Singapore, Singapore
Staying at the Beach Hotel in the CBD.
Singapore was mostly a comfortable break from our hecktic travel lifestyle. Although the weather was very hot and humid, we were treated to block after block of airconditioned malls and subway tunnels. The evening ritual of enjoying a cold beer was dampered by the expensive cost of alcohol in Singapore due to their “sin taxes”. The food, on the other hand, was delightfully good and diverse, and surprisingly affordable, especially in the hawker stalls within the airconditioned malls.
For the first few days, we didn’t try to see any of the sights. We just hung out, enjoying the comforts of our hotel, the malls, and the bustling modern town. It took a few days to get back into the mood for sightseeing.
For the latter half of our week in Singapore, we did manage to take in some of the sights. My favorite was the night safari, which is a large, spread out safari-like zoo next to the Singapore zoo, and is only open to the public at night. Under the soft glow of moonlight-like floodlights, you get to view active nocturnal animals. The tram took us right through the enclosures of some pretty large beasts, and then a few walking trails got us closer to the smaller ones. The hyenas were especially eery, as they could clearly smell us, and the only thing that separated us was a concrete moat. One word of caution for anyone planning to visit the night safari: don’t try to go on a weekend, especially not in August. This is peak tourist season in Singapore, and the night safari gets overloaded with tourists. You can end up having to wait 1 hour just to board the first tram. We had to leave and come back on a Monday night, when crowds were lighter. The Singapore zoo was a wonderful place to spend the afternoon (albeit very hot and humid). It is truly a zoological garden, where it feels like animal enclosures are designed into a park-like setting. The bird park was pretty impressive too. An airconditioned tram takes you around to different parts of the park so you don’t get too exhausted walking in the heat. One of the main draws to the park is a massive aviary, featuring the largest man-made waterfall. I’d wish we had more than 1 hour to explore the park, because there was so much to see there. Singapore really has done a nice job with their animal parks.
We didn’t find much to see in little India, other than shopping (which will be cheaper in India) and dining (which we’ll get our fair share of in India).
Chinatown was unlike any other chinatown we’ve seen. The walk from the Colonial Core to Chinatown was a beautiful strole along the riverside (the Promenade). When we got to Chinatown, it really didn’t feal like a chinatown. The buildings almost looked european and modern, and the streets were near-empty. Apparently it has been preserved more for the tourist appeal than anything. The chinese live all over Singapore, so a “chinatown” as such has outlived its original purpose. But from a quick visit into the Chinese heritage center, we learned a lot about the painful past of chinese emigrants litterally dying to come to Singapore, the land of opportunity. Most of the ones who made it, ultimately succombed to the brutal consequences of opium addiction. After that sobering history lesson, we visited the Tea Chapter to learn how to properly serve, and appreciate, Chinese tea. It seems like a slow, painful, process just to consume a few ounces of tea, but when you think about the time and effort that goes into creating some of the world’s finest tea leaves, you learn to appreciate it more as an art.
Another very memorable experience from our visit to Singapore’s chinatown was the best Dim Sum we’ve ever had. Atop the PanPacific Hotel is a fine Chinese restaurant, commended for it’s healthier menu options (less fat and salt, w/more veggies). The views of the city from the restaurant are spectacular. The “all-you-can-eat” a la carte style “buffet” was quite the splurge, but worth it. Each plate is a handcrafted masterpiece.
One night, we got to meet a local Singaporean, fellow IEEE woman in engineering, Ying-Ying. She treated us to an authentic South Indian banana leaf meal near Town Hall. We had a fun time sharing stories of what life’s like growing up in Canada vs. Singapore.
On our last day in Singapore, we visited a Canadian Expat, Pina, who works at the Nanyang Technological University. She gave us a tour of the massive, modern, university, which churns out 1000 engineers each year! The ethnic diversity of this college (and it’s food courts) was impressive. Very cosmopolitan.
