Singapore was the next place we decided to visit in South East Asia before we head home! It was a fast trip, we only had two full days to explore, but we were out from morning to midnight both days and I think we saw most of the country (good thing it's so small...only 42 km across, that's about 26 miles)! :)
Singapore is a city-state meaning it's a country and a city! It's an island located on the tip of Malaysia and is the home to many different cultures. The main cultures are Chinese, Indian and Malaysian with all three languages being spoken, but the universal language is English...or rather "Singlish." That's English with some funny Mandarin/Malay/Tamil words thrown in...and some made up words too! "Lah" is often added to the end of sentences for effect, "Singapore is cool, lah!" I think I'll start using that because it's seems fun, lah! There is also a huge Expat community due to all the factories and different companies they have...it's surprising with 5 million people and thousands of buildings and cars, there really is not a lot of pollution. It's definitely one of the cleanest places we've ever been...or maybe I just think that because I am used to Bangkok and it's permanent smog!
Singapore is a "fine" country! This is the country's unofficial motto and it really seems to be true! It is one of the safest countries in the world because of their harsh penalties. Where else can you be caned for shoplifting, lah!? There are "No" and "Do Not" signs all over the city that Chris and I thought were especially interesting/funny...they do have a good sense of humor about it and sell these funny T-shirts! They are very serious about their fines though...if you bring food into the subway and are caught, you better cough up $500 Singapore dollars (A little over $350 US Dollars, lah)! Singapore is also the 13th most expensive city in the world! Every car is new (they have a law that when your car is 8 years old you have to get rid of it and get a new one, also helps with the pollution) They have over 200 malls (shopping being a popular pastime) and Chris and I visited three of them on our stay until we realized we couldn't afford a single thing! I don't know where everyone gets their money, but there was no shortage of Gucci or Cartier!
We stayed at the Royal Plaza on Scotts Hotel, which was totally awesome, lah, and we got a great deal! Our first morning we got up as early as we could (about 8:30 since we were up until 1am exploring the streets around our Hotel) and took the subway to the other side of the island to go on a Duck tour. Duck tours are really fun, they drive you around in the old US Army amphibious trucks. Our friends in Boston took us on a Duck tour once and when we saw Singapore offered them we thought it would be a good way to see the city, learn about the country and get our bearings. We drove through the older parts of the city and around the marina. They use the track for the Formula One races (which were in September) so it was really cool to see the track and stadium! After the tour we went to lunch and tried a famous dish called Laksa, lah...it's a curry dish with noodles, meat and vegetables. It actually is very similar to one of our favorite Thai dishes so it wasn't that strange...not worthy of a Taste Bud Adventures story. :)
That afternoon we went to ride the Singapore Flyer, lah! It's the world's largest observation wheel (at 162 meters, that's 535 feet) and at the top you can see three countries (Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia). One ticket lets you ride around one time and takes about 30 minutes. For the filthy rich you can rent out the cabins for dinners (they have a lot of proposals and fancy business meetings happening there) and each one is air conditioned! The city is a little sad because next year they will lose their "World's Largest" title to Shanghai.
After our "flight" on the flyer we went to China Town and then to Clarke Quay (pronounced Clarke Key) for dinner. A quay is a wharf where ships are loaded and unloaded. In the past this was a big area for Chinese merchant ships. Now some of the warehouses have been remodeled into restaurants and nightclubs. Chris found the biggest calzone in the entire world here, lah! :)
That night we decided to check out Singapore Night Safari. The Singapore Zoo has a special night exhibit that features the animals you never get to see during the day. The place was a madhouse because they were doing a special Halloween haunted house and so there were millions of people everywhere! There were some really cool costumes though and after we got through the haunted trail and out of the crowds we actually got to see the animals. We saw babyrousa (scary looking boars that have tusks growing through their snouts), giant flying squirrels, bats and flying foxes (basically giant bats, about the size of a house cat), fishing cats, leopards and a bunch more! They let you walk through the giant flying squirrel pen and when they flew over our heads we felt a huge rush of wind! They also let you walk through the fruit bat pen! We heard a lot of screaming and felt swooping past our feet and hair, lah!
The next day we went to check out Little India and then met Chris' coworker Mahin and his wife Saswati for lunch. They are Expats from India living in Singapore and wanted to take us out for Indian food while we where in the city. Chris and I have only had Indian food a couple times and really wanted to try it again while we were in Singapore since they are supposed to have some of the best restaurants. We weren't disappointed! Mahin and Saswati ordered a bunch of things for us and it was all delicious, lah! We've been craving naan and butter chicken masala for days! After lunch they took us to Mustafa which is the only mall in Singapore open 24 hours! They have everything from food to souvenirs to gold! We shopped for souvenirs and then they gave us a ride to the Sentosa cable car station.
Sentosa is a tiny island on the coast of Singapore that's set up as one big theme park. They have cable cars connecting it, a sky train, and a road so there are many ways to get there. Chris and I wanted to take a cable car but they were under renovation so we had to settle for the sky train. Right now many parts of Singapore are under renovation (they're building casinos and tearing down old buildings and bridges to update them) and on Sentosa they are building Universal Studios and a couple resorts. There is still a lot to do on Sentosa right now...you can shop (of course) go to the beach (they have 3 main ones to chose from) or do about 50 other activities. Chris and I started at Images of Singapore, which is a really cool museum, lah. We learned about Singapore in the past and how it lies in the middle of the shipping lanes and is where people from Malaysia, China, India and Europe met to trade spices in the 1700s (East India Trading Company, lah). It's also where we learned about Sir Stamford Raffles, the British officer who founded Singapore in the 1800s. His statue bared a striking resemblance to Chris!?
We also took a really fun luge ride and rode Segways along a beach path! Singapore really seems to like their tall viewing stations and on Sentosa they have the Tiger Sky View (Tiger for Tiger Beer, Singapores own brew). We waited until it was dark so we could see the city with all it's bright lights and even saw Indonesia's lights in the distance! We also went and sat on the beach and enjoyed a Singapore Sling...you can't go to Singapore and not try one, lah! They were invented there by a bartender at the very fancy Raffles Hotel. We're told if you want to have one at the hotel, you need a reservation, some really nice clothes and about $25 per Sling, lah!
The main attraction on Sentosa is Songs of the Sea! It's a really awesome water, light and fire show out on the beach and in the water! The story was a little silly but the show was amazing, lah! Here's a couple short videos Chris took with our camera!Yes, the fish did say "Bye bye Lea!" :)
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