Stuck in SINGAPORE!
By Andrew. Filed in Asia |
Nov 27-Dec 4, 2008. It was a long weekend so I wanted to go someplace far, far away. My original destination was Thailand but the day before I was to leave, the anti-government protesters decided to take the airport hostage canceling all flights in and out. So no Thailand for me. I opted for Singapore instead! My original planes were to go from Los Angeles to Japan then on to Singapore and reverse the course back. The TO leg went fine. It was the return leg that was REALLY messed up. But here’s the journey.
Singapore Airport
I arrived to Singapore at their wonderful airport. It was very clean, well organized, LOT of shops and glitter. The immigration was a breeze, as you can see in the photo, hardly anyone to stand behind. This was at 11:30pm on Friday (the day after I took off) and I had yet to get to the hotel.
Geylang Street at 3AM
So I took a taxi to my hotel and got there around 2am after going through everything at the airport. I wanted to walk around the area to get my first impression of Singapore. The above picture was taken down Geylang Street at 3am! In the morning! And there was a traffic jam. The Taxi driver said the Geylang is always packed, 24/7. And I believe him! So off I went to one of the hundreds of 24hr sidewalk diners and grabbed some chicken gizzards on a stick, and some chicken feet. Yummmm!
Hotel 81
Ok, here’s a hint. Hotel 81 is about the same as Motel 6 in the US. Not the best accommodations. And after I checked out the area, it was apparent that I was smack dab in the middle of Singapore’s Redlight District! OYE! The room was small, sparsely furnished, but I had an internet connection and a really good air conditioner. Plus, I prepaid so no way out of that.
Singapore
On Saturday, I wanted to find get the lay of the land and the best way is to take the Singapore MRT. This goes all around the island and you can pretty much have a feel for where things are located.
Singapore
One thing that I noticed, even on my late night ride from the airport, there were a TON of apartments all over the place. These were 30-40 story apartments! What the heck? These are Singapore’s HDB, or Housing & Development Board. What I have been told is that these apartments are built by the government and are available to all Singaporeans at a very low cost with the condition that they live there for a minimum of 5 years. Then they can sell it or do whatever they want. Sounds pretty nifty. Some apartments are better then others. Some are bigger, some more colorful, like the ones above. And some are just plain ghetto.
Singapore's Orchard Street
So off I went around the entire island. My last stop was downtown, where the MRT is actually a subway so you can’t really see anything like the rest of the island. I got off a Orchard street, what a mistake! This is where I found out what Singapore REALLY is. A shopping Paradise (for those who like to shop). I thought Milan was bad. This is WORSE! There are literally malls on top of malls in Singapore! There’s an underground mall that must have 3 or 4 malls over this mall! And everything was totally decorated for Christmas! The only good thing about these malls is that they are all air conditioned. So you can almost walk all around downtown without going outside.
Singapore Flyer
I made my way to the first real destination in Singapore. The Singapore Flyer. This is billed as “The World’s Largest Observation Wheel” which I guess is a fancy name for a ferris wheel. It sure looked big and I guess I’ll just have to take their word for it. Getting the tickets, you would think that they are prepared for thousands of tourists to come to the Flyer. Huge crowd cues are set up for long long lines. I guess I was there during the off season because there were hardly any people going on the Flyer. So I got my ticket and my pre-recorded tour guide and hopped on a car with 2 other people and started the tour. Lots of great info of the area was given.
Ships in Singapore Harbor
The first thing I noticed when the Flyer started up. The harbor was totally packed with ships anchored out. Not sure what they were waiting for but the sea was packed with ships of all types.
The view from the Singapore Flyer
Another really cool thing I saw from the Flyer was the floating soccer field on what they call the “Marina Bay Floating Stadium” and looked like it could be a pretty cool way to view events. I would imagine fireworks display being spectacular.
Afterwards, I headed back to the hotel because it was getting REALLY HOT! And the room’s AC was turned REALLY low. Plus I was a little jet lagged.
Singapore
Saturday night, I headed towards Singapore’s Night Safari. This is the world’s first nocturnal zoo. REALLY cool. I took a lot of pictures but because they have a non-flash policy and things were kept pretty dark, nothing much was shown. But they had some great shows and the tram tour brought you up close to the animals. There were usually no barriers between us and the wildlife.
Flesh Eating Fish - MY FEET!
On the way out, there was this place that had tanks of little fish. After reading, it turns out these are flesh eating fish! And they eat away at any dry/dead skin off your feet and legs, and so I just had to try! I was the only person who did was doing this too. I took off my shows and they washed my feet in a foot bath. Then I stuck my feet in and the fish instantly going away eating my dead flesh! EW! But it felt AMAZING! Kind of like when your leg falls asleep and when you get up, it’s all tingly. But this felt a lot better.
