Advertisement
Published: November 28th 2012
Question 4 picture
Damon Hill's F1 car in which year?
Q1 - Singapore is 85km north of the Equator
Q2 - Bomb shelters have to be incorporated into newbuilds (and even some appartments on the 15th floor have bombshelters)
Q3 - Vatican City and Monaco are the other 2 City States (as well as Singapore) Question 4 This one relates to Andrew. After all, we're here because of him! Rothmans is one of BAT's brands of cigarettes. This car is hanging in the BAT offices here in Singapore. The Formula 1 car pictured was driven by Damon Hill in which year? Name the model for one bonus point. And of course, you get a bonus point if you're first to answer the main part of the question. This blog was meant to be published last week but then the move got in the way. For our first month in this incredibly overwhelming city, here are 31 things which surprised us, which we liked, which made us shake our heads in amazement/disbelief. Where possible, I've backed up the statements with a picture(s). Get ready for a feast for the eyes!
1. So green! Even in the heart of the city, huge trees and bushes with tropical flowers line the streets. There are patches of grass in non built up areas. Even industrial estates (like where the BAT factory is) look more like residential estates back home. Developers must pay a fine and replace any trees taken down when building so as much as possible, they build around them.
2.When it rains, it pours!
The weather can close in so fast. Storms are strong and frightening at times and can last 10 minutes to 2 hours. I've gotten wet a couple of times, but it's no big deal, it's just like having a shower. 3. Technology
My 10 year old nephew Gaspard asked me last week if the Iphone 5 was out here! :-)
Singaporeans are technology-mad. I haven't seen anyone with a Nokia. In fact, I had to visit three shops to find one that supplied Iphones 4 or 4S. All they talked about was the Samsung Galaxy or the Iphone 5. More often than not on the tube, you'll have a whole row of people either playing, watching a movie, texting, with headphones on... and it's not just the young! It's everyone.
4. Fountains It's my mission to take a picture of Julia with every different fountain we come accross. We've found quite a few. 5. Friendliness People are so friendly, you get used to it very quickly. In fact, if anyone jumps the queue to board the MRT, you're so surprised, it's shocking! On the train, Julia has always been given a seat. People hold the doors for me with the pushchair, or help me up/down steps. Everyone is also so friendly with Julia and Katrina. It still surprises me that even teenager boys will stop and coo at Katrina! In the lift, in shops, on escalators, on the street, everywhere they coo over Katrina. So much so that Julia gets a bit jealous sometimes and starts flicking her eyelashes! 6. Orchids Garden WOW! WOW! WOW! This place is a small corner of paradise. Not sure what I was expecting, but not something so beautiful and serene. A jewel of a place for only £2.50 entrance fee. Astonishing! 7. Food courts
Every mall has a food court of some kind, reminiscent of American foodcourts but much nicer as they generally serve Asian food. The food is delicious, you are served with a smile and it's cheap ($7 approx for a meal of rice, vegetables, meat, soup). There is a huge choice. Two of the better ones we found so far are on 5th floor of 313 Somerset and in the basement of World City. The worst one we ate at was on our first evening here in the basement of the Concord Hotel.
8. Weird and wonderful foods in restaurants I'm not like Cynthia and can't eat chicken feet so am so glad for pictures! Still, jellyfish salad wasn't too bad. 9. So clean! This is Singapore's reputation so I'm not surprised. But what does surprise me is that there aren't that many bins around, they just employ lots of cleaners, sweepers, gardeners. And not just on the street, in malls, in parks, on the waterfront, even in the condo where we live, there is an army of cleaners mopping or sweeping. It can't be fun or easy but they always offer a smile. 10. Benefits & Pensions
I am by no means an expert in this field, but there is no unemployment benefit and retirement age is being pushed back from 62 to 67 years old in the years to come. So one has no choice but to work. That's probably why they employ 5 guys to tidy up one bush (see picture).
11. Scafolding Did you know that they use bamboo or wooden polls as scafolding here sometimes? In HK, it is widely used to build the tallest of towers but they are prone to violent typhoons there so they warrant it more. There are 2 main reasons for using wooden polls instead of metal ones. First, they are more flexible and not so rigid in high winds. Second, they don't get as hot/scolding as metal poles do when exposed to the sun. Still, you wouldn't catch me up there in high winds or heat. 12. Buses I'm told that the bus service is excellent in Singapore and very cheap! But I've only taken the bus once so far as no matter what time of day you travel, they make you fold the pushchair! How ridiculous is that?!? That will never work! I could just about fold the pushchair on my own whilst holding Katrina, but would then need to hold her, the pushchair, my bag, Julia's scooter and hang on for dear life!
13. Taxis
But luckily, taxis are cheap. You can travel 6km (a third of the way accross Singapore) for $8 14. Big Brother
Living in Singapore doesn't feel like you're being spied on all the time. But on the MRT I've noticed Big Brother at least twice.
One time, Julia was about to step onto the escalator and lost her balance for a second before catching the railing. I was stood just behind and helped her. Imeediately on the intercom came a message: "when travelling with young children, pushchairs or heavy luggage, please use the lifts". Now that's too much of a coincidence.
