Jason had been telling me about Singapore for a few years from his brief work-related visits there, so I kind of knew what to expect. EXPERIENCING Singapore is a whole different ballgame, I discovered. Maybe it was the shiny skyscrapers that I hadn’t seen in a while. Maybe it was the efficient, sleek metro that connects literally every area of the city. Or maybe it was the cleanliness factor, where you really could eat off the sidewalk if you wanted to, something I hadn’t experienced in a while either-or, come to think of it, ever. I consider myself a city guy but Singapore takes city to a whole new level (actually it’s a city-state just to be clear). You can check out all of our Singapore photos here…..
Everything is manicured and well-thought out (maybe even overly-planned and too artificial to some), a stark contrast to the chaos of Bangkok or Hanoi. You can almost smell the money that keeps this machine running. Despite the heat, everyone is well-dressed yet strangely not sweaty, traffic flows seemlessly and you get the sense that people here are hard-working and financially driven. According to our friend Raven, a Filipino expat working here, this makes for a pretty impersonal town when it comes to mindset and socializing, but an efficient and wealthy one nonetheless. Raven, a friend of our friend Will (who we will see in Manila next month) had already met Jason but was meeting me for the first time after years of stories. Conversation flowed easily over drinks with Raven’s customary Filipino hospitality, something that’s hard to come by in this dog-eat-dog city apparently.
We figured doing Singapore on the cheap was not really an option, but I think we managed to do a pretty decent job of it. Once we finally found our chic boutique hotel, the “5 Foot Inn”, in the heart of Chinatown amidst the sultry morning rush-hour, we were satisfied with both the location and the bang-for-the-buck factor. Tiny but clean, breakfast included and free coffee all day, adjacent to a metro stop and most importantly, across the street from a night market we figured- Singapore on a shoestring? We can do this!
Setting off on foot, Jason was excited to show me around. We cruised Orchard Road (think Chicago’s high-end Michigan Ave on steroids), ducking into various malls for a dose of A-C (and our first dose of Christmas), meandered through the Raffles Hotel (where the Singapore Sling cocktail was created), and took a nighttime stroll along the marina for views of the skyline and the amazing Marina Sands Hotel (see photo above). Every view of the city from above comes at a cost we found out- 25-30 bucks just to go up to the tallest rooftop bar in the world or onto the floating-boat-in-the-sky of the Marina Sands (add 20 if you want to use the pool!). We settled for a 2-for-1 happy hour special on a 4th floor roof deck with comparable views. We’re not poor..just practical:)
A highlight for me was a 90-minute run around the entire marina, catching the light show across the bay, dodging tourists on the boardwalk and getting lost among the towering buildings. Of course, I did this at 8pm when the heat was manageable. One thing about Singapore is that you can trust that the sidewalks are smooth, pollution low, that vehicles adhere to traffic lights, and that the skyline provides adequate illumination for an enjoyable night-time run.
The landmark attraction that I think exemplifies Singapore best is the newly completed Gardens by the Bay. It dwarfs the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco in size but shares a similar theme-an eco-friendly, green, fully sustainable exhibit which incorporates nature and modern technology. There are sprawling gardens with exotic plants from around the world, some indoors, some out with striking groves of metal “trees” filling in with vegetation along their trunks. There is even a 20m high footbridge that you can walk on connecting a few of them for an overhead view of the gardens and a different perspective of the city’s skyline. What we didn’t know is that the bridge is a see-through metal grate and sways gently side-to-side with wind and weight-not Jason’s favorite by any means!
Given it’s pace and pervasive mentality, I’m not sure I’d want to live there, but Singapore is a fascinating place to visit- even if you’re on a budget!
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