sentosa, Night Safari, Jurong Bird Park, Singapore Flyer, or even cruising onboard Singapore River cruise. We’ve also arranged a local travel agency—Global Travel—to help you plan your trip and check out these places in Singapore, if you need so. Check out what tours they have in place for you. Also, complimentary pick-up service will be provided from major hotels in Singapore to the tour assembly. Pick-up service usually begins 30 minutes before the tour commences, and the pick-up time is subject to the hotel location and traffic conditions. Major credit cards are acceptable for advance payment of your tour reservation. And cancellation is allowed 7 working days prior to the date of tour. However, travel insurance is not included. These are some information that Rose has shared with me. If you’d like to know more, do not hesitate to contact Ms Rose Lee at Global Travel Pte Ltd. She would be more than happy to assist you further.

Fullerton Hotel @ NDP '07 (red and white are part of Singapore colours)

Last but not least, if you don’t already know, 9th August is Singapore’s National Day. This year, it will be Singapore’s 44th birthday! As usual, there’ll be national day celebrations in town. The major attraction is the National Day Parade. It will be held at the Floating Platform along Marina Bay (off Raffles Avenue), which is very, very close to the conference venue.  There could be traffic congestion along Raffles Boulevard, Raffles Avenue, Republic Avenue, Bras Basah Road, Nicoll Highway and Esplanade Drive.  You are advised to use public transport if you happen to travel around the vicinity of Suntec City and Marina Square.  But staying in the hotel, or going out for a stroll could just be as fun too. If the weather is good, you should be able to watch some lovely and beautiful fireworks in the evening on 9th August! You may therefore want to consider extending your stay in Singapore for another few days after the conference.  If you’re not able to do so, don’t fret for there’ll usually be a national day parade rehearsal a week before 9th August. You may be lucky enough to catch the sight of fireworks on the 1st/2nd of August!

[Editor's note: While you probably would not be able to get into the floating platform itself (all tickets have been balloted out), you should be able to stroll around nearby to catch the sight of the military parade and fireworks. If you're into photography, a fast 70-200mm zoom or a 300mm prime would probably be a good lens to bring for this event. And make sure you have a tripod with you. ]

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This post is contributed by Swee Lan See, who is a Singaporean. Swee Lan is the Manager of the Student Volunteers Programme of ACL-IJCNLP ‘09. She is currently the Assistant Department Head of the Human Language Technology Department in the Institute for Infocomm Research (I2R), A*STAR , Singapore. She is also a Committee Member of the IEEE Women In Engineering (WIE) Affinity Group (AG) in Singapore. Her research interests include human-computer and human-robot interactions, speech & dialog processing, decision support systems, interactive digital media  and education.

Changi Terminal 3

It’s apt to write about Changi Airport when I’m actually at Changi Airport now waiting comfortably in a cafe for another 3 hours to my flight (and have been waiting for 2 hours). I thought of writing a single article about Changi Airport, but realized that it would be either too superficial or too lengthy. So I’ll try splitting them for now.

So right now let’s discuss the arrivals at Changi. So here is my experience this morning arriving at Changi Airport (disclaimer: this is partly a personal experience; yours might vary ). When I arrived at Terminal 1, I was greeted by the familiarity of the surroundings. Yeah, after 2 unfamiliar airports (it was my first time in Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport—where I was transiting twice—and Københavns Lufthavne), I feel at home.

Well, for you guys, you’d probably greeted by a scene of Singaporeans speaking in a language that is like English, but not quite English. That is what commonly described here as Singlish, an English-based creole used by many Singaporeans (including yours truly when speaking with Singaporean friends). The wikipedia article even mentioned this as a first language for most Singaporean. Since, the ACL-IJCNLP conference is focusing on language, I’m hoping to get my linguist friend to post on Singlish soon (provided she has the time).