Another time, my friend Belinda gave her 1 year old daughter a drink of water. Again, immediately big brother came on the intercom: "please remember that no food or drinks are authorised on the MRT"
So maybe we are being watched then! A bit. 15. Colours I love the colours here! It makes even the West Country in the UK seem grey. I'll come back time and again to colours in future blogs but here are a few pictures to prove my point... 16. Signs As per the colours, I'll leave you to discover some cool/weird/funny ones I've seen so far. 17. Quirky shops There are some really quirky, whacky, weird and wonderful shops and restaurants around. 18. President's House When in Regency House, we were lucky to be staying opposite Istana - the President's official residence. They hold an Open House there 5 days a year during specific Public Holidays. So we spent a few hours wandering around the beautiful estate on Deewali day. 19. Little India
I've been there 3 times in a month and still love it. The smell of spices and the colours especially. There is a wonderful "Wet Market" there but will wait for Julia to be at school to go again.
20. Advertising opportunities
Now this is a funny one. There is no litter and no dirty posters anywhere, however, they don't miss a trick for advertising opportunities.
On the pavement, bus stops, in the MRT, in lifts. It surprises me everytime! It's very controlled advertising and sometimes quite arty and fun.
21. No sitting on walls
With all the malls, footpaths, fountains, pavements, plants, there are plenty of places to stop and sit! Well think again! In Little India one evening, half a dozen chaps were sat on a wall with a pointed end - so not even that comfortable - and the police came around to make them get off! I was shocked so asked what was going on and was told it's illegal to sit on the walls. See picture of sign.
22. Bomb shelter
I mentioned bomb shelters before, but when i stop and think about it, it still kind of shocks me! It shocks me because in many of the properties we visited, the shelter is used as the helper's room! The helper's room we have in our flat is considered nice apparently, because it has windows and its own entrance. It's really not massive, but I think we would have decided against a helper had there only been a bomb shelter to accommodate her.
23. Stuff found in supermarkets
I'm sure I'll come back to this title again in the future as I discover more supermarkets. What I found in Isetan supermarket is the strangest so far. Isetan is a Japanese store. That probably explains it. But get this, they place small "comments slips" around the shop for you to fill in with suggestions! Someone want to suggest this idea to Tesco and Sainsbury's?
I found the shark steaks in Fairprice. Julia and I had some. It was tasty, but I probably didn't do it justice as am not very good with fish. Plus, I was in the basic kitchen of Regency House so didn't have anything nice to cook with it.
24. Public services
This is an odd one as in a modern city like Singapore, you'd expect state of the art equipment, but not at all. Along Newton Rd, 2 men were filling holes in the road with cement. The fresh cement was spread accross the back of a small truck. One chap shovelled it in a bucket. The other chap poured it into the hole.
The sweepers' brooms are made of wood.
Bin collectors get about by bike with a trailer
25. Helpers
I'm not very well versed with helpers yet, but will be as we've decided that we will give it a try. It'll take some getting used to, having someone living in, but it's the done thing here in Singapore. It'll give me a bit of a break to do more and maybe work, especially when Andrew's travelling.
26. ART
I haven't got pictures of all the abstract and modern art, the statues and monuments I come accross, but it's fascinating how many pieces there are everywhere. And with Xmas, well, it's a whole new ball game. But that's for another blog. 27. Malls
Around the Orchard Rd area, there are malls, malls and more malls. Malls started out as just a roof over shops to protect shoppers from the rain and sun. Proper shopping malls as we know them started springing up in Singapore in the 70's, the first air-conditioned one opened in Katong in 1973. Over the years, malls have mainly been centred on the inside. Recently though, the government set a challenge to developers to start building more visually appealing malls from the outside. The first of these new generation malls being the Wisma Atria on Orchard Rd.
This is a new thing for us and takes some getting us to. Having said that, it's so nice to get a wiff of cold air when walking in stiffling heat, or to choose to cool down by walking through a mall rather than around it. On the downside, it is so confusing! You see a shop you'd like to come back to and the challenge then becomes: "where the hell was it? What level? What end?"
28. Empowerment It's subtle, but it's definitely around. Every kids' activity, every school, every job advert is phrased around empowerment, growing your IQ, developing your skills and knowledge. An advert for a playground will say something like: equipment to develop your child's mobility skills and teach them crucial team building lessons which will serve them for the rest of their lives..." I'll come back to this over the next few months, when I find more supporting material. 29. Our activities
I hope we stay for 4 years and not 2 as we haven't done or seen anything yet! West Coast Park and the Singapore Flyer. That's it!! Colin's coming next week so we'll definitely do some of the touristy places.
30. The girls
Julia and Katrina have taken to Singapore life so well. The heat was difficult on Katrina initially but she very quickly took to sleeping 9 hours a night and is now on 10 so hope it lasts. Julia's best friend, her scooter, never leaves her side when we're out and she now insists on taking it up and down steps on her own. The heat doesn't seem to bother her either. Today at lunchtime, she spent 1/2 hour running around, dancing, climbing walls and flicking her eyelashes in the sun. So much so that 2 different people came to ask me if they could take her picture. This one family of 4 all took it in turn to sit by her and take a picture. It was starting to get embarassing. I almost asked them for some $$$
Julia starts a gym class tomorrow which will run until Xmas. She then starts school locally in Jan.
31. We LOVE Singapore! Right, there you have it! Our first month here! Thanks for reading all the way! :-)
TravelBlog:
Advertisement
Tot: 0.149s; Tpl: 0.014s; cc: 8; qc: 50; dbt: 0.0526s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
