The last time I was in Singapore, Clinton was president. I came here several times on business.
To say that a lot has changed since then is an extreme understatement. In fact, it is because of all the changes that I wanted to return here. The truth is, I didn’t much like the old Singapore. Those were the days of “Singapore is a Fine city,” meaning you could get fined for just about anything. There were matrons in the restrooms to make sure you flushed the toilet. If taxis went one KM over the speed limit, a loud chime would sound. You wouldn’t even consider chewing gum.
The new Singapore is a lot more relaxed. But what drew me here is the innovative architecture.
But let’s start at my arrival. After 18+ hours flying, I arrived at Changi Airport almost an hour ahead of schedule. That meant that just after 5am I was making my way through immigration. Fortunately, there were taxis. Less fortunately, I couldn’t get into my hotel room, and no restaurants were open where I might get coffee.
The hotel staff were sympathetic and at 9am they found me a room were I could rest for a few hours. It took only moments for me to enter LaLa land.
A few hours later, semi-revived, I ate some lunch and drank a LOT of caffeine. Then I set off to the hop-on-hop-off bus to get my bearings. Apart from Raffles Hotel and the Botanical Garden, I didn’t recognize a thing. The new architecture is creative, eye-catching, and much of it is different from anything I’ve seen on my travels. When I visited mainland China, the jokingly said that the national bird is the crane (as in construction crane). The same can be said of Singapore, new buildings are going up everywhere.
One thing that hasn’t changed is the omnipresent shopping malls. They are everywhere, each one huge and luxurious. I guess Amazon hasn’t made any inroads here.
Chinese New Year begins in a few days; it will be the year of the horse. Decorations are up all over the city.
Singapore is known as foodie heaven. Hawker centers are Singapore’s communal dining rooms, open air, bustling spaces where Michelin recognized chefs and neighborhood aunties cook side-by-side. They are clusters of small, individually run food stalls gathered under one large roof, with shared tables in the middle. I thought my hotel was right in the middle of one and planned to eat dinner there. But when I walked into the area, I discovered bars, not restaurants (or at least they only serve drinks after 7 pm). My hawker experience will have to wait for tomorrow.
Sorry for not labeling the photos, but 1) I don’t know what half the buildings are and 2) I’m too tired to figure them out.