Singapore!

City of the future?

You could be forgiven for assuming this was the cover of a prog rock concept album! This is in fact a shot taken from the Singapore Flyer looking out to the Gardens by the Bay.

Looking inland Singapore looks like a more conventional South East Asian city - at least from a distance; up close it's a different matter.

Here's another shot showing the F1 starting grid on the far right hand side

The Future is here now - well it's in South East Asia at any rate. Yes, we visited Singapore - one massive tick from the must do list whilst we're out here in South East Asia. 

It was a special trip for more than just geographical reasons - this was also our chance to see two members of the family that we haven't seen for over twelve years and Thomas has never met. It was in the largest part due to the incredible generosity of our hosts that we had such an amazing time and it was fantastic to visit my uncle and his partner and see the way they live, and the country of which they are such proud citizens (my uncle became a naturalised Singaporean citizen about three years ago). 

The visit was over a period of two and half days and took in several major attractions and experiences.

Our experience started in Changi airport terminal 1 arrivals quite late at night. The immigration line took a fair while and we didn't get the chance to see too much of the airport, but that would change later.

The hotel we were staying in was just around the corner from my uncle's apartment block and to my chagrin I still couldn't work out exactly where we were in relation to everything else - honestly we never really got to grips with the geography and layout of Singapore as in a cityscape it can be challenging to work proportions and directions out. We had a similar experience in KL - I never quite worked out where things were in relation to other things. Hopefully on our second visit we should get a little more orientated.

This is the view from the hotel facilities deck - I have no idea what I'm looking at... other than Singapore of course.

I read quite a few complaints about Singapore hotels, about the size and footprint of the rooms, but our hotel was more than adequate. It had two full sized double beds and compact bathroom, access to a pool terrace and gym - what more do you need? Apparently enough room to run a 1500 metre race around your bed if the reviews are to be believed. 

Singapore is a city state with permanent population of over 5 million and even more than that in terms of transient workers and visitors, so yeah, space is at a premium, but in most parts of the country you are in a massive CITY so buildings conform to this and that include hotels - they are city centre ones!

What is interesting is that despite, or more likely as a result of space being at a premium Singapore has made a huge effort to make the city as green as possible. In fact it is a stated development aim of the Singapore government since the state's very inception that it should be a city in garden. As a result it is one of the greenest cities that I have ever visited - and I've been to London!

An example here of a green wall up the side of this tower block. These vertical gardens are part of the mandatory planning rules for new buildings in Singapore.

Aside: London is the city ranked number 10 in the world for percentage green space. Weirdly, the city with the most green space is Moscow (at least according to this website). Singapore is ranked number 2 with 47% of its surface area given over to green spaces. London still has 33% of its area given over to green spaces, which is not bad.

Singapore is tiny - only a little over 700km2, but it has a population of over 5 and a half million. However it is so damn well organised you'd never know! Here in Penang there are less than a million people on the island and it has a larger surface area, however it is much more difficult to get around - traffic flows less freely, there are no public transport options beyond buses and these end up stuck in the same traffic as everyone else. This is just one example of the difference in the level of organisation between the two islands. We were driven round the island and the traffic flowed perfectly, but the public transport system in Singapore is legendarily efficient and affordable. 

We started our day by experiencing a truly local cultural event - we went to a Buddhist temple (a Burmese one - that's the correct definition for the sect of Buddhism, I know the country is called Myanmar now, calm down - I haven't come over all 1970s in my cultural attitudes!). This was a really special way to start our time as we experienced a Buddhist blessing (again thanks to our hosts for arranging this). The temple was immaculately kept and very quiet, which was apparently quite unusual, but it was mid morning on a weekday, which was not a holiday in Singapore, despite being one in Malaysia (Singapore stopped recognising Malaysia day in around 1965 for fairly obvious reasons...).

  

Nicola and Thomas either retrieving or depositing shoes - I can't remember which.

We then went for breakfast at the hawker centre near my Uncle and his partner's flat. The food was very good indeed and we even got to try some local baked specialities - a kind of tart made with a taro (it's kind of a root vegetable - I'm not confident about going any further than that - if you want to find our more, either get out here to South East Asia or use Google). The Tarts were brilliant and apparently were rarely available as they had a tendency to sell our quickly and I can understand why.

After this interlude we did the touristy thing - we went to the Gardens by the Bay. This is a part of Singapore that has to be on your itinerary if you are visiting. Here you get the iconic Singapore skyline that takes in the Garden, the downtown district, the old harbour and the Marina Bay Sands. 

Here's a stock image that knocks my photo from the top of the blog into a cocked hat...

It is genuinely a surreal experience (and it gets even more surreal at night) when you visit a place like this, somewhere that you have seen so often on a screen. It is also a surreal experience because the place is extraordinary - in a good way that is. The entire place begs the questions - why and how? Especially when you consider that this city state, which is frequently regarded as one of the most advanced, safe, clean and organised places on the earth, has existed for less than 60 years as an independent country in its own right and even then, not by choice. Singapore was originally part of the Federation of Malaysia until 1965 when it was forced out - a move which proved to be advantageous as it spurred the nascent country to become the economic powerhouse that it is today. (Okay, this is a massive oversimplification, but again, I'm not a historian or expert in economics and this is not what the blog is about!).

The Gardens by the Bay is definitely a highlight not to be missed and the glasshouses are definitely worth visiting. There are two domed habitats, the first of which is for more temperate and arid climate plants. The weird thing about these massive glass houses is the fact that the temperature is the opposite of what you would expect if you've spent time in anything like this in Northern Europe where the inside is considerably warmer than the outside. In Singapore the interior is cooler and drier than the prevailing conditions - another oddity of the region.

The gardens are also home to a number of art installations too.

There were several Mexican themed installations when we visited and the entire place was fascinating, from a point of view of the flora, the art and the architecture too.

One thing that stood out was the scale.

And this isn't even the tall dome...

This is the tall one - it replicates tropical cloud forests and is home the second largest indoor waterfall in the world. ('But what of the tallest one?' I hear you cry. Don't worry, we'll get to that eventually.)

It's huge! Really, weirdly huge. Don't forget this is still basically a greenhouse, but it's over six stories in height.

The entire building is filled with artificial clouds, which makes it a very pleasant place in contrast to the heat of the outside.

There is a lot of open mouthed gawping and frankly I can't blame anyone for it, I probably spent a fair amount of time slack jawed in bafflement too!

Art works and carnivorous plants together at last...

Super tree grove - I promise we are still on earth (you'll see more of these a bit later).

Attempting to get some perspective by looking up towards the artificial cliff built into the dome.

So the whole place was fascinating. Not just the plant life, although that is impressive I'm not sure that was the thing that left a lasting impression. The thing that impressed me most was the sheer scale an complexity of the engineering to create these habitats. This is kind of representative of Singapore in general.

Also near the bay there is a shopping mall - it has a river in it and you can get a boat tour of the shopping mall. Yes, a boat tour of the shopping mall...

Apparently this is 'normal'...

It's not all retail either - this is an art gallery:

It's very cool on the outside!

And equally impressive inside...

A light installation

Thomas drew an angry squid, which was animated and projected into an art installation - very cool!

The bridge next to the harbour where the art gallery and shopping mall are.

Whilst the ultra modern image of Singapore persists there is another side to it. Everywhere you turn there are traditional buildings - shophouses and temples - that are scattered throughout the new developments. The old ways are being preserved to an extent. Yes, there has been mass clearance of kampung style housing and now HDB flats and modern condos are the home to the majority of the population, but this has been the price of progress. Singapore has still done a good job of allowing the preservation of some of the historic buildings and given space to culturally important places too.

A Hindu temple in the heart of a shopping and housing district.

A shop selling traditional Taoist offerings to take either home or to a temple - gotta love anywhere that sells icons of the Monkey King!

The colonial era customs house - now a high end hotel - is well preserved. Just one of a number of historic landmarks that you can find.

