Singapore was a short, but surprisingly lovely stop on our trip around the world. We arrived on Chinese New Year, during the national holiday. I'm sure I didn't see the real Singapore because there were hardly any cars on the road, and many stores were closed. But after the sweltering, throbbing insanity of Ho Chi Minh City, this was a welcome respite. It felt very humane – well-manicured, well-organized, well-run. In fact, it's so orderly, it sort of feels like a police state. Not really. But as you may know, they cane criminals, execute drug dealers, and fine you $500 for spitting or even chewing gum in public. When Charlie swung like a monkey from the overhead handholds on the metro, I told him, "That's got to be illegal in Singapore. You will surely be caned."
Speaking of swinging like a monkey, Singapore has a world-class zoo, and our favorite animals were definitely the orangutans. Charlie agreed that if he had to be an animal, that's what he would pick. "You have lots of friends to hang out with. You get to play around, and you can swing from the trees," he remarked. What's not to like? Also at the zoo, we loved the majestic white tiger and a sleek, beautiful puma who paced back and forth in his enclosure like he was trying to figure out his escape plan.
Unlike most zoo snack bars, the Singapore one had food from five nationalities: Indian, Malay, Chinese, American, and another one I couldn't identify. We all picked different foreign dishes and enjoyed some of the beauty of Singapore cuisine. Everyone that is, except Austin, who stuck with a hot dog and french fries in staunch allegiance to his homeland. What can I say? He's a patriot.
After 5 hours of traipsing around with the animals in the heat and humidity, we headed downtown. We visited the old Raffles hotel, an elegant vestige of the British colonial past. Home to the famous Singapore Sling and favorite haunt of many authors including Rudyard Kipling and Somerset Maugham, the hotel is as charming as ever and lends gravitas to an otherwise modern and flashy city.
Singapore is better known for a much newer hotel, the iconic Marina Bay Sands. It looks like a massive surfboard perched on top of 3 huge towers at the water's edge. Rooms can go for $1500 a night, and people pay it to stay there and swim from the roof-deck infinity pool, with commanding views of the entire city. Hundreds of students from Semester at Sea managed to get in and swim or even stay the night. One kid told me they had 12 students crammed into one room!
The best part of our experience was meeting Bang. He is a Singaporean couchsurfer who, though he was already hosting a couple from Wales and Virginia (of all places) found time to meet us for dinner in Chinatown and show us around the city. Bang is a 20-year-old who is currently serving in the military (it's compulsory for males) but loves the culinary arts and hopes to work in a French restaurant. He is very engaging and interesting, and he welcomed us so warmly, we were blown away. He took us to a Hawker Center, which is basically street food, but in typical Singapore fashion, it is arranged by the government in orderly stalls in a large building. Most were closed for Chinese New Year, but we found one Thai place that was absolutely incredible! One man and two women (I think one was his wife) managed to cook about 30 different dishes in a sweltering space about 8 feet by 12 feet. Everything was delicious, but the Pad Thai was the best we ever tasted, and we had to go back not once but twice to order more. The fact that it cost $4 a plate didn't hurt either!
After dinner, Bang treated us to a special Singapore dessert which is like Hawaiian shave ice served over beans and jellied squares and covered with flavored syrups and finally topped with a mango puree. It's like the best snow cone you ever tasted.
After dessert, Bang surprised us with an amazing experience. We walked to the Gardens by the Bay under the Marina Bay Sands hotel, and came upon these “Super Trees” -- gigantic tree-like structures about 6 stories tall. Many say they are like the trees in the movie Avatar. They were covered with live plants, but they were actually made of metal and lights. We thought they were magnificent, but we had no idea what we were in for! Just moments later, we saw the most incredible light show I’ve ever seen. The trees pulsated, flashed, glowed, twinkled, and shined to hauntingly beautiful accompanying music. It was like a fireworks show in trees. We lay down on a perfectly manicured lawn (of course -- it’s Singapore) and got lost in the moment. It was truly magical. Bang was a great tour guide, and this was the icing on the cake after 15 hours of sightseeing that day!
