Singapura

Singapore became our first stop on our SE Asia trip. We arrived from Dubai on January 10 and, despite the ominous warning on the customs form (printed in big, red block letters) that drug smugglers will be executed, we did not generate much interest from the customs folk. We cleared customs, made our way to our hotel, had a late night snack at "Kopitiam" (we learned later was an 'upscale' food court because it had air conditioning - open 24/7 and right across the street), after which we crashed.

Despite wanting to take it "easy" in Singapore, we still managed to do a lot and the best thing about our time this city was that we had a social life! 

On our first day we were picked up by our hosts and soon to be friends, Yin Leng and Boon (we were introduced to them via Marcus' uncle who used to work with Yin Leng). They took us a whirlwind tour of the city, starting with a drive through Little India, the Arab sector, the city center, and Chinatown. These ethnic enclaves speak to Singapore's multicultural nature as well as its colonial past at the heart of one of the world's trading crossroads.

In Chinatown, we stopped for a much-needed refreshing drink at the hawker center (their name for an open air food court). These food courts turned out to be a standard feature in this city, as people flock to them for cheap, quality eats. Whereas in Canada food courts are synonymous with bland, chain-store offerings in malls, these places appeared to be a destination of choice for many people.

We had coconut juice and watermelon drinks (we were to have many watermelon juices after that - yummy) and I tried a bit of Yin Leng's Tau Suan dessert: beans sweetened with potato sugar and sprinkled with pieces of sliced donut, which, I have to say, wasn't bad! We headed to Mount Faber for a view of the city, characterized by an seemingly unending expanse of high-rise apartments. We learned that real estate affordability for many residents is low. As such, as much as 80% of the population lives in public housing units, which are subsidized. Still, with costs of some of these units over $500K, home ownership is not for those without substantial means.

We then headed to the Vivo mall, a huge affair that involved a bewildering number of entrances, parking decks, lobbies, and shopping levels. We settled in for some excellent dim sum - our table overlooked the harbour (it reminded us very much of the Pearl restaurant at Harbourfront). We both really liked the bamboo oysters with glass noodles. Next we visited the beautiful botanical gardens which had a stunning display of orchids. At this point, we confessed to exhaustion and were dropped off at our hotel to combat our jetlag.

The next morning, we enjoyed a walking tour of colonial Singapore, which included an engaging account of the city, founded by Stamford Raffles in 1819 as a trading center for the British Empire. His accomplishments continue to be remembered throughout the city, with many buildings, structures, and institutions named after him. Our tour ended at the famous Raffles Hotel, the birthplace of the Singapore Sling...or it's just a good story to sell ludicrously overpriced cocktails. That afternoon found us at the Singapore Art Museum followed by a walk along Orchard Road, the swank shopping district, where we stocked up on books at Borders.

That evening our hosts treated us to a trip to the east coast.  Everything in Singapore is small scale (the country is an island of approximately 250 square miles, although they are growing by virtue of landfill) and so, while the term "east coast" may conjure up a grand journey of many miles, for Singaporeans it's about a 15-minute drive. The east coast is a refuge from the crowded city, with beaches, rental chalets, amusement parks, and of course, a multitude of restaurants. One memorable sight was that of an automated wakeboarding ride (no boat required). We finished our visit with a terrific dinner of local seafood specialties. Our hosts' daughter, Charmaine, was headed back to Cornell University after Christmas break and was dreading the cold weather. We learned that when Singaporeans head to cold weather locations for business they often get a winter clothes allowance and when we checked out a travel store later in Kuala Lumpur, half of it was luggage and the other half was hats, gloves, and parkas.

We extended our visit for one day, as we learned that a high school chum of Kristine's, Sandra (and her husband Dave), residents of Singapore, were back from holidays. This allowed us to plan a visit to the excellent Asian Civilization Museum, followed by a night out with Sandra and Dave. Drinks at Boat Quay (along the river in the business district) were followed by dinner at a "void deck" Chinese restaurant: void decks are common areas in the subsidized housing units in Singapore and it is not unusual for Singaporeans to visit the various restaurants and shops that open there. In a crowded city, one finds things in the most unusual locations.  Finally, desert was enjoyed in the Holland Village, named after the Dutch presence here many years ago.

Our final day was spent doing some casual sightseeing while doing chores (getting a bus ticket and sending a parcel home). We walked through Kampong Glam the Arabian part of town which was one of my favourite areas. Unfortunately we didn't have our camera along.  We stopped for a spicy Indonesian lunch (oops, excuse me... Padang Cuisine) at a restaurant called Wisury. I was quite happy with my potato/onion omelette and lime juice, while Marcus polished off a shrimp and veggie dish as well as the chicken with green chili.  Afterwards we happened upon some batik along what proved to be the textile street - just wish now I had bought more.

Singapore is an extremely modern city and everyone speaks English fluently so we felt quite at home.  But we also knew that it is not typical Asia, so we looked forward to moving onto Malaysia next.

 

Singapore pictures
http://picasaweb.google.com/kristine.d.morris/Singapore#