Singapore is not a place many tourists think of visiting and in fact we were one of the few tourists there when we visited. Singapore is largely business based as it is centrally located and surrounded by water, making it a perfect trading post. But there is a side to Singapore that not many know about.
The Famous Marina Bay Sands
Singapore has a rich history and has switched rule numerous times from the British, to the Japanese, to being a part of Malaysia to the independent island country she became in 1963. Because of this Singapore has a rich Peranakan culture, the existing local born people that have survived years of changing rule. Their influence can be seen in the local Peranakan cuisine (a mix of Chinese and Malay cuisine) and colorful homes that still dot areas of Singapore. Being such a big trading city, coming in 3rd in the foreign exchange market only 38% of the population are permanent residents. In a city of 5.5 million a majority are foreigners which makes for a unique culture. While the official business language of Singapore is English, the Singapore Government recognizes English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil as national languages.
Singaporean’s pride themselves on their low environmental impact and this can be seen from the moment you step off the plane into Singapore’s Changi International Airport. Everything is spick and span and not a piece of trash is found littering the ground. This is in due part to the crazy laws Singapore has. Littering will cost you $1,000 and community service for a first offense, not flushing the toilet will land you in trouble with the authorities, the sale of chewing gum is prohibited and even connecting onto unsecure public Wi-Fi can be seen as hacking. Whatever works I guess.
Singapore is probably most widely known for its luxury resort the Marina Bay Sands. Boasting a state of the art casino and a high end shopping mall, it’s a hard resort to beat. The hotel is partitioned into three 55 story towers that support the top platform boasting the rooftop infinity pool and rooftop club. Prices start at a whopping 379 SGD a night. While only guests are allowed entry into the pool area we were able to get up to the rooftop club area and have an $8 cup of coffee, cocktails started at $20 a piece mind you.
View from atop the Marina Bay Sands
Some cheaper options of things to see in Singapore include strolling down Hajji Lane and Arab Street in the Bugis area where you will find store upon store of beautiful authentic Arab and Muslim purchases for a great price. This is also the area to check out the Grand Sultan Mosque, also free! Another great place to visit in Singapore for shopping is China Town, which has some of the best stalls in Singapore and hosts some of the best restaurants.
Sultan Mosque
One of the coolest things we did at night was go to see the Supertree light show at the Gardens by the bay. Every night the trees host two completely free performances set to music and you will be dazzled by the lights and colors. You can even plan ahead and have dinner in one of the Supertrees!
Supertrees
No visit would be complete without snapping a picture of Singapore’s famous Merlion across the bay from the Marina Bay Sands. Yes you guessed it, its part lion, part fish that has become the national icon of Singapore. Other than attracting tons of tourists the Merlion isn’t much to see.
Merlion
Singapore keeping up with it’s green tendencies is home to one of the best Botanic Gardens you will come across. Although we only accidently stumbled across them, you could spend hours walking through the gardens admiring all the green. Our end destination was the MacRitchie Nature Reserve for the famous treetop walk, which was one of my favorite things to do in Singapore. Plan on spending a couple of hours climbing the trails from the Reservoir to the actual treetop walk and then coming back again. You may even run into some wild monkeys!
Treetop Walk
Of course no trip to Singapore was complete without doing one of my favorite things in any city I go to, trying all the wonderful local food-Singapore did not come short here! One of the famously cheap dishes which are hard to come by in expensive Singapore is the Bak Kut Teh or pork ribs soup. It really is as simple as it sounds with spices added to make it even more delicious. While I couldn’t quite get the hang of using a soup spoon and chopsticks to get the pork off of the bones, it was one of the most delicious soups I’ve tried. Legend has it that Bak Kut Teh started off with a beggar begging a pork noodle stall owner for food. The owner was himself not very well off and boiled his left over pork bones, added some soup and spices and voila! Bak Kut Teh was formed.
Bak Kut Teh
Another popular influence in Singapore is Dim Sum and Singapore has adopted Tim Ho Wan’s a famous Dim Sum eatery from Hong Kong. There is a reason it so famous! Think the freshest dumplings you’ll ever try, the best fried rice and a Singaporean favorite fried carrot cake! Maybe not the healthiest of foods, but by far the best!
To keep up with the always hot and humid Singapore heat (think 90’s every day) the Singaporean Ice Cream Sandwich was formed. Scattered around the city of Singapore you will find carts called Ice Cream Uncles selling the best ice cream sandwich you will ever have for a $1.20. You tell the ice cream uncle what flavor you would like and he will get the appropriate ice cream block out and cut you off a slice to be put in between two crisp wafers. The best cure to the Singapore heat.
$1.20 Singapore Ice Cream
We had 4 days in Singapore and while we had originally thought it would be too long, there was still plenty to be seen and a trip back is necessary somewhere in the future.
Au Pair Down Under 