Singapore - what a great city/country!
History lesson of the day - Singapore didn't want to be it's own independent country, but was essentially booted out of Malaysia because the island of Singapore had too many Chinese people living here. Interesting. Most people fight for independence, Singapore didn't want it but got it anyway in 1965.
Many say Singapore's national pastime is shopping...well they certainly have enough places to do it! My hotel (The Rendezvous)
is located right at the beginning of the largest shopping mecca I've ever seen (Orchard Road). Mega shopping mall after mega shopping mall, surrounded by more mega shopping malls and adjacent to a few more mega shopping malls. And if you wander off into Chinatown or Little India, you'll run into more shopping malls. It's crazy! I think the number of stores in Singapore outnumbers the number of people...3 to 1 (okay, obviously not possible, but it certainly seems like it). If you ever want to shop-til-you drop, Singapore is the place to do it. Thankfully, that's not of much interest to me so I haven't bought a thing. Besides, my backpack is already busting at the seams!
The hotel was perfect - great location in the heart of the city, high-end finishes, and great views of the city skyline.
Overall, Singapore is very clean, lush, and a very modern city. It doesn't have the history that a Beijing or Tokyo has, but I could see myself living here. It also helps that everyone speaks English. Some not as well as others, but for the most part they all speak English - or Singlish which is very hard to understand every word but you can get the gist of what they're saying. No, I'm not making the word Singlish up - it's actually what some people speak. Google it!
If I rank the Asian cities I've been to recently in terms of "livable cities" for a Westerner, I'd put Singapore at the top of the list followed by Hong Kong, Tokyo, Seoul, Shanghai, Beijing, Taipei, Macau, and then Xi'an at the bottom. If I ranked these same cities as a great tourist spot to spend a week vacation, Singapore would be towards the bottom...unless you like to shop.
If shopping isn't the national pastime in Singapore then eating must be. Wonderful restaurants everywhere - not once did I have a bad meal, or even a mediocre one. The most interesting was the chili crab. There must be a hundred restaurants in Singapore that serve this speciality. I went to Jumbo Seafood along the Boat Quay (pronounced key) to have this speciality. Basically a crab in a pot drenched in a spicy hot sauce.
It was very spicy for the first two or three bites but then I seemed to adjust. Very good, but at $50 it better be. I also had a "dragonfruit and lobster salad topped with caviar" to go along with my crab - needless to say this was my "splurge" night for dinner!
Singapore seems to have everything you could want/need and a melting pot of nationalities/races/beliefs. It was nice to see and talk to many Europeans, Ausies, Kiwis, and a few Americans for a change - considering the first part of my trip has been almost entirely people of Asian descent. I have nothing against Asians, I just like the diversity of Singapore. It is however only about 60 miles from the equator so the temperature is hot (90-95° and the humidity is very high (approaching 75-80% year round). You feel soaking wet about 2 mins after walking out the door. It rained everyday while I was here except one, but mostly just a 20-30 min shower and then the sun would come back out. Three or four of those showers a day, so not too disrupting. It explains why everything is so green and lush here.
The Quays (Boat Quay, Clarke Quay and Robertson Quay) seemed to be the hot spot along the Singapore river and only a few blocks from the bay. I would describe it to be similar to the Riverwalk in San Antonio. Lots of restaurants, bars and night clubs.
The famous "Merlion" is located nearby as well - which is a cross between a fish and a lion ("mer" standing for sea").
Apparently the first explorer to come to the island of Singapore thought he saw a lion and named the area Singapura (means lion city). Later it was determined that there are no lions in the area, and never before nor since have lions been seen in the area - except those brought in by man to the zoos. (sorry - two history lessons today!)
One of the best parts of my time in Singapore was at the Marina Bay Sands
- a brand new casino/hotel/resort that just opened up a couple of months ago. It must have been a soft opening because the place was still under construction - the mall, the hotel lobby, the landscaping, everything was still under construction...except the casino!
It figures they would finish that part first! The above shot is a picture of the first of three floors of casino space. You can only see about 1/3 of the floor in this shot - almost all baccarat tables! Crazy how Asians love baccarat. As I've been known to play a hand or two of blackjack, I HAD to partake in a few hands. Thankfully I did, as a couple of hours later I walked out with S$4,000 ($2,800 USD) of the casino's money. Not bad for a quick visit!
(continued in the next blog post)
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Rendezvous Hotel Singapore, 9 Bras Basah Rd, Singapore 189559
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