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Published: March 25th 2007
I went to Singapore just to spend some time out of my home city for a few days. I also went there to visit a friend. It has been several years since I visited this city state, and I am glad to be there once again. During my trip, I also travelled to the Indonesian island of Bintan next to Singapore for a day. This is my first time to be in Indonesia and I am excited to add another country to my list of countries I have visited.
My stay in Singapore was near Bugis. It is a convenient location as there is a big shopping mall and the MRT is travelling underground. It is also within walking distance from the CBD and the colonial district. I spent time in Bugis to shop around and to have the Hainan chicken rice, a Singaore's favourite dish, in the food centre there.
I have to mention eating in Singapore, because it is the thing to do in this place. There are many different kinds of restaurants serving various dishes from all over the world, and there are the hawker centres, where food is sold inexpensively. Generally, the quality is
good, and there are some varieties, like to Fokkien prawn noddle, that I cannot easily try in my home city of Hong Kong.
The attractions I went in Singapore are Sentosa Island and the Asian Civilsation Museum (ACM). Sentosa Island is a resort island that can be reached by a monorail from the main island. There, I took the Skytower, which raised me to a height of 300 meters above ground, and I went to visit the Image of Singapore, which appeared to me a kind of museum of the history of Singapore and of the customs of its different people. If you like swimming, there are some beaches on Sentosa as well.
ACM is a museum that displays relics from Asia, and there are different sections concerning Southeast Asia, China, South Asia and West Asia. I especially enjoyed the special exhibit of "Mystery of Men", which displays findings from the archaeologial sites in Sanxingdui in Sichuan, China. The exhibit there is actually better in both quality and quantity than the museum at Sanxingdui itself, which I visited during my Sichuan trip several years ago.
From Singapore, I took a daytrip to Bintan Island to get some
taste of Indonesia. Transport is by ferry and the trip takes about one hour. Part of Bintan is a resort area run and managed by Singaporeans and for this reason, Singapore dollar is used. However, I did not go to the resort, but instead took a trip to the part of island where the real Indonesia lies. Indeed, my culture shock only began when I crossed the gate of the resorts--this looked more like a border crossing as not everyone on the other side can enter the resort area freely.
My trip took me to the Tikola beaches and as far as Tijung Pinang. My driver was from Medan but he spoke excellent English, so he acted as my guide. Tikola are a series of long, fine beaches that have yet been developed. Only fishermen and their boats are there and no swimmers and no tourists. The interesting thing is that the land around the beaches has been sold and there are signs everywhere saying "this land belongs to who and who". Maybe one day this place will become some resorts! Tijung Pinang is a typical Indonesian town, with busy road traffic. I went to the local market and
Boat Quay
where drinking takes placefound all kinds of vegetables people sell there. Surprisingly, there was a lady inside the market who could speak good English. Guess what she is selling? Snake crackers!!
In conclusion, Singapore is a reasonable place to visit, easy to get around with good places of interests. There are several possibilities to take exlcusion from the city state to nearby Malaysia and Indonesia. The food is excellent and overall the cost is not expensive. It will be pleasant to spend a few days there.
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