People watching fish eat my flesh
Since the only one, naturally a crowd started forming around me to watch what’s going on. Everyone wanted to know what it felt like and if it hurt and what the heck was going on. I felt like a display. But it was still fun. I can say this was actually on of the highlights of the trip.
Singapore Zoo
On Sunday, it was more animals. I got up for the Breakfast Safari at the Singapore Zoo. This is where you get a pretty decent breakfast buffet while they bring out various animals like the Orangutan up close and personal. After breakfast, I toured the rest of the zoo which was a pretty nice. They had a wonderful working elephant presentation that I felt was the best part of the zoo. Amazing how they can handle these guys.
Jurong BirdPark
After the zoo, I headed over to the Jurong Birdpark on another part of the island. Again, the birdpark was very well laid out and had some pretty cool displays. If I were into bird more, this would have been amazing.
Singapore's Chinatown
Monday I headed back to downtown to visit a couple of more places I’ve heard about. First was Chinatown. Singapore doesn’t seem to have it’s own culture, but is made of of several cultures from other country’s and they are grouped together. Chinatown, Little India, and other areas. I got to Chinatown early so not much was open. But the the area and buildings were pretty impressive.
Sri Mariamman Hindu Temple
At the end of Chinatown I came across the Sri Mariamman Temple, built in 1827, it’s Singapore’s oldest Hindu temple and the artwork is AMAZING. You can’t go in with shoes on so I had to take them off and entered. There were Hindu ceremonies going on so I kept my distance but spent about an hour checking the whole place out. This is something not to be missed when going to Singapore.
Fountain of Wealth
Next stop was the Fountain of Wealth. The largest fountain in the world. I guess it all depends on how you define a fountain. Isn’t the water display in from the Las Vegas’ Bellagio considered a fountain? Guess not. It was said that if you walk around the center portion of the fountain 3 times while touching the water, you get good luck. And, of course, I did. I took a video of me doing this but it really didn’t turn out well.
Singapore
Finally on Monday, I went to one of the landmarks you see in Singapore, the Merlion. While it was pretty neat, there’s really not much to it. But, it appears that it’s the pride of Singapore. Go figure.
Now comes Tuesday morning when I should have been heading home. Remember I was saying that Bangkok Airport was closed because of protesters? Well, everyone who was wanting to head back home out of Bangkok was going to any surrounding cities to try to fly out. Singapore was one of those cities! When I was checking flight loads before heading to Singapore, the planes were pretty much half full. Now, all flights out of Singapore was way, way overbooked. For days to come! I still had hope and stayed at the airport trying to catch a flight out on United. No luck. I went back to my motel and checked in. Hooked up my computer and did some work the rest of Tuesday. Hopefull that Weds would bring me some luck that I earned from the Fountain of Wealth. Wednesday came and it was a repeat of Tuesday! NO FLIGHTS! But I had a plan. If I can’t get a United flight, I’ll catch some other airline to a different location AWAY from Singapore and Thailand. No luck with United but Cathay Airlines had 7 flights a day to Hong Kong. I purchased an ID90 standby ticket and hoped for the best. First flight, no space. So was the second, third, and forth flight out. On the fifth Cathay Pacific flight, I got a seat! Off to Hong Kong!
Hong Kong, from the Airport.
I arrive to Hong Kong around midnight and couldn’t find a place to stay. Fortunately, there was a transit hotel at the airport where I was able to get 3 hours of sleep, a shower, and breakfast. At 12:10 on Thursday, I was able to catch a United 747 back to the states! And arrived at 9:00am the same day! Thanks to the mystery of the International Dateline, I arrived before the plane departed. I guess I’m easily amused.
In summary, Singapore is a shopping destination and nothing much more. There is really no Singapore history beyond the 1800’s. There really isn’t a Singapore culture. No rain forests. No ancient temples. Heck, because of land reclamation, there really isn’t even a natural beach on the whole island.
While it was nice to go someplace where English is one of the official languages, I really don’t think I will make a return trip to Singapore.
AIRMILES – TRIP: 17,600 TOTAL: 41,714
Wednesday, December 17th 2008 at 1:25 pm
Andrew, what you say about Singapore is more or less correct, but you have to realize that it’s the world’s most densely populated country (therefore the many apartments) and a really tiny place that is probably much smaller in land area than many of the larger cities in the world. You certainly missed the forest for the trees in your short stay, as there are certainly tropical jungles in Singapore with trees many 100s of years old at Bukit Timah area and in the central part of the island. Of course in the old days before the 1800s, the whole island was a jungle, but most of it has been cleared since.
There is definitely history of Singapore which goes back thousands of years; since the times that the island was, and still is, a major sea port and trade route for ships sailing between India and Europe to China. This explains all the ships that you saw, parked in the sea, as it is the world’s busiest sea port.
