Having "wasted" a day on the girls yesterday (kidding :-)), we were bound and determined to do a Griswalds-esque grande tour of Singapore today. We wanted to do the impossible - hit the highlights of a huge, modern city all in one day, but in a relaxed way... I must say, we had some tired eyes (not just kids) at the end of the day, but we accomplished our goal!
I said yesterday that my impression of Singapore in 1997 was that it felt a little devoid of culture, and fairly antiseptic. Whether I'm seeing it through a new lens (probably) or things have changed quite a bit (likely too!), I'm now seeing a city that accentuates cultural differences, highlights art and nature throughout, and is host to a diverse populace that seems (on the surface I guess) to live in some kind of harmony.
I was in my element being able to talk to cabbies - I love doing this at home, and except for a little in Hong Kong, I haven't been able to communicate with the the drivers in Southeast Asia. I always find they will give you the lowdown on things very quickly. We were thinking of getting a ticket on one of those city wide on/off tourist buses, but with 4 people, cabs seemed a better option. Scratching the surface a little with insider taxi talk, I see it's a very proud city, but the divide between rich and poor is affecting life in the city state. It sounds like the cost of living (housing especially) is going through the roof (sound familiar?) driven largely by mainland Chinese buying up large portions of real estate in order to move good or bad money out of China.
While it is an expensive place to live (also propped up by the millions of expats who have transport and accommodation paid for among other things), Singapore is not resting on its laurels. It has an extensive subway system already, but is in the process of building SIX! more lines (sound familiar? No...), including an underground line for commercial use only that will eliminate trucks in the downtown core. Very cool.
On to the day... We walked over to our first area - Little India. As the kids said later, it felt like we had left Singapore and were dropped in Bombay. So cool. Breakfast was the first order of the day, so we tried two places, finally getting some Doasai and Prata.... Yum.
I'd been telling Abby about Masala Dosa / Dosai for months - we even tried, unsuccessfully, making them a while ago. Oh my god, Indian breakfasts are so good. For Beth, it was initially a little intimidating I think - we were suddenly in some places where it was nearly 100% male and we were getting a lot of stares. However, when we dug into breakfast, we seemed to blend in a bit (?).
Little India is not just one street. It is a whole section of the city covering many blocks. We strolled around, through market areas, food courts, streets packed with shops. Beth got a taste of negotiating with a pashmina vendor that was pretty darn aggressive, so she passed and got an earful. Ah, good to be back in India! The girls got some small Henna designs on their hands for kicks....
The thing you notice about Singapore (and Malaysia) is the way different religions are thrown together and seem to mix harmoniously. You'll see a mosque, down the street from a Chinese temple across from a Hindu temple, and the thing that makes me bristle with pride is that the kids recognize the difference, and can even explain why! Some of this trip is being absorbed in their brains - hooray!!!
Little India, check!
We grabbed a cab over to the River area - Central, Clarke and Boat Quays. This waterfront area has really changed over the years. It's yuppy central, though in the morning, the only thing that was open was hooters (where Robin asked to come back to for lunch because the staff looked friendly.... Sure, ok). We got tickets for a forty minute river cruise.
The cruise was pretty good - not quite as much information as the Chicago Architectural Cruise, but pretty nice. The river area opens up into a beautiful bay, surrounded by modern wonders. Huge, unique skyscrapers, parks, boardwalks and the beautiful Marina Bay development (seen at night below). I also saw this beauty...
After seeing the Quays from the water, we took to foot and walked up and down both sides, checking out the shops and sights. We stopped in at a brewpub for a salad to keep the girls going (and a beer for me!).
Quays... Check!
We climbed up into Fort Canning park for some shade and a shortcut over to Orchard Road. Orchard is the famous shopping street in Singapore and it continues to evolve into a very elegant experience - about 2km of huge malls, expensive boutiques, brand name retailers and lots of people! With ultra modern, funky architecture, it's really looking like Omotesando in Tokyo, but the scale is even bigger. The whole street is lined with huge trees and everything is perfectly manicured and immaculately clean. I'm continually amazed at the presence of Japanese retail companies. In the 80's Japan spent all its time on trying to conquer America, but after the big bubble burst, it seems like they refocused on their neighbours, with dramatic success. You can't go to far without seeing the Japanese influence everywhere you go - I don't remember that at all in '97.
