Singapore
The Republic of Singapore is a small
independent country on the southern tip of Malaysia. As a former trading
post of the British East India trading company, the British influence is still
noticeable today. For the 5th year on a row it has been ranked as the
most expense city in the world to live in, and I had heard, even for a tourist
it was very expensive, but I didn't find it nearly that bad. English is
one of 4 official languages and the one most often spoken. The MRT, or
Mass Rapid Transport, was fast, efficient, easy to use and took me everywhere I
needed to go. As a US citizen, I didn't need a visa to visit.
I had heard so much about Singapore
being very clean and beautiful. I'm not sure it lived up to all the hype, but there
seemed to be flowers everywhere, even on bridges and pedestrian walkways. I’d say
it was about the same as Holland or Switzerland.
I went to visit Gardens by the Bay
and it was an amazing. It's a huge garden park, broken up into many different
areas. The three main attractions are the Supertree Grove, the Cloud Forest and
the Flowering Dome. The Flowering Dome is the largest greenhouses in the world.
It covers 1.2 hectors and features plants from around the world. They also have
statues carved in wood, scattered among the plantings. The carvings are
wonderful, there are displays from Alice in Wonderland, dragons, African animals
and some abstract carvings. They also have different sections like
Mediterranean where they have a thousand-year-old olive tree; rain forests with
trees from Central and South America; a Japanese garden; and my
favorite, a section with some of the strangest cacti I've ever seen. I
picked the perfect time to be in the green house because it was raining
outside, but for some reason, it was absolutely freezing inside. I saw a
display where they explained the technical world underneath the greenhouse.
They had pipes with cold water running under the dome to keep the plants
cold. I'm not sure why it had to be cold, especially in the areas like Central
and South America, where it would have been hot.
Right next door was the Cloud
Forest, another huge enclosed dome. It was the most unique thing I've ever
seen. At the entrance was a towering mountain, completely filled with lush
plants and waterfalls from top to bottom. You take an elevator to the top and
then you slowly walk down on the forest walk, one level at a time. Each level
represents different regions, so all of the plants are unique to that region.
Scattered throughout was the most astonishing variety of orchids
imaginable, some 28,000 different species. It was such an incredible
display, I just couldn't stop taking pictures. The Cloud Forest also had
some delightful statues and carvings including a giant mosaic of different
animal faces.
The most interesting part of the
entire Garden by the Bay was called the Supertree Grove. This display looked
like something straight out of a science fiction movie. These 22-meter-high
vertical structures were jam-packed with ferns, orchids, bromelaids,
climbing ivy and other plants, almost 163,000 in all; a perfect example of
vertical gardening. The top of the structure spreads out to form kind of
a bowl. It's almost impossible to describe. There are 8 to 10 of the
supertrees. At night there is an impressive light display, which I sadly
missed. There's a skyway that goes between the top of two of the
supertrees and the view is absolutely amazing. Besides viewing the entire
park, you can also see the Singapore Skyline in the background. I literally
spent all day in these three areas, it was the most wonderful park.
I also visited Little India, but it
was more of a food court serving Indonesian and Indian food. I saw many
people eating with their hands; they would make a pile of rice and meat by
moving the food to the center of the plate with their fingers, scoop up a mouth
full, tilt their head back and drop it in. Aside from that, the food
looked very unappealing to me. I noticed that in Malaysia, Hong Kong and
Singapore they ate a lot of chicken, but they cut it up in such a way that you
got a little bit of meat, but a big mouthful of bone and gristle.
I had heard about a law in Singapore
banning chewing gum. Of course, I turned to Wikipedia for the history. As
is true the world over, discarded gum was a problem everywhere, but was
specifically being used to vandalize mailboxes, keyholes and more in public
housing. In 1983 there was talk of banning it, but the issue was seen as
too drastic and dropped. In 1987 the $5 billion railway system MRT was built. Vandals soon began sticking gum on the door
sensors, preventing the doors from closing and basically disrupting the trains.
By 1992 the Prime Minister had had enough
and enacted a ban. Imports and sales of chewing
gum were halted. The ban is actually
still in effect, but you are now allowed certain dental or nicotine gum. I also noticed there is a $150 fine if you don’t
flush the toilet, $1000 fine for spitting in a public place, $10,000 for connecting
to someone else’s Wi-Fi, and $500 for feeding pigeons. Apparently, some public elevators have
sensors that detect if someone has urinated in them. The doors remain closed until the police arrive. I’d love to see that put in effect in
Italy.
Anyway, I mention the gum ban
because on my second day I realized I had some in my purse. And as
is the case, because I couldn’t have it, all I wanted was to chew it.
On the subway there were a lot of
signs about etiquette. Some of the posters were; "bags on the floor to
make room for more", "Show you care, offer this seat", #Standupstacy.
At one stop they had a row of antiscam posters, warning the elderly about
people asking for their banking information, reminding men that women they meet
on line may be more interested in money than love. There's one poster all over the city that says
if somebody needs assistance, because they've had an accident or whatever,
please help them. I’ve heard of several countries where if somebody falls or is
injured, people just walk around them and pretend they didn't notice. The
explanation given was that it was a ruse to rob people. Someone falls down, good
samaritans rushed to their aid, and accomplices pickpocket them.
As was the case with Kuala Lumpur, I
only had a few days in Singapore, but I loved it. This was my last stop on my 3-month SE Asia
tour and like everywhere else I visited, it was wonderful. There was so much to see and do, the people
were friendly, and the city was wonderful.
It was kind of sad that my trip was over, but big changes awaited me at
home.
Link to photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/SHGVHWpj7rArdKKt2
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