Yesterday, I bopped all around the island of Singapore to settle some pre-trip stuff.

Right on top of my to-do list was to Apply for a Tourist Visa to Myanmar!

This visa will allow me to stay in Myanmar for 28 days and is valid for 3 months from the date of application. I filled up this form and brought along S$35 in cash, a business card, a photocopy of my passport and a photocopy of my Singapore Identification Card, 2 passport photos and -not sure how anyone could forget this but I nearly did- my passport.

Visa application hours at the Myanmar Embassy on St Martin’s Drive are from 9.30am-12pm — I reached at 10.40am, received my queue number and waited for nearly half an hour before it was my turn to submit the application.  I was then issued with a receipt and told to return the next (!) day to collect my passport (a surprisingly fast TRT compared to the 3 days stated on the website).

Future visitors to the embassy may want to note that the waiting area is fan-cooled under a makeshift shelter at the car-park (translation: avoid wearing too many layers unless you desperately need a sweat). On the bright side, water is provided 🙂 look out for tin communal cups or opt for disposable paper cones.

**********************************************************************************

Next, I hastened to the Singapore General Hospital for what I’d call kiasu/kiasi immunization jabs.

I have read enough Lonely Planet travel guides to know that I should be vaccinated/obtain preventive medicine for malaria, typhoid, tetanus, diphtheria, rabies and Hepatitis A. A trip to the travel nurse at SGH’s Travel Clinic, Clinic G at Block 3, confirmed this (alas, she also advised me to be vaccinated for Hepatitis B and meningitis but my calculative brain chose to risk infection).

I received 2 injections on each arm that day 😦

Cost breakdown of my visit to SGH (after 7% GST)

S$   10.70 for 100 anti-malarial pills (1 to be taken each day that I’m overseas and for 4 weeks after my return)

S$   23.54 for typhoid vaccination

S$   35.85 for tetanus & diphtheria vaccinations

S$ 151.94 for rabies vaccination (shot 1 of 3 – yup I’ll need another two more)

S$   69.12 for Hepatitis A vaccination

S$   23.75 for the one-time consultation fee (nurse says I don’t have to pay for this the next time I swing by for my next rabies vac shot woohoo!)

S$      2.23 for 8 sachets of oral re-hydration salts (not sure if I should get more)

S$      2.61 for 2 tabs of charcoal pills

On hindsight, it’s not that cheap to backpack after all.