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| Singapore Marina |
Known as ‘The Fine City’ (on
account of its appearance and the number of fines handed out) Hannah was
slightly concerned as we left Singapore airport that we might be leaving in
five days slightly poorer than when we arrived.
These concerns were hardly allayed when within 20 minutes of arriving I
had a sugar crash and promptly opened (exploded might be a better description)
a packet of digestives over myself, the chair and floor of the spotless MRT
system – a $500 fine if caught. Despite
an old women shaking her head in disgust she kindly gave me a carrier bag to
clean up the mess and we hurried off the train to meet our friend Jono. Now ranked as the most expensive city in the
world and with the third highest GDP Jono had kindly put us up in his flat to
save us the exorbitant accommodation costs.
We were even more grateful to him when he provided us with his bed,
rather than putting us in the bomb shelter (as a legal requirement in case the
Japanese invade again) that filled the corner of his apartment and is a legal
requirement. Through a small glass gate
on his second floor apartment balcony we could step right into a large swimming
pool – amazing for most people but again a problem for me as I happily stripped
off on the balcony without realising I could be potentially fined $1000 for pornographic
offences for being seen naked in your house.
The problem was that knowing this made me want to break more and more of
the strict rules. We quickly realised it was probably for the best that we did
not get the job we had applied for in Singapore!
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| Interaction with Chinese folklore |
Obviously meeting a good friend
from Mexico we arrived with the obligatory bottle of tequila and so Friday
night can be largely written off from the point of view of a Blog. Heading out on Saturday morning we went to
the truly bizarre Haw Par Villa to start exploring the city. Created
by the inventors of Tiger Balm the theme park comically depicts stories from
Chinese folklore, culminating in a hilariously gruesome depiction of the ten
courts of hell. After we had spent the afternoon catching up in the pool with a
few cans of Tiger we set off to sample Singapore’s famous night life. At around £8 - £10 a pint however bottles of
rum & coke were brought out for the evening (you can take the lad out of
Newcastle but not Newcastle out of the lad) and armed with supplies we set off
for the Gardens by the Bay, heading up one of the Super Trees with a small bar at the top. The Super
Trees have over 160,000 plants covering their metal frame and the bar sat some
16 stories high, offering amazing views across the bay and the unbelievable
skyline of Singapore. It was here that
having happily journeyed through places such as Russia, Mongolia and China I experienced
a massive culture shock – although the rum may have played a small part in
this. Although Singapore does not have
the old grandeur of European cities or the hustle and bustle of the capitals of
developing nations it is the first real ultra-modern city I have encountered. Singapore
feels like a futuristic city and although it has been lambasted for lacking
soul it seemed to have developed its own identity with modern architecture and
consumerism balanced by a cosmopolitan population bringing with them ancient cultures and traditions. We spent the whole evening strolling
staggering around the Marina Bay
whilst I took a million photos (most of which are a little
blurred) of the spectacular water front before heading back.
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| Singapore's skyline from the Super Tree Bar |
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| Cooling off in the Botanical Gardens |
Singapore is like a modern
version of Istanbul with its mix of cultures occupying districts around the
city and it can feel like you are hopping between countries as you walk through
the different areas. Little India, China
Town and Arab Street can all be found in the city centre and we spent Sunday recovering
with a walk around the botanical gardens and an exceptional curry in Little
India. Recently made a UNESCO site the
156 year old gardens were a little different to a Sunday stroll back home –tropical
plants rose up all around us and giant monitor lizards walk through the thick vegetation! We followed this walk up on Monday with a
10km slog through the heart of Singapore’s parks. Starting by climbing Faber Hill for views
across the city we headed through various parks filled with primary rainforest,
canopy walk ways and monkeys as we made our way from park to park (all for
free). Unfortunately I was not able to
feed any of the monkeys (although a $5000 fine can be applied to this) and we
got back to the flat exhausted as temperatures had soared to over 40 degrees
and over 90% humidity.
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| Crossing the Henderson Waves Bridge between the parks |
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| The Super Trees of the Bay Gardens |
Our final day was spent exploring
some of what we had seen on our Saturday night out (although this time sober) and taking a
look around Arab Street. A giant
Mosque was set against a back drop of towering sky scrapers and shops full of Persian
rug shops and beautiful Turkish lights, adding to the unique blend of
Singapore. Any food you could possible
want from around the world can be found and we sampled some fantastic Middle
Eastern food before heading into what is surely one of the world’s most
exclusive shopping centres on the Marina.
Feeling slightly out of place in my linen pants and t-shirt soaked with
sweat (100% humidity!) we walked past a Lamborghini showroom and countless jewellery
and designer clothes shops that Hannah assured me were pretty fashionable. Leaving the shopping centre on a bridge that
went through the heart of the Luxury 5* Marina Bay Sands Hotel we arrived into
a series of perfectly manicured gardens from around the world that also contain huge
domes housing a cloud forest. We were suitably impressed.
Despite being the opposite of most things I
look for in a place I had been left blown away by a city that is surely helping
to lead the way for our future. Although
incredibly harsh (is the death penalty necessary??!!) the strict laws mean
crime is very low and the standard of living, drive for green energy and
incredible public spaces left me feeling I had glanced the future of tomorrows
super city’s.
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| Little India |
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|
Arab Street |
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