These wonderings bring to mind the old and often-true saying that you don't know what you have until it's gone. On our recent trip to Singapore we experienced this saying...but in a bit of a reverse. As you've heard us say time and time again in this blog, Taiwan has some really great things about it and some less-than-stellar things as well. These less-than-stellar things, you quickly learn to grin and bear and they no longer become (too much) of what you notice or think about.
On landing in Singapore and walking around the first day the very first things that we were aware of were how quiet, how clean and how orderly it was. It certainly didn't feel like we were in Asia, at least the Asia we knew! We had ceased to notice the lack of quiet, cleanliness and orderliness in Taiwan but we were suddenly blindingly aware of how nice having these things is as the prevalence of them in Singapore caused them to take center-stage in our minds. The whole time we were there, we were continually amazed at how bright, shiny and calm everything was.
This seemed mainly due to the abundance of laws and fines imposed. There were signs everywhere informing citizens and visitors of what to do and what not to do and how much you would have to pay if you did. Living in Taiwan, most of the time you actually expect people not to follow the laws (especially when it comes to driving), but here laws were in place and abided by and added a nice, orderly feeling to the place that we had been missing (in spite of all the adventures we've had in Taiwan).
The other thing we noticed and loved about Singapore is that it was truly a multi-cultural place. In one block of walking down the street, you would see at least five to ten different ethnicities and all manner of skin colors ranging from the whitest of white to the most beautiful dark chocolate shade of brown. In Taiwan we're used to feeling like a minority and get our fair share of stares and here it was nice to blend into a crowd where nobody blended in at all.
After a busy couple of months at work we vowed that we would spend the whole first day resting and lounging around the pool, but alas our curiosity took over and we spent the whole afternoon exporing the central part of the city on foot...a very easy thing to do since there is an abundance of wide sidewalks! In spite of being 85 miles from the equator, it felt surprisingly pleasant. Here are a few pictures from that first day.
This is the Arab District, which actually turned out to be our favorite place. It had a big mosque, lots of beautiful fabric for sale and sidewalk shopping to do and outdoor cafes to eat at.
The next thing we stumbled upon on our walk was the Fountain of Wealth, apparently the biggest fountain in the world.
After that we walked to the marina and got a different view of the skyline as well as some other pictures of that area.
Also, here is Singapore's famous "Merlion." Not quite sure what its significance is but it did take me until the last day to put two and two together and realize that it was a lion and a mermaid combined. Go figure. ; )
Our hotel was in a pretty great location, right on the river and across the bridge from the center of eating and nightlife in the city. The eating we were into of course, and the nightlife not as much.
We had read that Singapore had a Chinatown so that night we decided to head over there and try and find some dinner. Once there, it all started to feel a bit too familiar and we left, scratching our heads as to why we had come to this area in the first place when we were so relieved upon entering Singapore of all that was trying about Taiwan. We shrugged our shoulders and laughed, feeling like the "food hunt" was calling and we just had to embark on it because that's what we do. Never-the-less, Chinatown, like the Arab District, had some great old architecture that they had taken the pains to preserve. Go, Singapore!
The next day was our beach day. So, we headed over to the island of Sentosa, connected to the main island by a monorail. Here was the point of contintental Asia closest to the equator.
And, one of us...
But, please, beware of....PEACOCK ATTACKS!!!
The next day we ventured into Little India and came across this Hindu temple.
Once you stepped out of the MRT station in Little India, you were instantly enveloped in the heavy scent of incense mixed with flowers and curry. There were big garlands of flowers hanging everywhere and sidewalk markets selling every size and color of sparkly bangles. Unfortunately we don't have too many pictures as we didn't spend too much time here and preferred the wide open sidewalks of the rest of the city. This probably only being because we were enjoying a break from the always-congested sidewalks of Taiwan.
Our last night we decided to check out the Singapore Flyer. In addition to boasting the largest fountain in the world, Singapore can also claim the largest giant observation wheel in the world. For the price of what it costs to go up in the Space Needle in Seattle you get a 3o minute ride in a large capsule with floor to ceiling windows that is placed on the outside of a giant ferris wheel.
Singapore was a great place with tons of great food, variety of things to do as well as being very reasonable and easy to get around. We couldn't help thinking that it could be a good place to go if we were in need of another international adventure at some point.
The next morning we packed up our things and hopped on a plane back to Taiwan. Instantly, we were greeted with the familiar sights and smells of this place that has become our home over the past year. While anxious to go and explore more places, we will still miss many things about this place and may even mourn for some of those things once we're gone. So, as always, we are trying to focus on the present and not get too ahead of ourselves and into the next thing before one is finished. : )
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