Singapore – Bits of everything

I have been to Singapore on several occasions from holidaying with my family when I was 11 living in Malaysia to one of the legs of a cricket tour to a 3 week working stint. And now it is a 2 day stopover on the way to England to try and break up that horrible Sydney to London flight. And this time I was with someone who had never visited, and it had been over 2 decades since my last visit.
There were 4 things on my to-do list for Singapore:

1. Eat roti chanai – tick, managed that on day one. Roti was a stable diet in Malaysia and while there are some good imitations in Australia nothing comes close as it does over there.

2. Still food related and that was to eat Mangosteen – again, when in season we would pig out on this most delicious fruit when living in Malaysia. And again, they are sold in Australia but for $30/kg and they are tiny. Imagine my joy when I discovered that we were going to be there in Mangosteen season. And a bag of about 10 cost about $12 and pig out I did. Messy but well worth it.

3. Visit the Padang – this was the site of our second game of cricket on tour. Just wanted to go back and walk on the wicket and take in the view back to the Singapore Cricket Club. Alas there was a temporary grandstand being built for what I can only imagine a concert of some sort so unfortunately the reminisce was not to occur.

4. Singapore Sling at Raffles – the Long Bar at Raffles is the home of the Singapore Sling, an amazing Gin based cocktail prefect for the steamy afternoon in the tropics. But it is more than just the drink.

Drinking a Singapore Sling in the Long Bar hits on several of the senses, takes you instantly back to the colonial past of this island jewel and even provides a bizarre ritual that belies the stuffiness of the upper class gentry that once graced these rooms, that being the tradition of throwing empty peanut shells on the floor. As a result of these many reasons that make it so enjoyable I came out of drinking retirement to partake one more time. And I was like a pig in poo. It was such an enjoyable experience. My very conservative partner even relaxed enough to start swiping the shells on to the floor. Well worth the A$100 price tag.

But I think the thing that really stood out for me this trip was the architecture that has been saved. Singapore is a very dense, high rise island 40% the size of Sydney but with similar population. There are high rises everywhere and they continue to build. (As a side note, there are some really amazing high rise buildings there, some very boring ones too, but also buildings that have greenery incorporated in them – we could learn a lesson). And that’s what I thought all of Singapore was save for a few colonial buildings like Raffles.

But no, not at all. And you only need to walk the streets and laneways of Little India and Chinatown to realise that the colonial past still remains.

I could add to that the storage rooms of Boat and Clarke Quay that are now the thriving food and entertainment areas of the island city. But what is really cool is the colour that has been brought to these old buildings in Chinatown and Little India. They look amazing. Some very run down, some maintained beautifully, but all with a bit of colour, a bit of individualism.

I always imagined Singaporians as being very conservative but this last trip showed me how wrong I was. They love a bit of colour, they appreciate and respect heritage, they do enjoy a sculpture and street are is adding a real flavour to the place.
I was so glad I made it back to Singapore and I am sure I will go again. There is plenty more to see one of the most prosperous economies in the world without a single natural resource to sell