Things to Do in Singapore: Traveling in a First-Class Country

Things to Do in Singapore: Traveling in a First-Class Country

CNN ranked Singaporeans as the 2nd coolest nationality. Maybe because are the only Asians whose English is their first language, thus can easily chat up with foreign travelers and CNN reporters about how cool Singaporeans are.

Given my traveling preference, I should find ‘unauthentic’ Singapore utterly boring with its super clean, over polish images and ubiquitous ads claiming to the best, the only, the largest, the first in every category. Strangely though I grew to like this “snobbish” little child-turn-giant. Singapore didn’t look nor behaved like my view of an Asian country and Asian people.

For the first time after three months traveling through Russia, Mongolia and China (read the whole travel series in the “Long Way  Home“), I stopped worrying about my belongings being stolen. I stopped looking down on my steps to avoid spit, garbage, and muds. I leaned freely against public walls and sat down on public grounds without worrying about catching germs.

After a few days, I found Singapore and Singaporeans a little refreshing despite their constant warnings to slap fines on me if I didn’t do this or that.

1. Eat Singaporean food

Food is a must for any kind of travel to Asia. Asians love food, and their cuisines are world-class. Ok, I’m a bit biased here. Industrialized and rich Singapore is no exception. No matter how modern this country claims to be, it still has the same low-key, messy, food-everywhere dining scene I saw in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. (Thank God!) The only difference in Singapore is you eat in food courts scattering around every metro station instead of street food stalls and small eateries. Other things can be pricey in Singapore, but the food is still cheap and delicious. You have to eat, and so had I.

I thought that I had already eaten enough in China and Hong Kong and could lay off Chinese food, but I ate even more in Singapore. Singaporean meals tend to be lighter and simpler than typical Chinese meals, perhaps due to the fast-paced industrial lifestyle here. Also, Singaporean cuisine is a mixture of Chinese, Malay and Indian, thus has very different flavors. I ate so much because the food was so good, and I felt hungry more often due to the smaller portions.

Believe it or not, food is one of the reasons Singapore claims you should visit the country.

Hainanese Chicken (very light, simple, but surprisingly good.)

Fried noodle and steam vegetable

2. See the light and water show at Marina Bay

Catch Southeast Asia’s largest light and water show at Marina Bay. It’s on every evening and FREE.

3. Escape the busyness and hide out in the Garden City

Singapore has lots of high rises, apartment blocks, office buildings and mega malls. To bring some sense of life to this otherwise soulless appearance, the government embarked on building another softer, fresher side by planting a lot of trees and flowers, thus earning the nickname Garden City.

4. Experience the “real” Asia at Little India

Visit this colorful neighborhood with lots of shops selling “Indian” souvenirs, clothing and food. Little India is the only place in Singapore where you will find a sense of Asian normalcy: messy and loud.

5. Hang out in Geylang

Geylang is another ethnic neighborhood, inhabited by mainly ethnic Malays. Geylang is said to be Singapore’s red-light district. I stayed here during my first few days in the country before moving on to another neighborhood.

6. Check out Chinatown

Since the Indians have Little India and the Malays have Geylang, the Chinese, too, have a little something which they call- surprise – Chinatown. It makes perfect sense for every group to have their own signature neighborhood until you find out that ethnic Chinese makes up around 75% of the population. I guess this is where one goes to look for the “real” Chinese and less of the Singaporean Chinese.

Everywhere you go, even in a developed country, Chinatown is a bit dirty and messy. Heaven forbids, it’s not here in Singapore where the Chinese are the one who establish order and rule in the country. Chinatown is ridiculously clean and organized. Little India is more like your version of Chinatown than the real Chinatown.

7. Go to East Coast Park

There is a long stretch of free beaches where local Singaporean go to rela during the weekend. I found out about this place when my host family drove me to the park to pick up a family member who participated in a marathon. Seeing how quiet and relaxing this area was, I asked them for the direction to come here later on my own. Yup, I chose the weekend of all days. The park was full of people doing picnic, rollerblading, bicycling and even camping.

You want to know how hot it is in Singapore? Look at the tents that people pitched tents at the park? Do you see it in parks in your country?

8. Marvel at Sentosa Island

Singapore’s ultimate entertainment center boasts a Universal Studio, beach resorts, golf courts, five-star hotels. I took the free shuttle bus and train to get around the island, sampling many ‘imported sandy’ beaches. It was too hot, sunny and a little superficial to enjoy the beach there.

Overall, Sentosa was nice, and I enjoyed my walk around the island. There is no entrance fee to enter the island. If you don’t go on any rides, you don’t waste money here.

9. Shop like tourists and Singaporeans at Vivocity

The largest shopping mall in Singapore is designed and built to bring shopping experience to the max. Vivocity is a convenient stop before or after Sentosa Island. I can understand the “largest shopping mall” concept, but I don’t see how one can find joy being smothered up in a shopping mall regardless how superb grand it is. (Read my other article about shopping in “heavenly” Singapore “Shopping in Asia Trilogy – Heavenly Singapore“)

10. Get a rare glimpse of an exotic Singapore at Pulau Ubin

I felt like being in Asia at last in this rural area where I had to slap on insect repellent and did my natural call on top of a hole-above-the-water. In a country where almost everything was designed, polished and branded upscale and world-class, Pulau Ubin gives you something real. You can go and pick up as many durians (Singapore’s national fruit) and coconuts as you want for free, provided that neither durians nor coconuts fell on top of your head first.

There are many of those coconuts on the roads.

11. Appreciate how “cool” Singapore can be

Being right above the equator, Singapore is ridiculously sunny and hot. That’s why despite swearing off shopping and preferring to walk, I had to find solace in air-conditioned subways and air-blasted mega malls like this.

12. Follow the rule in this so damn ‘Fine’ country

Singapore is a ‘fine’ city. Singaporeans all seem to be very relaxed and friendly, but watch out, they’re also obsessed with rules and orders. Every warning sign is followed by a fine amount including trivial ones like “Please close the door behind your,” “Keep the bath clean,” or “Do not sit on other people’s bed.”

They forbid people bringing durians into the metro. However, given many Singaporeans using the subways as their means of transportation, how do they buy durians and bring them home? Do they need to walk from the nearest market to home or rely on friends to give them a ride when they feel a durian urge? I asked, but nobody gave me an answer to this question.

13. Stay with a local family

Probably the majority of visitors wouldn’t be able to do this last item. I was lucky to find a host family which was as Singaporean as it could get. This family was ethnic Chinese, a middle-class working couple and two young, intelligent boys aged 5 and 9. Outside of the regular school programs, the boy had another rigorous learning program: chess lessons, music lessons (piano, violin, flute), roller-blading, and Chinese classic (reading and memorizing Confucian texts). Despite being an atheist with a Muslim background, the family sent their older son to a Catholic school, supposedly an excellent school where Singapore’s current prime minister, Lee Hsien Long, studied.

They also took me to a maid agency to look for a new maid as their current one wanted to return to Philippine. I also got to participate a graduation and visit the hospital for the older boy’s checkup.

Photo Credit:

1.Renée S. via Compfight cc
2. Photos taken by Rick
5. Lucian Teo Flickr via Compfight cc
8. Vandatourism.net
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12.Schristia
13.Wajahat Mahmood
14. Christoph Chan
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