Anyway, back to the experience, once you exit the gate, just follow the signs for Arrivals. You’ll soon arrive at passport control. You’ll get into the rather long queue (but usually quick-moving) indicated by ‘All Passports’ sign [unless you're a Singapore resident, in which case, you'll go to the 'other', much shorter queue]. Remember to grab the entry form to Singapore, usually offered by the airline stewardess (or grab it at the desk near the passport control), and fill them out before getting on to the queue.

Once past the passport control, you may want to take some time at the DFS shop if you love liqueur. Singapore grants duty-free concession of 1 litre of spirits, 1 litre of wine, and 1 litre of beer.

Singapore Visitors Centre @ Changi T3

Afterwards, check out the overhead LCD screens that lets you know which belt your baggage is at (and wait patiently; usually no longer than a few minutes). Now come the customs. As usual, there would be two channels, the red and green channel. Go to the red one if you have goods to declare (dutiable/taxable goods, controlled/restricted items, prohibited items—we’ll get to this later); otherwise go to the green one.

Once you exited the restricted area, you may want to check out the Singapore Visitors Centre (at the same level as arrivals in all 3 terminals; they’re pretty noticeable) as mentioned in a previous post.

Transport from Changi Airport

What to do from now on? Most people take the taxi from the Arrivals hall. They’re in abundance during both peak and off-peak hours. All drivers are mandated to use the meter to determine fare charges and usually will do so automatically. A trip to city centre by taxi will cost about SGD15 during daytime (and more at night with the 50% fare surcharge).

If you’re feeling adventurous (and, hopefully, carrying light luggage), you can try getting around by the MRT (Mass Rapid Transit; basically an urban public transit rail). If you opt to do so, you might want to check out gothere.sg for direction to your accommodation. Fare for an MRT ride to city centre is pretty cheap (not more than SGD2; cheaper if you buy the ez-link card—this would be a subject of another post in the future).

While it is generally possible to get to anywhere in Singapore by a combination of MRT and bus from Changi Airport, your best bet (value/effort ratio) is a combination of MRT and taxi ride. Get to an MRT stop closest to your accommodation and try to grab a taxi from any busstop nearby (at city centre, you may need to find a taxi stand as drivers may not be allowed to stop at any busstop). A bus ride with luggage is usually a painful effort and not advisable if you’re carrying luggage with large dimensions. [I did manage to get back on the MRT and bus today with 20 kg of luggage and a laptop bag; but I was bringing a travel backpack and a sling travel bag.]

(Last thing to note is that the MRT is in operation from 530am or 6am to about midnight; but I wouldn’t suggest taking the MRT after 1115pm since you may not be in time for transfer to other MRT lines that you may need to take; visit the SMRT website for detailed train schedule—does not include the NE line operated by SBS.)

Prohibited Items

Now is the fun part: the list of prohibited items (mentioned earlier). Some people found some items on the list funny; others found it unreasonable; well, I have gotten used to it. d:

Here goes the list (the list is taken from the ‘Customs Guide for Travellers’ available for free at the airport—comments in [..] is from me):

• Chewing gum; [Yes! No chewing gum! Apparently we had a bad share of sticky things on public amenities. So yes, it's banned.]
• Chewing tobacco and immitation tobacco products; [This one surprised me as well.]
• Cigarette lighters of pistol or revolver shape; [The funny thing is, actual pistol and revolver aren't on the list; NOT that you can bring them]
• Controlled drugs and psychotropic substances;
• Endangered species of wildlife and their byproducts;
• Firecrackers
• Obscene articles, publications, video tapes/discs and software; [Possession of porn is a crime in Singapore; strangely, I've heard that due to some loophole, viewing them isn't.]
• Reproduction of copyright publications, video tapes, video discs, laser discs, records or cassettes;
• Seditious and treasonable materials. [This is the hardest to describe precisely; if you had doubts, don't bring them!]

All right, this post is long enough as it is. I hope it is helpful for you. I know it is kinda early to read about this now, so I’ll collect posts like this under ‘Travel Essentials’ category so you can get to them easily in the future. (: