Fleeing Bangkok

I had just got back to Bangkok from San Francisco where I had visited Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon to extend my student Visa and re-start my Thai Language classes when I heard that the “red shirts” were at it again.  Without getting into details, tens of thousands and possibly millions of (mostly rural) Thai people unhappy with the current government were planning on converging on Bangkok for a huge protest.

Mass gatherings are not my cup of tea especially ones that could bring bombings or violent military responses.  I’d probably feel most comfortable in a large crowd of Thai people than any other but that’s not saying much.  My dislike for being in large crowds culminated as I was getting squashed and pickpocket during New Years on Copacabana Beach in Brazil and I have no desire to experience that again.

I felt that I needed stability in the midst of the political instability of Bangkok so why not head to one of the purported safest and most stable countries in the world?  I booked a one way Jetstar Asia flight to Singapore for Thursday the day before I heard there was to be a big red shirt rally in Bangkok on March 12, 2010.

Finding a Hotel in Singapore

I booked my flight to Singapore with a relatively short notice so as usual I had to scramble to find a hotel.  I used sites such as Hotels.com and AsiaRooms.com to get the general range of places to stay in Singapore and I discovered that there is not much as far as mid-range hotels go.

The cheap prices that came up in searches were usually hostels and budget hotels without basic amenities while the expensive hotels cost an arm and a leg.  I was debating a night at Novotel which is located directly on the scenic, vibrant Clarke Quay dining and night life area but the cost came up to around $200 a night which was too much for the 6 hours I’d be spending there sleeping.  I ended up staying at the same hotel for my entire stay which was located in the Geylang area.

Places to Stay in Singapore:  Fragrance Hotel Pearl

Getting Around in Singapore

Often times the subway is the best way to get around in large cities.  When a subway is convenient I will always take the subway as the first method of getting around when traveling to new cities.  My hotel was located a 10 minute walk from the nearest MRT station.

About 10 minutes after getting the hotel room I strapped on my camera bag and began walking toward the MRT station.  It was Thursday afternoon around 1 or 2pm so as I arrived to the MRT station profusely sweating.  There were multiple lines at this station so I asked the MRT workers for help.

Upon arriving to the ticket machine you will see a rather large LCD display with the entire Singapore MRT system on it.  There are 6 options on the left one which is “buy single trip ticket.”  After choosing single trip ticket you are asked to select your destination by touching the map on the LCD display.  I believe the maximum cost was $2 Singapore which is around $1.40 USD which I found to be quite a bargain as some trips were well over a dozen stops.

My first trip on SMRT was only 4 stops and I was expecting a light load on the subways being it was mid-day on a normal week day.  Upon entering the train I was rather shocked to see how crowded the subway was.  I asked a student in the subway if it was always this crowded and he told me it was.  I was only going 4 stops to the City Hall MRT to see the harbor so it didn’t bother me too much.

Things to Do in Singapore

I had an open ended itinerary in Singapore so my plan was to play it by ear.  Other than the few ideas for things to do in Singapore I got from my old client and friend Alvin which I wrote on a note card and put in my wallet upon arriving I really had no idea what I’d be doing.

Along with my friend’s recommendations I picked up 2 or 3 Singapore tourist maps at the airport.  I didn’t notice it until the end of my trip but each map was for something different.  There was a ‘medical’ map which listed all the hospitals and spas, a ‘night life’ map as well as a general tourism map.  I used the tourism map as a basic guide as I did some of the following:

Singapore River Boat Tour

Singapore Zoo / Night Safari

Jurong Bird Park

Singapore Botanic Gardens

East Coast Park Bicycle Ride

Singapore Flyer

Mount Faber Hike – Sight Seeing

Singapore Cable Car

The cable car was out of service when I was in Singapore.  It is actually a “bi-cable gondola lift” which is a cable suspended air trolley with glass bottoms for sight seeing.  Singapore cable car has 3 stations originating from 300m above sea level at the top of Mount Faber to the Harbour front station located on the edge of as well as Singapore’s resort island, Sentosa.  The fair cost of the cable car ride is 19 Singapore dollars ($13.40 USD) which would make worth doing, especially if you like taking photos and/or want to get to Sentosa in style.

Sentosa

Sentosa, which translates to peace and tranquility in Malay, is Singapore’s mega popular island resort, visited by some five million people a year. Attractions include a two-kilometre long sheltered beach, Fort Siloso, two golf courses and two five-star hotels, and the Resorts World Sentosa, featuring the new theme park Universal Studios Singapore.  Since I was traveling alone and was heading to Koh Samui and Koh Phangan, Thailand after Singapore so I decided to skip my trip to Sentosa as I would rather spend less in Thailand and experience natural beauty than what I perceive as an artificial paradise.

Shopping

As with most large Asian cities, you can’t cram in 5 million people on a small area without having tremendous amounts of shopping centers and Singapore is no exception.  Places to shop range from small knock off clothes vendors to high-end luxury stores such as Hermes and Louis Vuitton. This paragraph blurb hardly does Singapore’s shopping scene justice.  If you are into shopping and find yourself in Singapore you will find everything you need and then some.

The prices seemed to be fair unlike Tokyo but probably more than places such as Bangkok or Kuala Lumpur where many Singaporeans go looking for deals.  As usual I didn’t spend much shopping for stuff but I did pick up a new Kata 123-Go 30 camera bag at Funan Digital Life mall, one of the 2 highly recommended electronic shopping areas by everyone along with Sim Lim Square which I didn’t have a chance to get to.

Places to Eat in Singapore:  Everywhere!

I was very impressed with the food in Singapore.  First off, I love Indian food and I had a chance to try numerous types of Indian food I had never eaten before in Singapore.  The convergence between Chinese, Indian, Malay and even Japanese people seemed to make Singapore a culinary paradise.

Geylang Road

I ate off hawker stands for almost every meal and was never dissatisfied.  Along with cheap food all over the city/country there is a large assortment of fine dining options as well.

Little India

To be honest I expected a lot more from Little India.  I expected it to be a huge section of Singapore when in fact it seemed to be more like a couple blocks.  The Indian food I had in Little India was definitely not a disappointment though.  For a very cheap price I got a huge square grass-like plate of some of the most delicious Indian Food I’ve ever had and Indian Food is my favorite!  I could have probably explored Little India in Singapore a little bit more but I’ll leave that up to you.

Chinatown

Chinatown was even less impressive than Little India.  Since the population of Singapore consists 70% ethnic Chinese I didn’t really expect too much from Chinatown and I was not surprised when it turned out to be a small shopping center with some small shops as well as food stalls.  I got a couple pork buns and was on my way as there is a Chinatown MRT station right in the center of Singapore’s Chinatown.

Overall Impression

After the initial “cool” factor of visiting a new place I always think about whether I’d ever live there and Singapore immediately received my seal of approval.  When thinking about it, it took me a while to come up with some reasons why I wouldn’t want to live in Singapore and one was the slight sterile feeling.

I would recommend anyone visiting Southeast Asia to check out Singapore for at least 3 days.  If anything it will give you a stark contrast from some of the less developed countries as although Singapore is still classified as a “developing country” it is just as developed as any city in the USA along with being safer, cleaner and friendlier.

View the full Singapore Photo Archive at tourismPICS.com

View the full Singapore Photo Archive at tourismPICS.com

Last 5 posts by Mike Behnken

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