I’m the guy that loves Dubai. I talk about how Dubai is the best place on earth, the land of possibilities, the tax-free haven where you get the feeling anything is possible. I mean, just look at the architecture alone! Then I travelled to Singapore and discovered my new favourite modern city.
Let’s not pussyfoot around the subject. Asia is extremely crowded and some of the big cities can’t be described as pleasurable experiences, unless you enjoy wilfully being subjected to massive crowds, pollution and traffic. Hong Kong is an awesome city, and I exclude it from this comment 🙂
Marina Bay Sands. Photo taken from Gardens by the Bay.
We’ve heard the stories about Singapore – where East meets West, the new capital of the business world (step aside, Shanghai) and the perfect spot for a convenient flight layover. All of this is true. It’s a remarkable spot and I totally understand why so many people are trying to relocate there!
Part of the beautiful Singapore skyline.
I spent 3 days there, which I reckon from a tourist point of view is just enough (unless you have a fat wallet, in which case, add on a day or 2 for shopping (that’s you Ronelle – you can’t even when you see the Louis Vuitton there :-))).
I couldn’t care less about the shop, but check out the architecture!
It’s a city of gardens. Gardens by the Bay is a not-to-be-missed site, along with Super Tree Grove and biodomes. It’s just incredible to think that these things have been built! Out of interest, these things don’t just look nice. They are all massive solar energy ‘plants’, collecting and processing light energy to be used in parts of the park and biodomes. Be sure not to miss the Super Tree Grove light show every night – it’s pretty cool.
Super Tree Grove and one of the biodomes at Gardens by the Bay.
Super Tree Grove at night. Be sure to watch the light show.
The downside of this incredible city is its price tag. Saying that Singapore is cheap is like saying Donald Trump is only a little bit orange. But that doesn’t mean you can’t live cheaply if you look in the right places – I went to China Town and Little India – 2 districts where you can find really good food for under $4!
China Town – really good food to be found here at wallet-preserving prices!
Little India – also home to some delicious food.
I also ventured onto Orchard Road where the opposite is true. Forget being unable to afford looking in a particular shop. Try being unable to look in a particular street! Jeepers. Note to self: If the mall hires someone to just spray perfume outside the doorway, you can’t afford to enter, Marc!
The Double Helix Bridge leading up to Marina Bay Sands.
One of the must-do’s is have a Singapore Sling (national drink of sorts) from a bar with a view. What better place to do this than Marina Bay Sands? Paying that bill felt like an attempt to mate with a hedgehog. But that view – you can’t beat it!
The view from the top of Marina Bay Sands.
The rest of my time was spent wandering around the city and districts. Modern, clean cities like this excite me and I can wander around them aimlessly for days, which is exactly what I did! The MRT (the underground transport system) is plain brilliant and really cheap – I wouldn’t even think about catching taxi anywhere.
From Singapore, I made my way to Langkawi, Malaysia – but that’s for another blog post.
Cheers for now!
Dinks in Transit 