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Published: December 17th 2015
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Ah Singapore... Three months of constant travelling through crazy, hectic India and undeveloped Burma, and suddenly we were in this lovely modern city for a whole, luxurious week. Public transport that gets you from A to B in minutes with no hassle! Clean streets with no rubbish strewn around them! A hotel with air con, hot water and a proper shower! And (oh joy of joys...) fast, reliable WiFi!! We were always going to love this place.
One thing we really loved about Singapore as a city was how quirky and artsy it is. So much of the modern architecture there is very different and attractive, and really stands out as a result. Singapore are celebrating 50 years of independence in 2015, and throughout the year there have been all sorts of festivals and events going on. While we were there an arts festival was running, and they opened up the National Gallery for free entry (always good for an unsalaried backpacker). Outside, a huge temporary arts installation had gone up, with an emphasis on interactive art, which was really cool - the artworks grew as the public added their own touches to them. There was more right across the
city, all free, and we dipped in and out of many of them. Our particular favourite was one that was supposed to involve all of your senses - we walked through sight, sound, smell and touch but wondered where taste was represented until we got to the final piece, a fully edible gingerbread house setup with sugar pastes colouring the walls and a ceiling full of chocolate lollipops to grab as you leave. Now that's my kind of interactive art!
Highlight number one of Singapore though is without doubt the food. As a melting pot of cultures, particularly Malay, Chinese and Indian, combined with a lifestyle that centres on food, there's brilliant eating wherever you go. Almost every corner has a hawker centre, where you can pick from any cuisine you like and eat fantastically - and cheaply, which was much needed as the rest of Singapore cost us a fortune... Where else (except maybe Malaysia) could you share a nasi lemak, a tom yam soup and wontons at lunch, then have mee goreng and biryani at dinner, all from the same corner, all delicious and all authentic? Every mealtime in Singapore was a joy.
It's not all
cheap eats in Singapore though; it does gourmet brilliantly too. We did the posh side of Singapore one night, starting in the Raffles Hotel Long Bar for a Singapore Sling (frankly a not very nice drink for a not very nice price, but hey, when in Rome...) and to eat peanuts while chucking the shells on the floor ("the only place in Singapore where littering is permitted"). We then went to a fantastic French place and gorged on foie gras, scallops and steak tartare, washed down with wonderful wine and followed by a delicious cheese plate - I can't tell you how good proper French cheese was after months with no cheese at all - and finished up with some Glenfiddich. Yes, it may have cost about the same as two full weeks in Burma, but it was so worth it - a great night!
To be honest, we were pretty terrible tourists in Singapore. We ended up spending a lot of time just relaxing, sitting in cafes and bars, catching up on much needed laundry (proper washing machines! Such luxury to not have to do our washing in the sink...) and generally being lazy. We did make it
out on the second night there to wander around the Marina Bay area - the skyline of Singapore is pretty stunning and looks just amazing from Marina Bay. Pride of place goes to the Marina Bay Sands, the three tower super-hotel with the surfboard / cruise ship on top connecting them; a unique and eye-catching building. We wandered around the Gardens by the Bay (complete with weird 50 metre tall artificial trees) looking back over the Singapore skyline, which was a very photogenic evening. As it happened, it was also the Christmas light switch-on in the gardens while we were there, so we were treated to Christmas music and fake snow too... Very festive! We managed a couple of other touristy bits as well - the South Ridges walk through canopy trails and national parks, which was nice, and a day trip to Sentosa, which was tacky but fun - but generally we just wandered around, ate good food, drank good coffee and treated ourselves to the occasional beer. It's a hard life.
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