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Published: March 21st 2010
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Sir Stamford lording it over modern SingaporeAfter a brief stop back in KL, I travelled down to my final destination in SE Asia - the Republic of Singapore. Crossing the border was a doddle (despite my transit bus nearly leaving without me on the Singapore side), as was reaching my hostel on the MRT. I'm no transport geek, but I do appreciate a good rapid transit system, and Singapore's MRT is a model of efficiency and cleanliness. The walls of the tunnels feature screens which project still images that transform into a moving image as you pass in the cars. Durian fruit is banned (but then again so is all food and drink...). The escalators operate on go slow until you approach them... then they magically speed up. And there's a neat touch-screen ticketing system which keeps a S$1 deposit until you return your plastic ticket. But best of all, it uses a quotation from Michael Jorden to remind you to report unattended luggage... genius.
My hostel was right next to the CBD, just a few minutes' stroll from the Singapore River and Boat Quay, a string of old shophouses that have been converted into Chinese, Thai and British restaurants and bars. I'd heard that Singapore
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On top of the world - the Singapore Flyer (or 'Moneypore' as a friend born there calls it) was expensive, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that I could get a big sweet and sour pork for S$4.50 (about $3) at an alfresco canteen, and a Tiger beer for S$3.90 on Boat Quay itself... a good start!
I like exploring cities on foot, and luckily Singapore is perfect for this. The core of the city around Marina Bay and the mouth of the Singapore River is where most of the sights are, including the Colonial District at which Sir Stamford Raffles landed in 1819 to found the city. On this spot grew a cluster of beautiful colonial buildings, including the old City Hall and Victoria Theatre, all of which have been carefully restored and exist now like some quaint model village at the base of the CBD's soaring skyscrapers... held back from stomping on the old town by the river itself. At the other side of the Colonial District is a series of featureless commercial and hotel complexes, at the front of which sits the new Esplanade Theatre complex, designed by British architect Zaha Hadid. Looking like a pair of bug eyes (or Durian fruits if you're
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The Fullerton Hotel and Singapore River at night a local... MRT officials would disapprove), they add a splash of flair to what is otherwise a barren landscape of concrete and air conditioning. The other exciting addition to this side of the river is the Singapore Flyer, the world's tallest observation wheel (I still thought it was the London Eye, but this thing is a year old and a full 30 metres taller). At S$30 it's a bit on the pricey side, especially as there isn't a great deal to see from it other than the thousands of tower blocks disappearing off into the distance, the airport and on a clear day, parts of Malaysia and Indonesia. It's a nice ride though, and gives a great view of the huge new development happening in the bay, where Singapore is building itself a new downtown and an 'integrated resort city' comprising three 60-storey towers linked at the top by a great big tree-lined promenade. All pretty fancy, although most of the new skyscrapers are pretty bland blue and green glass affairs.
As with much of the region, the heat and humidity here is pretty stifling, so after a lazy lunch at Starbuck's in the shade of a bridge (watching
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Yum yum dim sum truckloads of Asian tourists bemusingly pose for photos in front of said coffee shop), I headed back to the hostel for a power nap. In the evening, I paid a visit to the city's Chinatown, just a short hop from the CBD. Unlike KL's Chinatown, Singapore's is a buzzing, lively place (if a little bit forced), with beautifully colourful shophouses strung with bright lanterns, selling everything from cheap t-shirts to chopsticks, fans to reflexology, tailoured suits to fridge magnets and lots in between. If it's bright and slightly tacky, you'll find it here. They also do some great food. In fact, Jalan Makanan (Food Street to me and you) on Smith Street (how fitting?!) is a good place to get dim sum and other hawker delights. Ok so it's a tame version of street food with really nice tables, but who cares... I only remembered to take a photo of my S$7 tray of goodies after I'd devoured more than half of it... chicken with glutenous rice, pork and prawn balls, BBQ pork dumplings... all washed down with some fresh lime juice. Nice one.
The next day, slightly stuck for things I really wanted to do, I headed over
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Selling garlands in Little India to Little India. Like Chinatown, it's a cluster of narrow streets lined with traditional shophouses, all in good nick but this time with incense burning garland shops playing Hindi music. It's basically like India but without the litter and chaos, and I have to confess to feeling a bit of fondness as I bought some Indian sweets and had polite chats to half a dozen stallholders... for a second I even hankered after being back in India, dodging the cows and the people sleeping on the pavements. There was something more genuine and involving about travelling through India than anything I got in SE Asia, where everything works pretty well and is clean and sensible. Different experiences, but SE Asia had certainly been no less rewarding for it. Singapore may be a tad anodine (something that comes with wealth), but most of the places I'd travelled through on this continent had been marked by friendly, involving people, a rich history and vibrant present. But now it was time for me to move on to my next and final leg... Australia, New Zealand and Fiji. Easy street from now on... I only hope as I wait for my plane to Melbourne
that it's as rewarding a place to travel through as SE Asia.
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Stan
non-member comment
Indian amnesia
Ha, you've got the indian amnesia... it seems to kick in a few months after you have been there where you think "It really wasn't that bad, was it?!"