A Day in Singapore

The Republic of Singapore is a city-state at the tip of the Malay Peninsula, less than a hundred miles north of the equator. It's hot. It was occupied by the Japanese in WWII and reverted to British rule after the war, then united with other former British territories to form Malaysia in 1963. It became a fully independent state two years later. Since then it has had a massive increase in wealth. Singapore is a world leader in several areas; financial centre, casino gambling market, oil refining, and logistics. The port of Singapore is one of the busiest ports in the world and thousands of ships drop anchor here. All this leads to Singapore having the world's highest percentage of millionaire households, with 15% of households being millionaires (in USD)! 

Singapore Harbour

Port of Singapore - just imagine all the illegal stuff in those containers!

The judicial system in Singapore is somewhat famous, who can forget the controversy that gripped America and even got President Bill Clinton involved (a mistake in my opinion), surrounding the caning of 18 year old Michael Fay for vandalism?  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_P._Fay  Singapore uses caning (as corporal punishment) for things like rape, rioting, vandalism, etc. Crimes like murder and some drug-trafficking carry a mandatory death penalty. Amnesty International has said that Singpore has "possibly the highest execution rate in the world relative to its population". The crime rate in Singapore is very very very low, so needless to say I was not worried about my safety in the least. As always, I try to research a country before I go, since once there I must follow their laws and customs....such as the ban on chewing gum and being conservative in dress (not that I normally dress like a hoochie or anything).

My first glimpse of Singapore from the air was of the massive and busy port, with all the ships coming, going, or waiting. Once on the ground, I went through immigration, got my bags, got changed, and found a place to hold my suitcase. I have to take a moment to rave about the Singapore airport. I have seen my fair share of airports through the years and this is my favorite so far. I could have easily spent 3 or 4 hours just hanging out. It has a butterfly house, a rooftop pool area, sleeping rooms for rent, an enforced-quiet nap area, tons of shopping and spas, etc. But I wanted to see the city, so I caught the train. Once in the city I then tried to find my way around all these crazy barricades. I had chosen to arrive on the morning after the Grand Prix (Formula 1), so all the streets were still blocked off, the grandstands still up, litter blowing around empty streets. I finally found my way to the Singapore Flyer, the biggest observation wheel in the world and took a spin. 

Singapore Flyer

 I then walked over the Helix Bridge to the Marina Bay Sands area. In the casino area, there are 2 theatres for productions, a huge multi-level mall, ice skating rink....it's like Vegas on steroids. I literally had to rip myself away from the shops and headed to the hotel towers so I could go up on the observation deck. After taking a look around, I ponied on up to the bar, next to a few decent looking blokes (there were plenty of blokey guys around, being the day after the F1). And I proceeded to order a Singapore Slammer. The lovely and friendly bartender just smiles and says "I think you mean a Singapore Sling, that's what's famous." I got a few snickers from the peanut gallery of cute guys. Ah well, no better ice-breaker than making an ass of yourself! So I chatted with the group for awhile and sipped my $30 Singapore Sling while gazing out over a beautiful (if somewhat polluted and hazy) view. One of the guys (from Sydney) even walked me downstairs to tuck me in a cab. Actually he asked what I was doing the rest of the day. But who can forget Bridget Jones' Diary 2 or Brokedown Palace; where a handsome stranger dupes girls into unknowingly carrying drugs and end up in Thai prisons? No thank you.  

Helix Bridge, Marina Bay Sands, Casino, Art Museum

 Walking through the CBD I accidentally ran smack into....wait for it.....the KPMG office! There's no getting away!  I decided to do a bus tour around the city, and after that it was time to get back on the train to the airport. Right during rush hour - we were packed in like sardines, which reminded me of Chicago. I can't wait to someday go back, see some more sights, go to the Botanic Gardens, go to Sentosa, and go shopping on the famous Orchard Road. Too many places to see! Separate blog posts will cover the rest of my trip to Thailand, stay tuned!