Singapore – Passion Made Possible – Where in the World is Debra Grimes?

 “Traveling is a way to discover new cultures and ways of life, to learn about the world and ourselves, and to create lasting memories.” – Unknown

February 1 – 8, 2024

Happy Chinese Lunar New Year!

Singapore was a very enjoyable island. It is a country and a city, about the size of Rhode Island, with 6 million residents -that compares to the just over 1 million residents in RI. Fortuitously my AirBnB here was located in Chinatown, as the city was just getting ready for the Chinese Lunar New Year (CNY), so there was a lot going on. This will be the year of the dragon. The streets were arched with celebratory lights and red lanterns festooned the walkways, restaurants and shops. The lanes were filled with stalls selling every manner of holiday decorations, treats, and gifts, all dressed up in red and gold. At times you had to squeeze through the crowds to see the items or get a sample of treats they were handing out. There was a festive air throughout the city, dragons decorating every sector, from the heart of Chinatown to the finance district and beyond.

I explored the city in two ways: on the hop on hop off bus and walking. Singapore has a great public transit system but most days I was in my room for hours, working on my blogs and planning for the next legs of my trip, so it was good to get out and get my heart pumping. Oh, and I was doing some accounting – taxes are due soon. Yuck! I wish I could postpone filing them, but not this year, at least without risking a major penalty. Chinatown was centrally located which was great. Singapore is very safe so it was comfortable ambling about the city even at night. It was hot and humid, high 80’s though it felt like the mid-90’s, so I often arrived a little bit more bedraggled than when I left. There was usually a rainstorm each afternoon but somehow I missed getting drenched. It’s not always easy to get where you’re going though, many of the streets only have three crosswalks so that you have to cross 3 streets to get to the other side. Singapore is filled with skyscrapers – it has to be, to be so densely populated, with some amazing architecture. The majority of Singaporeans, 77%, live in government subsidized flat or apartments, which I understand are very nice, comparable to privately owned housing. Chinatown, Little India, and Kampong Glam – the Muslim section, are dwarfed by the surrounding towers with mostly two or three story shophouses built in the 1920’s.

Visiting each of those enclaves was like being transported to their home countries. The faces in each looked different, as well as the demographics. Chinatown was filled with quite a number of elderly people, wheelchairs abounded here. Little India boasted much younger, more urban, professional types. Saris were seen, although not abundantly. There were numerous gold stores here as well, just as I saw in the cities of India. Kampong Glam had much more of a mixtures of faces with head scarfs seen quite often. I visited the Mustafa Centre in Little India, a huge department store open 24 hours a day. I was overwhelmed with the number of items inside, over 300,000 by some count. Singapore considers itself a very multi-cultural city even though almost 76% of its population is Chinese, 15% Malaysian and 7.5% Indian. They also promote religious freedom. They even have streets named Church, Pagoda, Temple, Mosque and more.

Singapore is a town for foodies. It has 55 Michelin star restaurants, including many in their Hawker Centers. Hawker Centers are basically food courts filled with restaurants from almost every Asian country and ethnicity. They are very busy places. Trying to weave in and out between the people, as you scan the pictures posted of the various dishes, while you decide what to eat, is a feat in itself and is sure to help you work up an appetite, if the smells haven’t already. The only way to order is by pointing at the pictures or the items on display, as most of the staff speak little English. In between all the food stalls are tables, a great place to people watch when you can find a seat. When you enter, you place a small container of tissues, your sunglasses, or other item on a table to reserve your space. It’s important to bring your own napkins or wipes as none are provided here. I ate lunch most days at one of the several food halls near me. Meals cost as little as three Singapore dollars up to ten. With the strong US dollar eating here was really inexpensive. I enjoyed hokkien mee – a seafood noodle dish, carrot cake – a cut up omelet served with white radish rice flour dumplings of sorts, biryani at a Michelin recognized stall, Hainense rice with a several sides of veggies, and more.