Speaking of swinging like a monkey, Singapore has a world-class zoo, and our favorite animals were definitely the orangutans. Charlie agreed that if he had to be an animal, that's what he would pick. "You have lots of friends to hang out with. You get to play around, and you can swing from the trees," he remarked. What's not to like? Also at the zoo, we loved the majestic white tiger and a sleek, beautiful puma who paced back and forth in his enclosure like he was trying to figure out his escape plan.
Unlike most zoo snack bars, the Singapore one had food from five nationalities: Indian, Malay, Chinese, American, and another one I couldn't identify. We all picked different foreign dishes and enjoyed some of the beauty of Singapore cuisine. Everyone that is, except Austin, who stuck with a hot dog and french fries in staunch allegiance to his homeland. What can I say? He's a patriot.
After 5 hours of traipsing around with the animals in the heat and humidity, we headed downtown. We visited the old Raffles hotel, an elegant vestige of the British colonial past. Home to the famous Singapore Sling and favorite haunt of many authors including Rudyard Kipling and Somerset Maugham, the hotel is as charming as ever and lends gravitas to an otherwise modern and flashy city.
Singapore is better known for a much newer hotel, the iconic Marina Bay Sands. It looks like a massive surfboard perched on top of 3 huge towers at the water's edge. Rooms can go for $1500 a night, and people pay it to stay there and swim from the roof-deck infinity pool, with commanding views of the entire city. Hundreds of students from Semester at Sea managed to get in and swim or even stay the night. One kid told me they had 12 students crammed into one room!
The best part of our experience was meeting Bang. He is a Singaporean couchsurfer who, though he was already hosting a couple from Wales and Virginia (of all places) found time to meet us for dinner in Chinatown and show us around the city. Bang is a 20-year-old who is currently serving in the military (it's compulsory for males) but loves the culinary arts and hopes to work in a French restaurant. He is very engaging and interesting, and he welcomed us so warmly, we were blown away. He took us to a Hawker Center, which is basically street food, but in typical Singapore fashion, it is arranged by the government in orderly stalls in a large building. Most were closed for Chinese New Year, but we found one Thai place that was absolutely incredible! One man and two women (I think one was his wife) managed to cook about 30 different dishes in a sweltering space about 8 feet by 12 feet. Everything was delicious, but the Pad Thai was the best we ever tasted, and we had to go back not once but twice to order more. The fact that it cost $4 a plate didn't hurt either!
After dinner, Bang treated us to a special Singapore dessert which is like Hawaiian shave ice served over beans and jellied squares and covered with flavored syrups and finally topped with a mango puree. It's like the best snow cone you ever tasted.
After dessert, Bang surprised us with an amazing experience. We walked to the Gardens by the Bay under the Marina Bay Sands hotel, and came upon these “Super Trees” -- gigantic tree-like structures about 6 stories tall. Many say they are like the trees in the movie Avatar. They were covered with live plants, but they were actually made of metal and lights. We thought they were magnificent, but we had no idea what we were in for! Just moments later, we saw the most incredible light show I’ve ever seen. The trees pulsated, flashed, glowed, twinkled, and shined to hauntingly beautiful accompanying music. It was like a fireworks show in trees. We lay down on a perfectly manicured lawn (of course -- it’s Singapore) and got lost in the moment. It was truly magical. Bang was a great tour guide, and this was the icing on the cake after 15 hours of sightseeing that day!
Our last day in Singapore took us to Sentosa Island, a large amusement park of an island just 10 minutes’ walk from our ship. As in much of Singapore, the island was lovely, entertaining and rather artificial. You can choose between bungee jumping, water parks, cable car rides, indoor skydiving, luge rides, dolphin petting, and a Universal Studios theme park. We chose the beach, which seemed quite pedestrian in comparison, but the price was right, and the beach was pretty, even though we saw a steady stream tankers just offshore in the busy shipping lane.
We are now steaming toward Myanmar, and the weather is rather steamy too. We’ll catch you on the flipside.
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