Singapore – Almost Real
Saturday, December 17th, 2005Singapore is a wonderful city, state, country etc. For those of you that weren’t aware (as I wasn’t before this trip). Singapore is all of the aforementioned. It is an independant Nation that consists of really only one city (also called Singapore) that sits on the southern most tip of Malaysia.
Yes, this is the same Singapore that canes its criminals on public television, has STIFF fines for littering and has a tremendous reputation for being clean, clean, clean.
I’m happy to report that all of this is true.
It really is a lovely city. The train/subway system is quite possibly the cleanest I have ever seen. It is also very easy to understand and make use of. We spent a great deal of time on the train making our way around town. Sidewalks aren’t entirely void of litter but close. It isn’t often you’ll see someone from Singapore taking the last puff of their cig, tossing it on the ground and snuffing it out with their Hush Puppies. Quite refreshing!
Singpore is also a shoppers paradise. I have never seen so many malls in my life! These are not your American style strip malls either. These are high-end malls (think Pioneer Square in PDX or that fancy one in Scottsdale). And these malls are lined up, one after the other on both sides of the street for miles. It was amazing! Nothing like being on a travellers budget and being surrounded by high fashion outlets. Poor Terra, I didn’t think she’d survive 🙂
The city also has a very unique and diverse population. The language of choice is English so ALMOST everyone speaks it (just like the States) so there was no language barrier. Singapore, however, is made up of people from many different ethnic backgrounds. Chinese, Indian, Malay, ex-Pats etc. fill the streets and make each personal encounter a unique one.
Must make one comment about Sentosa. Sentosa a is a little island just off the coast of Singapore. I’m not sure if the entire island is man-made or not but it sure seems like it. The entire patch is like an amusement park without as many rides. It has several high-end resort hotels, an amazingly scenic beach complete with it’s own little “island” within swimming distance, lots of really touristy attractions and its own fantastic tram that runs from the top of Singapore to the top of Sentosa. It is all very strange yet appealing. It is, apparently, the #1 visited “attraction” on Singapore. We too took the bait and ended up spending Thanksgiving there eating cheeseburgers. It was the closest thing to turkey we could find. Oh well 🙂
Weiser Wander