Travel-Singapore

Our second weekend in KL, we ventured off to Singapore, WHY NOT?!  I have to say, never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d be taking a weekend trip to Singapore!  Until about 4 years ago, I couldn’t even find Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia or Singapore on a map.  If people asked me where Southeast Asia was, I would probably say, “Near China somewhere.”  Yeah, pretty bad.  But marrying a man that spent half of his life traveling through Asia, I had to get smart and savvy fast in order to understand what it would be like to live on this side of the world – the complete opposite side of where I am from.  Southeast Asia is 12 hours ahead of the East Coast in the U.S. – well during Daylights Saving Time at least – which means that when it’s 7 o’clock in the morning in Washington D.C., New York, Philly and Naples, Florida, it’s 7 o’clock at night here in KL.  So when you’re grabbing your morning paper and sipping your latte at Starbucks while commuting into work, think of me sweating in my stilettos, getting home from work and sitting down to dinner.  Ha!  Anyway, it’s a different way of life over here in Asia, but one huge benefit has been the opportunity to travel.  So join me on our first travel experience while living in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – our weekend trip to Singapore.

Okay, I will admit it…the only thing I knew about Singapore, before visiting of course, was an old news story about some kid from America who was sentenced to be caned for supposedly spitting gum on the street and littering in the country.  Well, there’s a lot more to that story, but this is the part I remembered or everyone seemed to focus on when describing Singapore.  The story definitely gave the country a bad rep.  So when my husband and I jumped on a bus for our 4 1/2 hour trip over the border into Singapore, I was a bit nervous, needless to say.  For extra precautions, I left all my chewing gum at home!

After arriving, my apprehensions and silly worries quickly dissipated when I realized Singapore is a lovely city/country/place to live.  It’s full of diversity, great food, amazing hotels and very, very clean streets!  But just like any big American city, it is also comprised of traffic jams and tons of tourists.  The traffic and tourists seem to go unnoticed, however, since the city is so super clean and well organized.  The lawns (yes, there was grass everywhere throughout the city) are perfectly manicured, the street signs strategically placed and the public transportation systems flawless.  And, if you look closely, you will notice all the tiny cameras placed throughout the city like tiny eyes watching your every move, or maybe just monitoring crime (if any were to exist)…we chose to hope they were monitoring the latter.

So during our weekend stay we walked down the busy streets checking out Bugis Street, claimed to be the “Largest Street Shopping Location in Singapore”, rubbed Buddha’s belly…folklore maintains that rubbing his belly brings wealth, good luck and prosperity and viewed some amazing Hindu temples.

We even spotted these spiral staircases down one alley that reminded me of the States, particularly San Francisco.  I think it was their colors that reminded me of the Victorian townhouses on the hill, best known as the “Painted Ladies”.

We visited Little India, Chinatown, Orchard Road (famous for shopping – I will have to come back for another weekend excursion sometime) and Raffles Hotel (where they invented the Singapore Sling – yes, we did have one and they were $25 each!), SunTec City and more.

But our favorite place by far was seeing and walking through the brand new Marina Bay Sands Hotel.  Labeled as the “Wonder of the World” and the hotel where you can “Relax, Up in the Clouds” this hotel is billed as the world’s most expensive stand alone casino!  Driving up to it in the cab, it looks like three tall towers holding up a long, sailboat (or surf board as my dad would say) which holds a huge pool.  My dad has been talking about this hotel since he saw it being built on T.V. a year ago, so as soon as we arrived, one of my main goals was to find this hotel and walk inside.  I was not disappointed…this hotel is amazing!  Here’s more about it:  “With the casino complete, the resort features a 2,560-room hotel, a 120,000 sq.m. convention-exhibition center, The Shoppes mall, an Art & Science museum, two Sands Theatres, six “celebrity chef” restaurants, two floating pavilions, a casino with 500 tables and 1,600 slot machines. The complex is topped by a 340m-long SkyPark with a capacity of 3,900 people and a 150m infinity swimming pool, set on top of the world’s largest public cantilevered platform, which overhangs the north tower by 67m.”  I can’t even explain how amazing this hotel is…you just have to see the pictures.

Our last day in Singapore, we “hopped” on the Hop-On, Hop-Off bus to explore the rest of the city.  We should have done this the first day, but oh well.  We went to a store called the Mustafa Center in Little India.  This place was amazing!  It was like a Target, Walmart, Kohl’s, Ace Hardware, Best Buy, Office Depot, Macy’s, Sears…all in one!

This section of the store I took a picture of was filled with men’s shirts…any kind you want.  And if you don’t find one, they will custom make you one!

Or you can turn the corner and check out the fresh fish in the market.  If fresh fish isn’t your type, than you can opt for the dried squid and octopus!  YUMMY!  I can still remember the smell of them baking outside in the sun.  And if you are missing home and craving a Big Mac, one is delivered straight to your door.

Overall, Singapore has something for everyone and if you haven’t visited this country, I hope you are afforded the opportunity someday.  Or, you can always stop by Wrinkled Chiffon and we can relive the adventure together while enjoying a Singapore Sling.