Singapore

Dec 19, 20197 min read

**Both before and after our cruise, we stayed 1.5 days in Singapore, totaling 3 combined days. For brevity purposes, we will combine two posts into one**

If we consider Mumbai to be one of the poorest, most wretched cities to visit, the city-state of Singapore is quite the opposite. It is comparable to another wealthy nation we visited this year, Monaco. Like its European counterpart, the rich flock to Singapore to capitalize on the lenient tax laws. At $103,000 GDP per capita, Singapore is third in the world after only Qatar (130k) and Luxembourg (106k).

Out of 5.6 million residents of Singapore, only 60% of actual citizens. The rest are either students or imported workers. Part of the reason is the tax leniency, but most of the reason so many foreigners come is because the government is pushing both the importation of cheap labor, as well as the females having the lowest fertility rate in the world, at 0.8 child per mother. Immigration helps to offset the declining population.

Costs aside, Singapore is an interesting place to visit even though we aren't big fans of large cities.

They say you only get one first impression, and wow does Singapore impress. Linked to the airport terminals is an entertainment and retail complex with the world's largest and tallest indoor waterfall descending from the roof. Five stories high with hotels, stores, restaurants, and gardens, Jewel has an upward of 300,000 visitors every day. It opened in April of this year, 2019, and already had 50 million guests. The place is simply incredible.

We landed in the middle of the day, and headed straight to the Jewel. Most of other travelers were headed in the same direction, and for good reason.

From the airport we took a train to the city center to check in to our hotel, which wasn't really a hotel at all. Originating in Japan, the concept of capsule hotels has taken the hotel industry by storm in Asia and only recently cracking into the European market. Similar to a hostel, one has very little privacy and personal space. Showers, toilets, dining areas, and wifi are all public. The major difference is that rather than open beds, guests sleep in pods. Even though it was our first experience sleeping in a pod, I can't imagine they vary too much from place to place. We were fortunate to have two pillows, a blanket, working wifi, and two outlets to charge our phones. There isn't much more we could have asked for, except for a lower price. $60 at Met a Space Pod @ Boat Quay to share a tiny space is a lot, but Singapore is super expensive. There wasn't much else in the area to choose from.

After depositing our possessions into lockers, we headed out in the direction of Marina Bay.

The name "Singapor"e derives from the Malay word for singa, which means "lion." In the center of the city, the mythical creature of Singapore, a giant half-lion half-fish called Merlion stands proudly in front of Marina Bay, spewing water of out its mouth into the water.

In front of Merlion is the grand and luxurious Marina Bay Sands. Here is a brief description copy/pasted from Wikipedia:

Marina Bay Sands is an integrated resort fronting Marina Bay in Singapore, owned by the Las Vegas Sands corporation. At its opening in 2010, it was billed as the world's most expensive standalone casino property at $5.88 billion USD, including the land cost.The resort includes a 2,561-room hotel, a 120,000-square-metre (1,300,000 sq ft) convention-exhibition centre, the 74,000-square-metre (800,000 sq ft) The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands mall, a museum, two large theatres, "celebrity chef" restaurants, two floating Crystal Pavilions, art-science exhibits, and the world's largest atrium casino with 500 tables and 1,600 slot machines. The complex is topped by a 340-metre-long (1,120 ft) SkyPark with a capacity of 3,900 people and a 150 m (490 ft) infinity swimming pool, set on top of the world's largest public cantilevered platform, which overhangs the north tower by 67 m (220 ft).The 20-hectare resort was designed by Moshe Safdie architects.

Moshe Safdie is a well-known Israeli architect who also designed the Mamila Center and Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, the Technion in Haifa, and of course, the Jewel in the Singapore airport.

Next to the Marina Bay Sands on the water rests an open white colored Lotus flower building. We aren't quite sure what it is, but we do know it was also a product of Moshe Safdie. Regardless of its purpose, it adds to the glamour of the city.

Behind the Marina Sands Bay is the Gardens by the Bay, which is exactly what the name indicates. Covering 250 acres are dozens are gardens with thousands of different plant and flower species from all over the globe. We didn't have the chance to go inside, but the Flower Dome is the largest greenhouse in the world, according to Guiness Book of World Records. We strolled through the gardens both during the day and at night, and we have to say they were the most spectacular botanical displays we have ever seen.

