We have been slow on the blogs… We left Singapore two days ago.
We only spent two full days in Singapore. We planned it as a mid-trip break: we figured it would be a nice easy place to stay for a few days. The consensus was that Singapore was a place to be for a couple of days, eat and move on. That’s exactly what we did.
Singapore is a super-easy to be as a English speaker: with Mandarin, English is the working language of the country. You can drink the tap water. Basically, it’s like Asia-lite. Asia for beginners. Asia on Disney.
There’s also food everywhere. You can’t walk a block without running into a collection of hawker stalls or a Kopitam. In each of those, each stall is independently owned, and each one makes a half dozen or so things. You can walk around to which ever one strikes your fancy and gather up a meal.
Do Singaporeans ever eat at home? Given the number of food stalls and restaurants, I can only imagine the economics working if nobody ever cooks.
But the nice part about Singapore, the easiness, was also the part I didn’t like. I’m firmly convinced that Richmond is a more confusing place to spend a day than Singapore. It’s odd spending double-digit hours on a plane and coming to somewhere so… normal. Also, a little anti-climactic.
My advice on the city would be to use it exactly like we did: as a break from weirdness in the rest of Asia.
We also had Singapore Slings at both the Post Bar at the Fullerton Hotel (a fancy hotel and bar), and at the Long Bar at Raffles Hotel (where they were created). Much to my surprise, the one at Raffles actually was tastier. On the other hand, the Post Bar had an atmosphere that made you think paying $20 for a drink made sense; the Long Bar was a little more rustic and tourist-focused (but not cheaper).
