The moment we walked into Bangalore International airport it already felt like we were in a different country, but the contrast on arriving in Singapore after our three and half hour flight could not have been greater. Singapore wasn’t originally on my list of places that I’d like to visit having spent nearly two weeks here back at the turn of the millennium. I knew what the pros and cons of the place were but after coming from India the pros were all the sweeter and we wouldn’t be around long enough to worry about the cons.
We arrived early in the morning having barely slept on the plane and we were looking forward to the fresh European style coffee that Maren’s friend Kirsten had promised us. Kirsten is another friend Maren made during her time at the Sivananda Ashram. She’d given Maren an open invite to stay at her apartment should we come to Singapore, so here we were. Kirsten is a fellow German like Maren who has been teaching at one of Singapore’s many international who cater for the large ex-pat population that is present here. One of the perks of her job is a generous allowance for renting an apartment and we were so grateful that she was sharing her beautiful home with us. When we arrived she was as good as her word and it wasn’t long before the promised coffee was brewed, along with some European cheese and bread. We felt at home straight away.
After recovering from our flight it wasn’t long before we were taking the bus into town to see the city. Singapore is an ultra-modern city which feels both Asian and European at the same time, which influences coming from its neighbours and its colonial past. The first thing that you notice is how clean the place is. Singapore is almost unnaturally immaculate, largely thanks to draconian laws that severely punish those who drop litter with huge fines. It’s rare to see any litter anywhere and it makes London, which isn’t the cleanest place, looks positively filthy by comparison. Once we got off the bus at Orchard Road, the heart of shopping in Singapore, it was hard to find much dust anywhere, never mind litter. We quickly made our way to China Town on the MRT keen to see an area of town that would reflect the main Asian influence in Singapore with some seventy percent of the population having Chinese roots. With the two celebration for Chinese New Year almost half way through decorations were up all around the city but none more so than in China town. We were hungry, so before we’d had a chance to sit down we’d already been coaxed into sitting down at a local eatery and were quickly served an ice cold bottle of one of Singapore’s most famous exports, Tiger beer. Now we just had to choose what to eat and we were faced with another huge contrast, with a bewildering number of dishes to choose from and a menu that ran to several pages. We felt like fish out of water having eaten largely vegetarian Indian food for weeks. Now we were presented with numerous fried rice, noodle and soup dishes that all invariably involved meat or seafood. Thankfully this menu at least had pictures of each dish (something that would be a luxury elsewhere during our stay) but it took us a good twenty minutes to decide what to eat. This somewhat frustrated our waitress who seemed almost as bemused as us as to why it was taking so long to make our choice. In fact you rarely seem to be afforded anything more than a couple of minutes before someone wants to take your order her. After much deliberation we finally ordered and when our food arrived it was a taste sensation with forgotten flavours igniting our taste buds. This pattern continued during our stay. With so many options, especially at the food courts which you’ll find in most of the basements of the malls all over the city, it was always hard to choose, even stressful at times! We were thankful when we had Kirsten was there to take us out and order for us. However the eating itself was always a pleasure.
The next few days past quickly as we took the opportunity to do things we hadn’t been able to do easily whilst backpacking. We took pleasure in making breakfast for ourselves for the first time in months. We stocked up on anything that was often hard to find from toiletries to memory cards. We took a couple of years off Kirsten’s washing machine making sure everything we had got a proper wash. We found a cinema that was still showing Avatar (in 3D of course something I thought I might miss having left the UK on the day it came ou)t. We went clubbing at the world famous Zouk though sadly Timo Maas bored us to tears. We used Skype to call home to family and friends which was particularly nice. We made use of the large swimming pool in Kirsten’s apartment complex completing fifty lengths each morning after breakfast. We enjoyed all sorts of Asian food whilst seeing the sights and been taken out in the evening by Kirsten.
To repay Kirsten’s generosity putting us up for the week we decided to have a dinner party for her and her friends with us doing all the cooking. With a Chinese supermarket well stocked in Asian spices and sauces and huge counter full of fresh fish, I got all the ingredients for my red Thai fish curry, which some of you reading will be familiar with (or it’s chicken variant). Given the pressure of cooking for a large group of people and not having my cook book to hand I was relieved that I, along with Maren’s help, managed to rustle up something more than edible. Whether they were being polite or not everyone seemed to enjoy it.
Finally on our last full day in Singapore we decided to go to Sentosa Island as I was keen to visit the Underwater World which was supposed to be the largest in the world. This ended up being our final extreme contrast to India. Sentosa Island is a massive holiday resort cum theme park, built on what I suspect is largely reclaimed land. Is about as made-made and artificial as a place can be which served to remind us of all amazing naturally beautiful places that we had visited in India. Aside from seeing, in some cases touching, all marine life at the Underwater World we felt just wrong being there. It’s sad that we invest so much money in making such a place, no doubt at great cost to the environment, when there is such natural beauty that is being destroyed elsewhere.
That said we had a great time in Singapore. I had fun the last time I was here, but it wouldn’t have been a place that I would have put high on my list to return to. Singapore is somewhat of a police state using harsh laws with tough sentences to control the behaviour of its population. In some ways you can’t argue with the results. It’s successful, it’s clean, it’s safe and the people are friendly and well behaved. However, when you hear a story or two about being on the wrong side of its laws then it makes you feel uneasy. Kirsten and her fellow teachers told us over dinner how teenage students are routinely tested for drugs and alcohol which can in some cases lead to imprisonment. However, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed myself this time round. What I really appreciated when I was twenty two was more limited and in some ways different. I found myself thinking about what it might be like to live and work here and based on what I saw and Kirsten’s lifestyle it wasn’t a bad image. Which led me to another thought about one of my oldest and best friends, Dom. If all goes to plan he will shortly be moving to this part of the world and working here. Well I can happily report that I’m sure he’ll have a great time and Ettie, his wife, is also going to love as well, especially the food and shopping.
With our stay quickly overrunning on time it was time to get back on the road. We were resupplied, refreshed and ready for new experiences. To cross the border into Malaysia was as simple as taking the same bus we’d been using to get into the city for the last few days, except in the opposite direction. Our first stop, Melaka and then on to Kuala Lumpur.
Pictures from Singapore at http://picasaweb.google.com/kris.lander/Singapore
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