Singapore

I have been in Calgary for about a week now so this blog is kinda of late. However, I managed to keep up with all my other travel blogs and don’t want to let this one slip through the cracks. So without further ado, here’s my blog for Singapore.

We flew from Mumbai to Singapore on June 15th and we left June 21st. The flight was surprisingly long and Singapore is in a time zone 2.5 hours before India. For the rest of the trip I never adjusted to the correct time zone (too many late nights).

When we arrived in Singapore we met up with our friend Danny who was in middle of his own Asia trip. Kiran and Richard were good travel buddies, but it was nice having someone new to liven up the conversation. He told us that all three of us independently mentioned the same thing to him the first day he arrived.


Singapore, Singapore

My first thoughts upon arriving on Singapore were, “How could this possibly be on the same planet as India”. The contrast was so great it took me some serious time to adjust.

Singapore is actually a unique little country. Located on an island in the south of Malaysia (but north of Borneo), the country of Singapore is literally one city (called Singapore) that spans the whole island. It should be noted that it’s not a very big island either; it’s smaller than Vancouver Island.

It’s not only its size that makes it unique in Southeast Asia but also it’s wealth. When Singapore gained independence after WWII, its politicians preformed a miracle. They managed to take a small British Port and transform it into a banking capital and port destination. Even though Singapore lacks natural resources, it still makes a ton of money off of oil refining.

Perhaps the most famous aspect of Singapore is the restrictiveness and harshness of its laws. Caning is a punishment and many crimes hold a death penalty (including most drug related offenses). Singapore is the place you heard about where gum is restricted (you’re allowed to chew it discreetly, but you can’t buy it in the country).

It’s because of these tough laws and wealth that Singapore is by far the cleanest, most organized place I’ve ever been. Everything runs on time and is orderly. It was a nice break after the chaos which was India.

Even though the population of Singapore is mainly made up of Chinese, Malay and Indians, the primary language in Singapore is English. Everybody speaks it and all the signs and markings are in English only. This makes it easy for a traveler to get around.


Shopping

If you can say one thing about Singaporeans, it’s that they love to shop. You can’t walk a block without finding a mall that will be packed at all times.

But these aren’t your standard North American malls. These are huge labyrinths of stores. The malls on Orchard Road are grand enough to dwarf any mall you’ve ever dreamed and inspire one to write epics about them.

It’s like being in a different reality where consumerism has taken a physical form in the shape of Orchard Road.

Needless to say, if you’re the type who likes to shop, Singapore would be for you.


The Sights

Singapore is not the type of country that has a lot of sights. It’s got a couple, but after coming from a place like India, it’s more the type of place to chill at.

The primary attraction of Singapore is the tiny island of Sentosa. Located off of Singapore it’s beautiful beach in a completely artificial kind of way. The beaches are just a little too nice and it’s loaded with tourist things to do. It’s still a pleasant way to spend a day though and the giant Merlion statue is so campy it rocks.

Singapore’s zoo is defiantly its primary attraction. It’s quite large and well sculptured. The best part of it all is the Night Safari, which is another zoo that is filled with nocturnal animals. It only opens after dark and it was a ton of fun wandering through its simulated jungle trying to spot animals.

For such a buckled down place, Singapore has a surprisingly thumping night life. It wasn’t hard to find cool bars and they were quite full. Most nights there I was up long past 4am.


Wrap up

Initially I wasn’t planning to spend much time in Singapore. The only reason we had scheduled such a long stop was Kiran wanted time to visit friends, Richard and I had been planning to do some day trips. However, my laziness and the charms of Singapore made it easy to find things to do for 5 days.


Next Time: Tokyo