We picked up some Japanese rice balls and rolls, and had a picnic lunch outside in the shade while we people watched. This is really an expat town, and Beth and I were virtually planning a future work stint here :-). I don't see many bungalows to knock down, but I DO see small groups of cyclists tooling around.....
The girls were in heaven - I don't get the allure of the shopping thing, but they all needed a dose, which they took in spades. At one H and M jaunt, they completely missed a 30 minute rainstorm while I waited at the front door. By the time they got through the checkout line, the streets were completely dry (it doesn't take long in this heat!).
Orchard Road... Check!
We took a taxi to Chinatown, starting off at the Maxwell hawker food building. I remember coming here in '97 and it looked identical. We weren't in the mood for dinner, but we did share a plate of the famous "chicken rice" dish that has made this vendor pretty rich I'm sure. The rice was good, the chicken was ok.
Chinatown has come a long way. I was blown away by the way they've done the streets up. Some of the alleyways were now pedestrian only with large glass coverings far overhead to keep the rain and sun away - we need more streets like this in Toronto. Less streets for cars = more streets for people.
The three kids were amused by the $1 rubber ducks, which added to the hilarity when we later saw this sign.... I guess we weren't the only ones making them quack!
We were only in Chinatown for an hour or so - we are not so impressed lately with "markets" - there must be a large country nearby supplying all of these SE Asian countries with the same crap, but I can't put my finger on what country that could be.....
Chinatown.... Check!
Next up, one of the cheesiest "must do" things in Singapore is to get a Singspore Sling at the Raffles Hotel. Named after the East Indian Trading Company exec who founded Singapore, Raffles is actually a beautiful hotel that looks very "Raj". The Singapore Sling was "invented" here in the early 1900's and it is a "thing" to have one here.
We balked at coming here in '97 as it was an overpriced tourist trap... But the damn trap worked this time! $100 Canadian for 2 original and 2 virgin Singapore slings... Wow! But we had a scheme to get our money's worth...
The hotel bar had free unshelled peanuts, so having previously checked the market price, knocked off 30% for retail markup then dividing the estimated gross profit of the drinks by the unit weight price of the peanuts, we came up with a body weight sliding scale portion for how many peanuts we had to eat for the hotel to suffer a slight loss on our visit! Brilliant! I wish I had thought of that before we had left.... However, we had a good cheesy time!
We walked back to our hotel, a nice place with a pool called the V Hotel on Bencoolen. The kids had an hour swim and were slightly recharged and ready to go around 8pm. We canned it over to the newish Marina Bay Area, stopping in at Satay by the Bay for some snacks. This place was an outdoor food court that was full of families and adults enjoying the (very slightly) cooler evening temperature.
A short walk away was the Supertree Grove near the Garden by the Bay complex. The Gardens are closed in the evening, but we came for the 10pm light show in the grove. The grove is a collection of huge metallic "tree" structures in a giant man made park with the huge Marina Bay hotel looming in the background. There was a local hip hop group playing to a few hundred fans - they were actually pretty good.
The kids were tired, and Beth wasn't feeling that hot, but they wanted to stay for a bit, so we found a quiet perch on a bridge and watched the lightshow. It was a great way to cap off the evening.
We continued on the bridge, across, and through the Marina Bay Hotel. It is stunning - Vegas should be quite jealous. Indeed, as we continued through the hotel and into the shopping and casino area, it seemed like we could have been in Vegas - right down to an interior river with boats that mirrored the Venetian.
What a day - Singapore is a beautiful city. The kids loved the place, and Beth and I felt at home - almost as much as when we were in Tokyo. The city is kind of a middle ground between Tokyo and Toronto - it has all of the modern conveniences and wonders of a huge, modern Asian city, with the people and multi cultural aspects of our home city. We'll be back for sure. I'm sure the kids would have liked to stay for a month, but we really need to get back into backpacker mode before our bank accounts run dry here :-).
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