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It’s 5.40 am and I just stepped out of a Boeing 747-400 after a 12 hour red-eye flight from Singapore, but I feel relaxed and wide awake. Though I had booked an economy class flight, I received a new boarding pass for Business Class when boarding the aircraft at Singapore’s Changi Airport because economy class was overbooked. Thus, I had a great flight, spent at least 8 hours sleeping in a “lie flat” seat and enjoyed the upscale meals.

This pleasant surprise was in a row with all the wonderful experiences I had during my 10-day stay in the Southeast Asian city-state.

I’m pretty sure that I have explored more of Singapore than the majority of tourists do and I have not eaten Western food except once at “Botak Jones”, an “authentic” American restaurant in Somerset where I ate a “Cajun Burger” and “Spicy Fries”.

Singapore’s food is the best in the world, at least that’s my opinion. Not only because of the big variety of food ranging from Indian, Malay, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean and Thai to Chinese dishes, but also because dining in Singapore is also very affordable and healthy. I could really get used to eating Asian food only. Though there’s no need to forgo Western food in Singapore. Just as in every major city in the world, there is at least one Starbucks, McDonald’s, Burger King or KFC at every other corner. In addition, there are also numerous Italian, French, German, Greek, Argentinean and other restaurants in the around town area. However, I think as an open-minded visitor, it’s way better to try something new at a food stall at a hawker center or an air-conditioned food court. Quite often I didn’t really know what I was eating, but whatever it was, it was delicious!!! And since Singapore is definitely the world’s cleanest cities, there’s no need to be afraid of unhygienic food. They’re controlled strictly by authorities.

Apart from being a great place to dine, Singapore is also one of the world’s best places for shopping. It cannot be denied that Singaporeans are kind of addicted to eating and shopping. Otherwise it would be hard to explain the high density of shopping malls and food courts, hawker centers, cafés, and restaurants. In fact, I have never been to a place with that many shopping malls in a relatively small area; and I am sure I won’t find another place like this.

But shopping is not only popular among Singaporeans. Most tourists - except the 5-hour-stopover passengers on their way from Europe to Australia or to other destinations in Asia Pacific - will likely fail not to exceed the luggage weight limits. Having spent a small fortune myself in the shops and malls from Changi Airport to Little India and from Chinatown to Harbour Front, I had to send a 5 kg parcel to avoid paying sky-high fees for excess baggage.

Singapore is a shopping paradise for many reasons. First, a wide range of products from all of Asia and the rest of the world can be found in Singapore, and especially for those looking for shirts, suits, shoes, etc., they’ll be able to find some unique designs there next to the latest gadgets from Japan and China. Second, prices in Singapore are generally rather low compared to the United States or the European Union, although you might be able to get an even better deal in neighboring Malaysia or if you’re willing to spend a few hours on the plane, in Vietnam – Asia’s new discount shopping hub. But for Westerners, Singapore is the place to buy high quality products at very reasonable prices. Next to some fancy Chinese, Indian and Thai shirts, I bought two great suits, some ties, a new cell phone, two pairs of very comfortable shoes and a lot of other things.

For those of us living in colder places , I highly recommend to visit Singapore’s two major swimming locations: Sentosa Island and East Coast Park. While most tourists are likely to get on the cable car or the monorail to Sentosa Island which is about one mile off the coast, the less fancy but not less beautiful East Coat Park is also worth a visit. As mentioned before, there are several ways to get to Sentosa Island. You can either walk, go by bus, by using the “Sentosa Express” monorail or by cable car. Entering Sentosa on foot will cost you S$ 2 [1 S$ = 0.67 USD], monorail is about S$3 and going by cable car costs about S$25 (round trip). I recommend you to take the Sentosa Express, but if going by cable car once on a sunny day, you’ll enjoy a great view over the port, the cruise terminal and Mt. Faber. Sentosa might somehow feel like a visit to Disney Land at first because it is a leisure park where you’ll be welcomed by a waving over-enthusiastic high schooler smiling and murmuring “Welcome to Sentosa Island! Have a nice day!”. To explore the tropical island paradise and its vibrant beach culture, you should get on one of the two free trams that’ll take you to the island’s three major beaches: Palawan Beach, Siloso Beach and Tanjong Beach. Sentosa Island has many attractions: a giant statue of the MerLion (the symbol of Singapore, a fish with a lion’s head) where you can get inside, spectate a show that’ll teach you about how Singapore was discovered by an Indian prince as well as why the MerLion has become a symbol of Singapore and enjoy a great view from the beast’s mouth; a dolphin show; a laser, light and music show called “Songs of the Sea”, many beach restaurants and bars, a golf course and so on. In 2010, a huge casino, shopping and hotel complex will become part of the Sentosa experience.

East Coast Park is probably even more popular among Singaporeans, however it’s not that easy for tourists to get there. I went there first by the MRT (Mass Rapid Transport), the most efficient and comfortable way to get around Singapore, and alighted at Bedok station. After having had breakfast at the hawker center right next to the station, I walked to the nearby bus terminal where I got on bus 197. After a 15 minute ride, I alighted and walked for another 15 minutes until I arrived at East Coast Park, area D.

To get an overview and explore the entire park, it’s a good idea to rent a bike. However, I decided to walk along the beach.

East Coast Park is – just as Sentosa island - a place where you can spend an entire day. Walking along sandy palm-lined beaches for hours, swimming in the sea, setting up your tent and staying overnight, having a barbecue, wakeboarding, playing volleyball are all activities that you can do at East Coast Park. Besides there are some great spots to take photos of the beach with Singapore’s skyline in the background.

I booked one hour of wakeboarding and later had lunch at a seafood restaurant with a nice view on the boardwalk. I ate sweet and crunchy Fried Baby Squids and a fabulous mango pudding as a dessert. I also recommend you to try Black Pepper Crab, a local favorite.

In the evening, you can either walk along the edge of the Singapore River in front of the Esplande Theaters on the Bay – where you’ll be able to enjoy a breathtaking view of the CBD’s skyline at night and listen to bands and artists performing every night for free on a stage right next to the Esplanade Theaters – or go to the movies.
Next to shopping and dining, entertainment is very important to Singaporeans. Thus, the city has many, many state-of-the-art, fully air-conditioned movie theaters and the price for one ticket is about S$6, about 3 € or 4 US$.

About two weeks ago, Jackie Chan came to Singapore to promote his fitness center chain “California Fitness” and his new movie “Shinjuku Incident”. I watched the original Chinese-language version with English subtitle at a nice movie theater at Bugis, one of my favorite spots in Singapore.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 16th, 2009 at 5:17 PM and is filed under Singapore. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.