Singapore is different
All the countries where I have ever traveled, and this is almost 55, evoke certain associations in my mind.
When I thought about Singapore, I imagined Avatar trees, the Marina Bay Sands hotel, and botanical gardens. It’s not enough for a whole weekend with OneTwoTrip, isn’t it?
Many people believe that for this city a transfer of several hours is enough to tick the boxes listed above. After more thorough preparation for our trip, I was convinced of the opposite.
No, of course, I also brought those same photographs under magical trees with night illumination, powered by energy from the sun, or near either a hotel or a spaceship, but…
But believe me, we distributed all three days out of 96 hours that the city government generously allocates for visa-free transit wisely and did not get bored for a second.
I’ll share with you atypical tourist spots:
Chinese gardens – Chinese gardens
Little India — Indian quarter
Library@orchard – library in the shopping center
Punggol Waterway Park —suspension bridge in the park
Koon Seng Rd – colorful street
Chinatown – Chinatown
Clarke Quay —house with rainbow windows
Bugis Street —street with spiral staircases
Nanyang Technological University – university with a rooftop lawn
Helix Bridge – bridge with night illumination
We weren’t bored either because we kept wondering whether we were breaking Singapore’s strict laws. And now? And if you go there and do something?
But in fact, it turns out that even the ideal Singapore is not ideal: if you go from the center to several metro stations, you will see garbage on the street, for which the violator faces a fabulous sum.
Another paradox that came as a surprise to me – No matter which of the 365 days you decide to come to Singapore, there is always a risk of getting caught in tropical rain, getting sunburned or overheating. And, surprisingly, you can catch a cold from indoor air conditioners. I coped with the last one with a bang. I have never seen such a contrast anywhere else, so important advice: plan excursions and walks in the fresh air for the morning or evening, and museums and shopping centers for the day.
Assignment from readers
The most fun, of course, was doing a special task for the Kudablin project, which was chosen by my readers. I needed to not only have a picnic at the legendary Gardens by the bay – that’s half the battle – but also feed three passers-by. And this, unfortunately, did not work out for us. Because we exceeded the task: we fed a couple from India and a group of Koreans (there were seven of them). Singapore is generally a very multinational city, and thanks to this task I was convinced of this!
I don’t know if I myself would agree to eat the food that strangers offer me, but by miracle and natural charm I managed to inspire trust in them.
In the end, it turns out that the picture completely coincided with my expectations. Moreover, after three days in the city-country, I realized how different Singapore can be. Here the future meets the present, and nature meets architecture. Fines are proportional to salaries, and the number of indigenous people is inversely proportional to the number of visiting businessmen and tourists.
And by the way, this most expensive city on the planet is not that expensive, at least for tourism. So, if you, like me, have long had the idea of a trip to the banana-lemon store put aside in your subconscious, I insist on making it come true. Asia’s future awaits! And you know where to get tickets and book a hotel 🙂
Text and photo author: Sofya Filippova
Preview photo: unsplash.com
