Stopping in Singapore

It is a long way to Singapore....over 20 hours flying, over 10,000 miles and we finally made it to the first stop of this year's adventure. We left Toronto at 6:30am on Jan 6 and arrived here at 11:30pm on Jan 7 so as of now we think we are 12 and half hours ahead of Newfoundland time!

Of course before we left Don had to check his computer...

We flew from Toronto to Newark, to Beijing and then on to Singapore which was the best leg of the trip flying on Singapore Airlines. Where else do they treat you so well in Economy Class? A menu to order food and drink? And a well dressed flight attendant to mix you a Singapore Sling....

So after all that traveling where in the world are we now? This map gives you an idea...

Singapore puts us in the part of the world called SE Asia and it is the first stop for us in what will be a four month journey throughout the region. There are many countries here and we are hoping to visit a number of them during that time.

Singapore is a main hub for flying into the region so we decided to stay a couple of days before moving on to Bali. Singapore is an interesting place for a number of reasons...it is an island state so that it is a country and a city all in one. It is the second most densely populated country in the world with over 6000 people per kilometre, the total population is over 5 million.

Singapore is called a City in a Garden and there are green spaces everywhere...

Here we saw a group of people doing their exercises in the park as we passed by...

As we drove on the bus there were lots of trees and flowers...

Even growing out of buildings...

Singapore has only become a modern city in the last few decades as new buildings and construction lots were everywhere...

These were in the Financial District which is expanding by reclaiming more of the sea by laying sand imported from Malaysia. Since there are no natural resources here, they even import all of their water.

The waterfront area has beautiful buildings as well...

Singapore is known as a place to come if you want to shop...there are mega malls everywhere with what seems to have every brand ever known, especially luxury items! In an area known as Orchard Road there are stores lining the street on both sides for over 6 km.

There are also some unique sites such as the Singapore Flyer which is the tallest Ferris wheel in the world, at 165 metres while the London Eye is 135 metres. It provides a scenic view over Singapore...

There is the Fountain of Wealth which is the largest fountain in the world which flows inwards as a sign of good fortune...

Singapore is a very organized and clean city where people are fined for minor expenses such as spitting in public, smoking in public and littering. Each of these offences are fined $500.00 and are enforced to keep the law abiding citizens in line. We saw no sidewalk vendors, no beggars and few police, but signs everywhere indicated that people were being monitored by CCTV ( closed circuit ), so Big Brother is watching!

There was so much to see that we only scraped the surface but did have time to spend in two of the ethnic areas, Chinatown and Little India.

The Chinese came to Singapore has labourers and rickshaw drivers and are today one of the main populations here. A few images of the area...

 Enjoying fresh juice at one of the food centers.

Street decorations in Chinatown

The first mall in Singapore, The People's Centre was built in Chinatown and it is far from the shops on Orchard Road...

In a town known for expensive food and drink we had a meal and beer for 7.00, the best deal we saw in our time here...

Little India was really different as it was dirty and chaotic as opposed to everywhere else we went in Singapore, including Chinatown. However it had a lot of energy and color...

One of the main streets...

Bangles, anyone?

Brightly coloured buildings....

And very expensive but tasty food...

We spent some time in the waterfront area which is quite busy as the port of Singapore deals with much of the container traffic coming from the Pacific and Indian Oceans and has a huge container yard...

The waterfront also has an island called Sentosa that is really like Disneyland with Universal Studios, waterparks, amusement areas, shops and so on. It was a nice walk across the promenade and had some great images to capture...

And the legendary Merlion which is a mythical creature with a lion’s head and a fish’s body – as a guardian of prosperity which personifies Singapore’s history as an important seaport. 

We took the cable car back over the harbour with some great views...

Singapore is a very diverse country with four languages...English, Mandarin, Malay and Tamil with Malay being the official language and English the language of business and education so there is no difficulty being an English speaking visitor here.

It is also a very expensive city with over 16% of the population being millionaires and I think you would need to be one to live well here. For example to drive a car here you must get a special certificate in a lottery system and be able to pay between 50,000 and 75,000 for it. This gives you the privilege of driving for 10 years and then having to renew it.This is in addition to having high import taxes for vehicles, all in an attempt to limit the number of them in the city.

One of the things we like to do when we visit someplace different is go to the grocery store and since the Canadian dollar is almost at par with the Singapore dollar is was easy to compare. 

Fruits and vegetables were way cheaper, but most other groceries seem to be at par. Great selection of seafood from all over the world such as these scallops from Canada...

 

If you like to indulge in a glass of wine you would be in for sticker shock, as this bottle of wine is less than half the price at home!

Housing is also expensive with almost 90% of the population living in public housing. Residents can buy their apartments with a 99 year lease for approximately 300,000 dollars. These are well kept properties that are built in blocks all over the city. The ones below are in the neighbourhood where we are staying...

We are staying in an AirBnB which is a privately owned home valued at 4 million,where the owner rents out rooms to travellers. This house is in a gated community near parks and the subway and is quite lovely and so clean...

In order to be travelling for four months we need to keep the cost of accommodation as low as possible so this one fit the bill for clean, safe, well located and inexpensive!

So our overall impressions of Singapore are quite positive even though our expectations weren't high. We could have easily spent a couple more nights here as there is so much to see and do, but we have tickets for a flight to Bali in the morning and are excited about that! 

So long Singapore, we enjoyed the visit and here is a happy selfie to prove it....