Travel inspired

Hello and Thank You:  English is widely spoken

Currency: Singapore Dollar (SGD)

Singapore is a great city to visit for a few days when exploring Asia.  The food and shopping are top-notch, it’s a very walkable city complemented by public transportation and inexpensive taxis, and there are plenty of interesting sites such as museums and the Gardens in the Sky.  You can book direct flights to almost anywhere in the region and it is easy to enter the country if you’re a U.S. citizen.  Singapore definitely wins my award for “Easy Entry and Exit” procedures.  I filled out an online form in advance and then quickly scanned my passport when I arrived.  Done!  Same procedure on exit – a quick scan of my passport and I was done with immigration.  No lines, no fuss!

I happened to arrive to find out that Taylor Swift was in Singapore for the same three nights I was there.  Did I check to see if I could secure a ticket?  Of course!  There were tickets available but since the seat map also posted them as “limited view”, I decided to skip the concert.  Maybe next time….However, I did enjoy all the Swiftees wandering the city in their concert t-shirts and bejeweled outfits as well as the multiple mall “experience” stations where fans could take Instagram photos posing with various backgrounds.  It’s always fun to see a father waiting in line with a nine-year-old just so she can take these very important and life-changing photos. 

Mass Rapid Transport (MRT)/Public transport:  I highly recommend the MRT for making your way around the city.  It’s quick, clean, and safe.  You can take it to/from the airport instead of a taxi, depending on the location of your hotel.  And it’s easy to use – just tap the turnstile gate with a contactless credit card at the beginning and end of your journey and it will automatically deduct the amount you owe.  

Singapore is very walkable.  You can set out from your hotel, with no specific destination in mind, and wander for hours.  Between a printed map and Google maps, I walked for miles, stopping in Starbucks to use the free WiFi when I needed more specific directions from place to place. And when the heat and humidity start to feel oppressive, it’s easy to duck into a mall for casual shopping and to enjoy a snack or meal at the food court.  And this is no ordinary food court, thinking back to my past experiences in U.S. based malls.  I read somewhere that street food was slowly moving inside and the choices in a Singapore food court are impressive.  The area becomes so packed, you can barely find a seat but when you do, it is worth it.  I had the most delicious dumpling soup with noodles and spinach for a few dollars.  Wow!  A man walks around selling tissues/napkins in case you dribble while slurping up the noodle goodness.  I had not seen that before so was a little confused at first when he approached me but then realized what was happening after a woman sitting further down the table gave him money in exchange.  Oh, that’s how it works!  After lunch, I wandered through the shops and they were filled with people.  It was nice to see so many people out with family and friends, shopping and eating.  It’s been awhile since I’ve seen that in the U.S.  People want to shop online and they are missing the experience to mingle and connect with LIVE people.   

For my dinner, I walked over to Chinatown since my hotel was located a block away.  Again, crowds filled the streets and walking alleys and an illuminated dragon prancing down Cross Street in a misty haze added an element of mystery and color. I wandered down the different streets filled with small booths selling souvenirs and other items, and analyzed my choices for dinner.  Some small restaurants had lines a block long.  I finally found a place with just enough people to confirm guarantee of a good meal but with what appeared to be a short wait.  I enjoyed more noodles and vegetables along with a beer.  It was an opportunity to sit and watch all the usual hub-bub of a Saturday night in the city.  

With only two days in Singapore, day two was my journey to the Gardens by the Bay.  An easy subway ride to the venue.  Of course, there is always the moment of “how does this work” when entering the subway.  An easy tap of the credit card to enter and again to exit and it makes the charge.  So easy!  Since I arrived around opening time, the gardens were still quiet.  And not so hot.  I wandered through, enjoying the art – the colorful giant cat made of scrap bits of old machines and other assorted trash launching itself across a grassy lawn and the giant naked baby boy who appeared to be floating above the grass.  I think I could have sat and enjoyed that sculpture for hours.  It was surreal. 

I approached the towers and quickly focused on the walkway stretching between towers and high above the earth.  Where those people up there?  Yep.  I was going to do that!  I bought a ticket for the OCBC Skyway and took the elevator to the top.  I exited and realized it was quite high! I heard people saying they were dizzy and was not surprised as I could feel the bounce in the walkway as others moved about.  I kept a hand on the rail as I walked around and was glad I was there before it was too crowded.  Next stop was the Supertree Observatory tower, the highest garden tower in the group.  It offered fantastic views of the rest of the gardens and the three towers comprising the Marina Bay Sands with the ship-like appendage stretching across the top of the three towers like a large metallic serpent.  From the main deck on the observation tower, you can climb more steps onto the roof deck for unobstructed views of the city and beyond.  

It’s always hard to decide how much to do when you visit a place like this since it seems to be very “touristy”, but I try to embrace the attitude of “I’m here now!” to push myself and see more.  So, I bought tickets for the Cloud Forest and the Flower Dome.  Both are inside venues and worth the visit for the wide spectrum of flowers and other plants.  The Flower Dome had multiple dragons on display to represent the year of the dragon.  One dragon was made from weathered wood twisted into shape right down to the intimidating snarl.  Another was festooned with flowers and surrounded by bright orange balloon-like koi fish swimming through the greenery.  The colorful displays did well to compete with the bounty of flowers. It’s hard to stop taking photos when surrounded by such beauty.

After my visit, it was a short walk through the subway station to emerge at the Marina Sands mall.  And this is where the Taylor Swift effect shined.  There was a “Taylor Swift Eras Tour Trail” at the Marina Bay Sands mall where fans could take selfies in front of different backgrounds - a puffy cloud like set (an older man tried to convince me to get in line for that one), a bunch of TVs stacked on one another, a guitar, and other backgrounds that made no sense to me since I don’t follow Swift that closely. According to a source online, fans could take photos in front of the seven different installations representing different eras of Swift’s career. And they formed long lines, festooned in Swift tour t-shirts or blingey dresses for their photos.

For dinner, I walked over to the River view and decided to have crab.  I remember crab being a big deal when I traveled to Singapore on business many years ago and thought I should treat myself. What I didn’t expect was a price of $90 for a few ounces. I passed on the few ounces and ordered a different crab dish instead.  I have to admit my food court lunch the day before was better.  And much cheaper.

As I walked along the river to explore a bit more on my final night, I witnessed some sort of ride, a seat on cables throwing people high in the air and flipping them all around.  What was this crazy thing?  I walked closer to see the Singapore Slingshot and extreme Swing along the Clarke Quay and a very short line of people willing to try it.  Seems to be a new “extreme” experience for the area.  Hmmm…I would have loved that 30 years ago.  No thanks. I had a flight to Bangkok in the morning and a two week visit to Bhutan next on my itinerary.  Although…I suppose I could have had myself “slung” into Bhutan via the ride…