I also ate at a southern American themed restaurant at the foot of the iconic Marina Bay Sands, three tall towers with what looks like a boat across the top. You may have seen it in Crazy Rich Asians. I couldn’t resist mac and cheese and roasted Brussels Sprouts – a taste of home. They had good bourbon too. Cocktail were expensive however, often $24 to 26 Singapore dollars or $18-20 US dollars. I also had the famous chilli crab, a crab cooked in a sweet red sauce. Yum. I and another woman, from Sheffield, England, arrived at the restaurant at the same time, got into a conversation and decided to eat together. It was a fun meal shared with the lovely Anne. I tried several Chinese sweets, many made special because of the new year, including a pineapple egg tart. Eating pineapple treats this time of year ushers in a year of prosperity. Who can’t use a year of prosperity. I had a fun cocktail at a tiny little bar near my AirBnB, especially made for the CNY and served in a cute porcelain cup with a lid.

My AirBnB was very comfortable but tiny, less than 200 sq ft. Huge compared to the capsule hotels in the city – you’ll have to look that one up. My room had everything I needed though: a queen bed with a comfortable mattress and nice linens, a washer and dryer, a microwave, a kettle – you find this in most hotels and rooms in Asia, and a nice bathroom with hot water. There was about a 6’x3′ space in the center of the room, just enough space for me to do a little yoga each day. It was located in one of the 1920’s shophouses that lined the streets, the lower levels filled with stores and restaurants. Covered walkways out front, provided much needed shade from the sun. Just up the street was a major Singapore bus stop, as well as the pick-up point for my hop on hop off coach. I found my kombucha here too, however it wasn’t refrigerated which worried me a little, as all the brands at home have to be kept cold to avoid further fermentation. It was good however. Shopping in the Chinese grocery stores was little bit of a challenge as I didn’t understand what most of the packaged goods were and the bread was pretty basic. I finally found a little shop that sold baguettes.

My taxi driver told me that in 1965 Malaysia kicked Singapore out of the republic because there were too many Chinese here. That is when they became an independent country. He also said many people still have not forgiven them, as Singapore has no natural resources or even a source of fresh water. Singapore thrived however, its GDP is twice that of Malaysia. The country is very stable, having the same government for many years. One, the driver says, that thinks and plans 20 to 50 years ahead. They have low taxes and very low unemployment, only 2%. It is called the Garden City as 47% of its land is green space. Singapore has grown over the decades adding 20 to 25% of its land mass through reclamation. I’m not sure the sea actually took the land to begin with or if that’s just the term that is used when you build land into the ocean. The country had 15 million tourists last year, the same amount as Nashville, however around 500,000 were medical tourists. It’s a hot spot for tummy tucks, chin lifts, and body sculpting.

I talked briefly with a woman in Australia who lives in Singapore, who said it was a nice place to live if you didn’t mind losing a lot of freedom. I thought that was a weird comment but at the time I didn’t pursue it – it didn’t really feel like she wanted to talk more. The comment stuck in my head however, and now I understand why she might have said it. Traffic isn’t bad here considering its density and that’s because the government discourages auto ownership in three ways. One, you have to purchase a certificate even to buy a car and it has a hefty price tag, $106,000 – I’m not sure if that’s Singapore dollars or American. That’s more than a car costs! Then they have a ERP, which is an electronic toll system which tracks your usage of the roads and charges you for it. And they believe they have a good multi-modal transit system so you shouldn’t need a car. That’s certainly one freedom impinged upon that Americans at least would complain about. There are also severe fines for many minor infractions such as vaping- one tourist just got 10 days in jail, spitting, littering, and eating on public transportation, etc. All of which makes a much cleaner and safer city. And Singapore is clean and safe. I guess everything is a trade off.

Back to the lack of water in Singapore. The country has worked very hard to create fresh water sources. One way they have done so is to build desalination plants. Another is to dam up their rivers to create reservoirs to capture stormwater runoff. One such cachement area is the marina barrage, which is at the confluence of five rivers and the sea. The entrance to the rivers was basically salt water. After the dam was built, the area would fill up with rainwater and then the dam would open at low tide and push the salt water out. After two years they had a fresh water resource. The water treatment plant at the site is also a green space and community recreation area. They have at least a dozen of these projects. Right now they have a contract with Malaysia for 40% of their water needs, they hope soon to be able to provide all their fresh water themselves. I thought the water from the tap was very good and was glad not to have to buy bottled water.

Besides visiting the barrage, I also enjoyed riding the Singapore Flyer -very similar to the London Eye, touring Gardens by the Bay with it’s Cloud Forest, Flower Dome and Supertrees, and shopping on the renowned Orchard Road – albeit only for hiking poles. I missed the Botanical Gardens, the Zoo, and the casino. There is a lot to do in this city state.