Shopping Singapore

While Singapore has many cultural attractions, parks and museum, I think I would consider it primarily a shopping destination. With its trendy hotels and big name boutiques, Singapore appears as the perfect destination for a short getaway aiming at shopping, eating and going out to the theater.

I had heard of shops in New York that don’t display price, for the sole reason that if you have to ask, you can’t afford it. While I had heard of them, I had never encountered them before. I did here in Singapore. For a glance at all this high-end merchandise, you want to head toward Orchard Road where you will find boutiques such as Prada and Cartier as well as impressively sized malls.

I saw so many riches here, which made the city live up to its reputation. As I was trying to access the National Museum (which I couldn’t because of my timing), I saw a McLaren parked out front. Walking back from the said museum I did a double take when I walked past a Rolls Royce at a light.

I've never been in such a high-end car and, yes, I was salivating. What would I have not given to sit beside the owner of the McLaren. I would have made myself very small and that person could have easily forgotten I was even there until it was time to dump me on the sidewalk again. Ahhh, one can dream can’t she?

Rarely have I seen a place with so much glamour that it had the power to make you feel poor, insignificant and ugly with one glimpse of everything you can’t ever dream of possessing. Makes you wonder how the people who hold so much riches and power in the palm of their hands manage to keep their feet firmly planted on the ground. Or maybe they just perpetually live up there in the clouds.

Modern Art at Ritz-Carlton

One attraction not enough people seem to know about is the Modern Art Collection of the Ritz-Carlton in Singapore. You can just present yourself at the concierge desk where they will hand you an iPod with a special podcast that will walk you through the hotel to highlighted art pieces.

A good indicator that you have stepped in a completely other world in terms of hotels is the height of the ceilings. Forget mere 8 foot ceilings, the ceilings here seem to go on forever (there might be a tiny bit of exaggeration here, but don't mind me). Next would be the multitude of windows which lets quite a bit of light in. Now imagine these windows being covered in translucent mother of pearl panels... Yeah, that's what I'm talking about.

Pleasure Houses of Singapore

Now don't let the title of my post mislead you, I am not suggesting that pleasure houses should be on your list of things to do while in Singapore!

It's just that another thing I have seen in China Town (without realizing at first) was my first brothel. I walked past it and noticed the strange behavior of the men and women there. I spoke of it to my Singaporean host and was informed that I had most likely walked past a pleasure establishment. In Singapore, the land of rules and regulations, prostitution is legal.

Not that I'm opposed to it... Sex trade being one of the oldest profession in the world, I doubt it will ever really disappear, even if lawmakers would will it so. I would be interested in knowing if the legal status of the trade ensures more safety for the women. These women also have to carry a yellow card attesting to their regular health check, I'm guessing this would also have its advantage in terms public health and prevention of sexually transmissible disease. I think it would be interesting to compare statistics, although I suspect it could prove to be difficult given there would be a bunch of other factors to take into consideration.

My host advanced the idea that legalization of prostitution could be used as a tool to reduce the number of rapes by allowing single men to find an output for their urges. I'm not sure if I would go that far though...

You can read more on the subject here. 

Anyway, end of parenthesis, back to my traveling in my next post!

China Town, its Heritage Centre and Little India

It is a situation many immigrants face when they leave their country to establish in a new land, having to start over with nothing. The conditions are not always good and these can be distressing time. Similar to when people left for America to live the American Dream, Singapore was a prized destination for the same reasons. Yet, the conditions were hash for most and opium addiction became rempant. Many came to work here in order to send money back home to their family. This often became a permanent situation and one can just imagine the intense feeling of isolation that would have came from this. This is how China Town was born in Singapore, and elsewhere for that matter, people lost in a new country looking for a way to belong.

Asian Civilizations Museum

Museum are are tricky thing for me, since when you saw a few of them, it often feels as if you saw them all. However, despite how many museums I have visited in any number of countries, there are always a few that appeal to me because they go into a subject I am not familiar with.

Gardens by the Bay (Part II) - An Overview in Pictures

As promised in my last post, here is a sneak peak inside the domes as well as the sculptures I mentionned!

Gardens by the Bay (Part I)

The Gardens by the Bay, the Sky Dome and the Flower Dome are really well known Singaporean attractions for a good reason, they are absolutely gorgeous. You can stroll around for hours. To make the best of it, I would bring a good book and a picnic and just relax there. Could be a good place to go the day after landing from a long flight for example.

(Yep, that's one of the rare pictures I have of myself! On this one I am on the skywalk.)

First contact with Singapore

I left Bali for Singapore, where I was going to spend few days before heading on to the Philippines. Upon landing, first thing I needed was a metro card. I asked the lady at the counter what the best option was and I finally opted for the refillable car instead of unlimited traveling packages. It didn’t take long for me to be amazed with the effectiveness of the transportation system in Singapore. Not surprising when you think that a car is ridiculously expensive. You buy the car, have to pay a car tax equivalent to the car value and need a license to own a car for which the price varies but is around $40 000. Finally, your car has to be less than ten years old, since the license applies only to one new car and is valid only for the ten years.

I digress. Once the first matter at hand was taken care of, I met with my host. I felt slightly out of my comfort zone waiting outside in the business district with my traveler backpack and surrounded by people of all nationalities dressed in formal business attire.

Next order of business was food. You can find any food here. From pasta to cereals, from carrots, cucumbers and tomatoes to cheese and poultry. International food is more expensive though. If you know how to cook with Asian ingredients, you would save a lot of money on groceries.

You can eat pretty much anything you want here, so it’s rather hard to pinpoint what is truly local. I am ashamed to admit I still don't know what the traditional Singaporean food is like.

Singapore’s meticulous order was quite a contrast with the chaos of Bali. When you take the metro, there is a lane system on the ground you have to follow. One lane to go in the cart on either side of the doors and a space for people coming out in the middle, where God forbid you should be standing.

Also, here, you can only eat and drink in the designated areas. Same for smoking. And don’t even think about littering. Not that this would be a bad thing mind you.

I will admit that the order of Singapore was a little soothing to me after the chaos of Bali. It truly was going from one extreme to the next.

The only thing I found amiss were the smile, it seems smiling to stranger is very uncommon and strange here.