There are even plenty of well curated public spaces with artworks and greenery all around the place. This was an art installation that had a an interactive water feature.

I really like this shot - all credit to the photographer! (Hint - it wasn't me...)

Singapore is not just city either - as I mentioned earlier it has one of the largest proportions of green space of any major urban area in the world. The zoo, more like a safari park, is impressive and the animals have more space than I've seen in many others. Regardless of your feelings about zoos, this is one of the better ones and is actively engaged in conservation efforts across South East Asia. We did the night safari and it was very interesting - I loved the fruit bats, but sadly, whilst my camera phone is quite good in the daylight it is let down by its low light capabilities. Here is the only half decent shot I got of a blurry lion from a long way away.

You get the general idea though...

Singapore is also able to take advantage of its island status and has a bespoke adventure and beach resort on Sentosa Island, another small island directly adjacent to 'mainland' Singapore. Here you can indulge in downhill luge, the Universal Studios theme park and Thomas particularly enjoyed getting to play on an inflatable water assault course with his great uncle! 

They're in there somewhere - honest!

So Singapore threw yet another curve ball our way - not only is it a high tech and traditional city, it also encompasses elements of a tropical resort and Floridian style theme park! Who knew... Okay I guess a lot of people actually knew, Sentosa is quite famous it turns out, but I was still both surprised and impressed.

Probably the most stunning and surreal (although it's a fine margin) experience was going back to the Gardens by the Bay at night - this is when Singaporean futurism is writ large. The Super Trees are illuminated and there is a light and music show - twice a night, every night, different themes, completely open access and free to anyone. It is mind-blowing! If you ever get the chance to go, you really must.

Why? How? ... or I suppose why not if you can.

Again - all credit to our trip photographer and guide for this shot!

And this one! I really like this shot...

The Gardens by the Bay and Singapore Flyer all illuminated - nope, not the set of the latest Star Wars movie, but an actual place!

The Marina Bay Sands - that deck on top has an infinity pool on it!

However, just when we thought Singapore had turned the extraordinary all the way up to 11 and couldn't go any further, it turned out we were wrong! The next day we visited the Jewel Mall at Changi airport - and again, if you are ever in the area you really must visit this place.

From the outside it is as unprepossessing as any other large and modern structure in Singapore, which is to say it is generically impressive, but so is most of the place! On the inside however...

Remember I said Singapore had the second largest indoor waterfall in the Gardens by the Bay... well here is the largest one. In a shopping mall... attached to an airport... as you do.

There's also a monorail...

And a series of climbing/bouncing/walking nets that you can go on... and a mirror maze... and a tropical rainforest.

Mirror mirror...

And also the only official Pokémon store outside of Japan.

 

Despite all of the glitz and glamour of Singapore, the real highlight was still reconnecting with family. This was the purpose of the trip and it was our hosts and guides that made the visit special and hopefully we will get the chance to host them in Penang (although there are not quite as many amazing things packed into such a small space there are still quite a few amazing things to show a potential guest) soon. 

 

 

Getting together over food and visiting the sights of Singapore was a brilliant way to reconnect

Even though the visit to Singapore was brief we packed a lot into the time and got a taste (both literal and metaphorical) of this amazing city state. 

We may have only scratched the surface of Singapore, but much of what I've learned about the place comes from people who have first hand experience of living there. From what I can tell this is a country that works. Yes, doubtless there are problems - the cost of living is high, but not so high people can't afford it, space is limited, but not so limited that housing is beyond reach (the country has the highest level of home ownership anywhere in the world and there is social housing available). What we saw was a well organised, clean, modern, advanced society with high levels of education, excellent public transport, effective governance.

Is Singapore perfect? No - no such place exists. Is Singapore a place where it citizens are happy and proud of their country and enjoys a near universally high standard of living - yes! 

From first hand experience, albeit brief, I can see why the place tops out lists of best places in the world to live and work. 

If you ever find yourself in the area you really should visit!

Until the next time.

Best wishes all.

John, Nicola and Thomas.