Anyway, as far as culture goes, Singapore, being an immigrant society is just a mix of many societies and races, and is not much different from USA where you come from, believe it or not! I should know what I am talking about because I have lived and studied in Texas for 4 years in my younger days, and traveled widely to all parts of USA from the East to the West coasts and also to Hawaii many times.
Wednesday, December 17th 2008 at 3:05 pm
I’m sure the island has been around for thousands of years but I couldn’t find ANYTHING older then the early 1800’s. Heck, we have things older then that in California! And it’s one of the newers states.
Sure the US is an immigrant country too. But take food for example. You have many US only kinds of food. Cajun food, Soul food, Texas BBQ, etc, etc, etc. You have Thai Food, Chinese food, Japanese food… I have never seen a Singapore food or restaurant. You can look at a certain dress style and say… Oh, that’s so Hawaiian, or Japanese, or Texan, or any other places that have culture. I wouldn’t have any idea what someone dressed as a Singaporean would look like. Maybe someone carrying a lot of shopping bags?
Thursday, December 18th 2008 at 5:13 am
You are entitled to your views of course, and also your opinions about a place based on a tourist’s view after a short visit of a few days.
Incidentally, when you mention food, then that is a totally different ball-game. For example, I was in Italy for one whole month 2 years ago, and I think I only scratched the surface in eating and understanding of real Italian food. Coming back to Singapore, there is definitely unique Singapore food which you unfortunately did not have the chance to try when you were here. Unknown to you, there are actually restaurants serving Singapore food in many other parts of the world, including California in USA.
Remember that comparing the global impact of USA and Singapore, culturally and food-wise, it is like comparing an elephant to a mouse. Singapore is a country that is only 250 sq miles in size and with a population of about 6 million. Anyway, I do not blame you for not being aware of Singapore food, as I am aware that many people (fortunately I’m not one of them, as I have been around) think that American food consists of only hamburgers, french fries and hotdogs.
Finally, you have really stirred up an hornet’s nest with your blog comments, as they were highlighted in a local blogger’s newsletter ;-
http://tomorrow.sg
therefore please check out the comments if you dare, or are interested in doing so.
Thursday, December 18th 2008 at 9:27 am
You hit it on the head there. this is all based on a tourists view. The whole purpose of my blog. And the comparison against all the other countries I have visited. DEFINATELY all just my opinion.
Saturday, January 3rd 2009 at 9:53 pm
Hi, as a traveller myself who has lived and worked in the region before, i’d have to agree with Andrew. Singapore has no culture.
Heck. Singapore wasnt even a nation 50 years ago. Before then it was a british colony, and before then it was a sleepy malay fishing village. Dont you have a statue of Raffles sitting somewhere around the cbd. I dont find that very cultural.
Andrew is right. There are no louvre or tate museums, or las vegas strips, or tokyos ginza shibuya and aikhabara, nys apollo theathres, hollywood, or australias surfer paradise, vaticans cities, amsterdams red light districts and coffeehouses. There are no imperial palaces or ancient temples or monuments. All there is , as Andrewhas seen is, a bird park, a zoo, maybe sentosa and what comes after those generic zoos and parks that you get everywhere else in the world are endless swatches of mcdonalds, giordanos, starbucks, starhubs and endless shopping bags and shopping malls. There is no sense of richness of life , of heritage, of tradition or a way of life. Those catalogues you get at Changi airport sure make it seem very lively and rich, with what ? orangutans and elephants imported from malaysia and india, reclaimed beaches that if you dig deep enough are plastic barriers ?
As for the food you’ve pointed out, they are just a collection of cuisines you get from around the region. It is mainly either chinese, malay or indian or a hybrid of it. Calling it ’singaporean’ food is a misnomer, as i can call it ‘malaysian’ food as well, you cant do the same for japanese, or korean or chinese food.. You cant lump those cuisines together and call them singaporean and make it your own. Given there is a rich variety of food you are able to get in singapore and singaporeans are food loving, that doesnt make chinese, malay or indian food magically turn singaporean. Are you going to start calling french fries, singapore fries ?
As for saying that singapore is small. First of if you think that singapore doesnt have much compared to america in terms of culture and heritage, then maybe you shouldnt even be comparing in the first place. second. places like bali exist where they have a rich local tradition and culture that continues and exist today. HK which is similar to singapore in size, population and heritage both being a british colony also have a thriving HK film industry to call their own and a massive buddha thats been around for a while
If theres anything you can call culture, it would be phua chu kang, or singlish. There is also a strong internet blogging culture in singapore. But other than that, its pretty much all just work and spend. All there is, is a rampant excess of globalization and commercialization in the form of consumerism expressed in the endless shopping malls and shopping bags.
Andrew was right in everyway to criticize the lack of culture in singapore and is justified as to why as a traveller and tourist, he wouldnt go back. And i understand why he wanted to go thailand in the first place and why he was disappointed with Singapore.
All i see here on your part is blatant nationalism and snobbishness when you actually have nothing much to be proud of.