Singapore is a fascinating city and well worth a visit. Unfortunately most people who have been to Singapore are only here while transiting through to other destinations and I would say it gets a bit short changed. Our first visit here in 2016 was just that, a 35 hour stop over where we raced around and stuffed as many sights as possible into a very limited time frame.
This time we had more time to ponder “life” here. That does not mean we haven’t been taking in some of the classic tourist sights that we missed in our first visit. Like the Raffles Hotel Long Bar, where the Singapore Sling was invented in 1915. I am not sure if our two Singapore Slings were worth the $75, but coupled with the atmosphere and history, it simply needed to be done.
As we venture out from our house sitting location a number of things strike us. The first is, this is a very clean city. Yes there are cigarette butts in the bushes, but the sidewalks and roadways are clean and the MRT (the public transit subway system) is immaculate. Not to mention inexpensive, efficient, and clean, did I mention clean?
A lot of people smoke in Singapore, however some areas are designated as no smoking zones. Like the entire Orchard Road shopping precinct. And people abide by the rules. We watched workers walk a city block to get to designated smoke zones (you can just see the yellow lines on the sidewalk in the photo) And they did not light up until they were inside the yellow line. Very law abiding.I would be remiss if I didn’t mention our flight into Singapore from Brisbane. Without a doubt, in our experience, if you are flying economy you would be hard pressed to find a better airline than Singapore Airlines. Yes the seats are still a little close, however from the inflight entertainment, the menu and quality of food, free flowing wine, pillows, blankets, and professional staff the 8 hour flight was very enjoyable. You also get a glimpse as to why Singaporeans seem to be so law abiding, and why you shouldn’t feel sorry for anyone who gets caught smuggling drugs into the country. Every visitor signs a form with a very real bit of information on it.At one of the MRT stations I snapped this photo.I was impressed at how the transit system had embraced social media to get customers to report problems. As every human we have seen here has a phone in their face it is a great reporting tool.I felt a certain amount of empathy with some of the tourists we saw at Marina Bay who had come to see the landmark Merlion. Fortunately for us this is one of the attractions we took in on our first visit. This time around the scaffolding and tarps simply did not do it justice.As many people say, it is the people you meet that make travelling so special. We would certainly agree with that. While in Singapore we were fortunate enough to meet up with another couple of house sitters and exchange stories and experiences. We were also incredibly fortunate to go out for a couple of meals with this wonderful lady. We met Sarah while in Vietnam and were able to reconnect when we arrived in her home here in Singapore. There is nothing like breaking bread with someone who truly loves their home and enjoys sharing their favourite parts of it with you. Thank you so much for the experiences Sarah.We also had a chance to go out for dinner at an excellent restaurant in the SunTec City Mall. The spinoff from this was an opportunity to capture the nighttime beauty of the Fountain of Wealth.We managed to check out a number of food hawkers around town. The expensive ones were very reasonable in price. However the local low profile ones also served excellent food at a cheap price ($4.50/plate), like this one across from our apartment.
One of the other aspects of travelling full time is when you have dental issues it is a little exciting searching for a good dentist. Fortunately for us, when Karen chipped her tooth (crunchy squid) we found an excellent dentist just down the road. Luckily this happened in Singapore and not Australia or Canada where it likely would have cost twice as much.
We spent half a day strolling around the Singapore Botanic Gardens. This UNESCO World Heritage site is huge and has a variety of specialty gardens. We were introduced to Singapore’s national flower, the orchid.Despite the heat, there was wildlife to be seen as well in the Gardens. A beautiful oasis in a busy city.
Without a doubt the next time we are transiting through Singapore we will make sure to schedule in a few days to relax and enjoy this gem of a city.
Wonderful blog, Mr. Pecksen. You somehow found a way to connect your story and passion of the city to my heart. It is wonderful in contrast to western philosophies that such clean, co-existance is possible. If only one day. Thank you for the read, and great info.
Wonderful blog, Mr. Pecksen. You somehow found a way to connect your story and passion of the city to my heart. It is wonderful in contrast to western philosophies that such clean, co-existance is possible. If only one day. Thank you for the read, and great info.
Thank you very much. I am pleased you enjoyed it.