The day after we arrived back to Singapore was December 21st, the day before Ben's birthday. To provide a bit of context, Nadine LOVES birthdays. loves loves loves loves. She doesn't just want to celebrate her birthday each year, but her birth week and even birth month. Ben, on the other hand, doesn't really care so much about it. He is coming around.

Because we were flying to Indonesia on his birthday, the 22nd, we did a half celebration on both days.

We used one of our free nights on Hotels.com to put The Holiday Inn Express. After our positive experience with them in Krabi, we chose to give them another go. The hotel had a rooftop pool, treadmill, and a really nice view of the city. Our only gripe is that they advertised having a Jacuzzi, but it was really just a sectioned off jetted area with water of the same temperature as the pool. When we phoned guest services to inquire when the heat would come on, we were explained that not all Jacuzzis are heated, only hot tubs are heated. The internet and common sense says otherwise, but no sense in arguing.

We knew we would be heading out at night for a birthday dinner, but during the day we needed to rest. Cruising takes a lot of energy!

Aside from a stop at a local pharmacy to pick up some medication for Ben's ear, which had been filled with water since snorkeling in Phi Phi, we hung out the hotel until the evening, where we would depart for dinner.

Whilst walking in the direction of the marina, we watched a van hit a pedestrian who was crossing the road, who subsequently flew a couple feet and took a hard fall. Both automobile and pedestrian had green lights, but the driver was expected to yield for incoming pedestrians, and failed to do so. The driver of the van hopped out of his car and ran towards the injured man. Nadine and I did the same, running across the street (after checking for incoming traffic) to attend to the scene. About the same time a young guy on a motorbike sporting a shirt that said "Fire/Rescue" on the back arrived and announced boldly "I know First Aid." We helped the victim on his feet and began checking for damages. His ankle had a little blood, his hand and arm were bit scraped, and he seemed woozy. Did you hit your head, sir? He responded in the negative, but he was in shock so we didn't take his answer at face value. The driver jumped in his van and moved his vehicle to the other side of the road, away from intersection, and clear of other motorists. Since Singapore was a British colony until 1963, English is their first language. This would come in handy for us during this high-stressed situation. Fortunately, everyone was calm, respectful of one another, and the emotions were level. It ended with the driver helping the injured man into the passenger and driving off, presumably to a medical center. We were impressed with the civility.

The drama ended rather quickly, but our night would continue. We hailed a cab and rode to our fancy birthday dinner at the world-renowned establishment of Baja Fresh, where he we gorged on a couple of burritos and nachos. Since Ben loves Burritos Nadine wanted him to have a yummy birthday dinner!

With a few hours left on the special day, we hoofed it to the marina to watch the light show over the water. We felt obliged to return to the Gardens on the Bay to see experience it at nighttime also. There was a Christmas fair with food stands, live music, booths with games to win stuffed animals, and a sectioned off area for Christmas decorations that one must pay $10 to enter. For nearly two hours we wandered through the gardens, mesmerized at the beauty and effort put into the creativity and maintenance of the area.

The following day we made our way to the airport, paid a second visit to the Jewel and prepared to pass through security. The baggage policy allows for one cabin bag of up to 7kg and we knew our bags were a couple kilos over. As per our usual routine, we went into our respective bathrooms, layered ourselves with our heaviest clothing, stuffed our pockets full of electronics, and made our way to the security area.

Some airports are more lenient than others, but in Singapore they had two guards whose sole jobs was to weigh the baggage on a two scales set up before customs. We watched as one of the guards turned a foreigner away back to the check-in counter to pay money to increase his weight limit. They didn't mess around. As we approached, Nadine (she of the great memory) quickly recognized that the checkerbag man was a familiar face. When we arrived the week before, it was he who walked with us through the airport and directed us to the train station. Of all people in the country of 5 million, it was the only person we kinda sorta "knew." He also remembered us and enthusiastically smiled. He gave our bags a once over glance, didn't properly check the weight, or inspect our clothing, and let us pass. It was pretty hilarious.

We had a birthday lunch in the airport lounge of turkey and mashed potatoes, and even spoiled ourselves with a beer!