Singapore

Singapore has a reputation for being an extremely clean and safe city with very strict rules in place to maintain it as such. While some of the punishments can be quite harsh, I think it works well. I was in a taxi with a Singaporean driver that reminded me of the story of the American teenager that was handed a sentence of six canings for theft and graffiti. He stole road signs and vandalized 18 cars over a period of ten days. Call me old fashioned, but maybe he deserved a caning. Singapore also has a reputation for being a somewhat boring city, which, for a twenty-year old would be an issue, but for raising a family, it’s a great spot to be.

We arrived at Changi airport at 10:30 pm, ordered a Grab (Asia’s version of Uber) and headed to stay with Mel’s sister’s (Patty) best friends Cecilia and Helmut. Helmut and I had lots to talk about since we are both in the mining industry. The kids were greeted by Ceci’s son Sebastian (14) who immediately welcomed them in and entertained them with the latest Plays Station 5 video games. Their place is at a building complex call the Interlace which is this massive set of buildings that are all interconnected like giant building blocks (see photo below). The place is equipped with a walking track, gym, pool, barbeque area, grocery store, meeting rooms, and karaoke rooms.

On our first full day in Singapore, we did a “cultural” tour where we checked out China Town, Arab Quarter, and Little India. We had an amazing authentic Lebanese lunch at Byblos – a big platter of hummus, baba ghanoush, and other dips and a huge pita the size of a football (filled with air), as well as this lamb pizza thing – all very good. We tried to check out the sultan mosque, but, alas, it was closed on Fridays. Haji Lane was a very cool spot – buildings painted in vibrant colours and chock full of restaurants and bars in this skinny little lane. Little India was cool to check out, but it all got a bit old after a while. Stall after stall of people selling the same cheap crap.

The next morning, we headed down to Sentosa Island to meet up at the Tanjong Beach Club with Matti and Sydney Irwin and Carter Smith. I know Matti from Camp Hurontario, and Carter is a good buddy of my brother Kyle’s who I got to know well at Kyle’s wedding in Japan and stag in Bali. We had a great time hanging out at the pool and by the beach drinking late morning margaritas and catching up. We continued the festivities back at Matti and Sydney’s place. It started to pour rain in the back, but we hung out under cover listening to great tunes all afternoon long. Thanks again to Matti and Syd for hosting us!

That evening we went out with Ceci and Sebastian to Marina Bay to grab dinner. Being Saturday night, everything was jam packed, so we put our names down for a 90-minute wait at Din Tai Fung, a delicious well-known Chinese food restaurant. While we waited, we walked along the boulevard that overlooks Marina Bay – at the stroke of 8 pm, a giant light/water show along with dramatic music started up in the middle of the bay – very entertaining!

The next day, we planned to have a “nature” day where we would visit the Botanical Gardens and MacRitchie Reservoir. We started into our walk at the gardens, and about 30 minutes into it, we got caught in a torrential downpour. Just before it started raining, we had ducked into this cave/tunnel that passes behind a waterfall. The rain was so strong that we would have been drenched if we left, so we were stuck there for over an hour waiting for a break. It eventually eased a little bit, just enough so that we could grab a taxi and head back. It continued raining the rest of the day so we ended up just chilling which was fine with us. On our way back, several cars turned back at a flooded section of road where an Audi had gotten stuck. Our driver gave it a go and we made it through (see video below).

In the morning, we set out to see Gardens by the Bay. These comprise a series of outdoor gardens, huge steel “tree” structures, and two large domed buildings – the Cloud Forest and the Flower Garden. One of the great things about being indoors was just the relief from the oppressive outdoor humidity. The Cloud Forest had the Avatar Experience going on which was cool and made it fun for the kids. We had lunch at Satay by the Bay – we ordered satayed chicken, beef, squid, and prawns, a hollowed-out pineapple stuffed full of rice, and a couple of pints of Tiger Beer. Yum!

In the evening, Ceci and Helmut very generously offered to look after the kids so that Mel and I could have a night out on the town. We went for a couple drinks at the Sky Bar at CeLaVi, located on the 57th floor of the Marina Bay Sands Hotel – a giant boat shaped structure atop of three towers. After drinks, we wandered along the bay front and settled on a nice Japanese restaurant located directly across the bay giving us a good view of the Marina Bay Sands Hotel.

On our final day, we kept things more local and went for a walk in the park beside the Interlace. The park had a steel walkway “the Forest Walk” about 20 to 30 feet above the forest floor. As we walked, the humidity really started to hit us. It is impossible to walk around in Singapore without soaking your shirt! We headed back home, showered up, and grabbed our stuff and made our way to the airport. We left a bit of extra time so we could check out the Jewel Mall – which has this massive indoor 360-degree waterfall that pours in from the glass ceiling.

Overall, we had an amazing time in Singapore. To be honest, I thought four days was going to be too much, but we could have easily spent more time. A huge thank you to Ceci, Helmut, and Sebastian for being such amazing hosts!!

Next stop – Thailand!