Singapore – City of the Merlion (the magical union of lion…and mermaid)

I’ve always wanted to visit Singapore, not for anything else but the tasty food that I often hear about.  So we did a quick stop over for 2 nights in Singapore after Sydney and prior to heading to Taiwan for Chinese New Year.  Before I start talking about what we did in Singapore, I have to mention our flights with Singapore Airlines.  They were fantastic.  The new planes have wide individual TV screens (probably bigger than our netbook screen), comfortable seats, big washrooms, extraordinary service and excellent food.  Just like Cathay we got a menu even sitting in Economy class and ice cream after the meal.  There are also tons of new movies to choose from.  Our flight from Sydney to Singapore was about 8 hours long and it went by very quickly; I was disappointed when the captain announced that we were about to land.  Singapore Airlines is that awesome.  Someone from Air Canada (which sucks) should take notes.

Once we arrived in Singapore airport we decided on taking the train into the city as it only cost $2.10 and the closest MRT station to our hotel was about a 5 minute walk away.  We chilled for a bit in the hotel and went to Dempsey Road to meet our friend Wendy for dinner.  She used to be a dentist in London but has moved to Singapore for quite a few years now.  We met her at Samy’s Curry for its famous fish head curry.  She brought 2 friends with her and it turned out that we knew one of them already from Taiwan a few years back.  The food was delicious and it was interesting to hear about their lives in Singapore.  They like Singapore because it’s probably the next best place to make a good living besides Hong Kong in Asia.  It’s not as competitive as HK though so the work environment is more pleasurable, and the income tax rate is about the same.  The city itself has about 5 million people but it’s quite spread out so you don’t feel the crowding you normally would in other major Asian cities.  We also learned that because the fertility rate (like in all developed countries) is very low in Singapore, so the government is trying to encourage people to have families by sending brochures to single adults offering dating advice.  Too bad we didn’t stay long enough for our friends to show us some of these brochures.  The next day we walked around Chinatown and had some really good food from the hawker stalls.  We each picked a stall with a long line up and shared our finds of Hainan Chicken Rice and Fish Slice Noodles.  Both turned out to be successful choices.  We then went to the famous Orchard road and spent the rest of the afternoon in the vicinity.  Orchard Road is comparable to Fifth Avenue in Manhattan with high end retail shops and department stores.  We took a break in a big food court next to Takashimaya department store and tried a Laksa and Fukien Fried Noodles.  Again they did not disappoint.  With less than an hour before meeting our Singaporean friends we met in Myanmar, we took a scenic walk from Orchard Road to Clark Quay and from the Merlion statue (picture above) back to River Walk.  We then met our friends at the Jumbo restaurant for some yummy chilli crab and drunken prawns.  I was very satisfied to finally taste the chilli crab here because we heard from three different friends to go to Jumbo to specifically order that dish.  The sauce was flavourful but maybe because we are spoiled by the big juicy Dungeness crabs in Vancouver, we found the crab a little small and not meaty enough.  The waitress did warn us that they only had smaller crabs left when we ordered though.  Our friends were still right for recommending it to us, it was pretty damn good!

Singapore is a very clean and well run country.  It was very easy to travel around especially since we speak 2 of the 4 official languages (English, Chinese, Malay, and Tamil) here.  There aren’t many sights to visit though as we probably saw everything walking around the city for half a day.  That said, it is amazing how this small place is doing so well economically despite the downturn that the rest of the world faces.  The people seem quite content with this country as well.  Many, including Eug, say the country is sterile, and you definitely get that sensation (they’re not a riotous group, these Singaporeans).  However, I think most of the citizens here are willing to make concessions on having an energetic, dynamic city vibe in return for a safe, clean, and prosperous life.  The government definitely holds a lot of power here, but it seems to do its job efficiently and amazingly well when it comes to promoting economic growth and educational/professional opportunities.  Though I’m not completely advocating a Singaporean style of rule, I think a lot of other countries can learn a lot from this city state.  I, for one, am glad to have had the chance to finally visit Singapore.  Now it’s time to go to Taipei to celebrate Chinese New Year!