The Perfect Country?!

$1000 fine for spitting, $100,000 for cutting a tree, life imprisonment for possession of a gun; Sounds like quite the idyllic place right? In fact the one city country, Singapore, seemed just that!

On my way back to the US for my last semester at school, I decided to fly back eastwards from India, stopping in Singapore for a day. What a splendid decision it turned out to be!

Flying on a poorly managed overnight Air India flight from Delhi to Singapore, I was at least thankful that the flight was empty and I got 4 seats to myself to sleep on. The decision to fly to Singapore was a sudden one and the last time I did something on a whim was when I went to Lebanon. Though I had a great time, the Lebanese weren’t the most efficient or hospitable people I have met in the world.
I was landing in Singapore without a plan or hotel room. Getting past immigration, I picked up my bag and looked around to find a place to book myself a hotel. Very conveniently located in the main atrium at Singapore’s Changi airport was the hotel reservation desk and the kind lady was chatty and helped me find a hotel, that according to her was, “The best deal of the day.” A very convenient shuttle service for 9 SKD (1USD=1.3SKD) took me straight to my hotel in an area called Tanjor Pagar, close to Chinatown and the business district. The driver of the little bus was happy to have a person to talk to and we chatted about Singapore’s attractions, its strict rules and the like. The lesson to learn was, “If you have money Singapore is the best country, if you don’t its hell.” I wasn’t too sure about that.
It was still only 10 am when I reached the hotel and was able to get an early check in; +1 to Singapore efficiency and hospitality. The room was indeed “the best deal” for the price I paid. It had all modern day amenities, a plush bed and a lavish bathroom. I figured I’d nap before I hit the streets as I wasn’t planning to sleep at night…

Once ready I took a cab to the famous Orchard road known for its shopping and crowds of people. The cabbie dropped me at a shopping complex called Takashimaya. En route I had already been impressed with the ‘automated toll taker’ installed in every car, bike, truck in Singapore for when vehicles were entering zones which were tolled so as to speak. The Orchard road area was tolled and the cabbies couldn’t just drop passengers anywhere but had to do in designated areas.

Takashimaya was a multileveled mall with top end brands attracting tourists and locals alike. There was definitely a bustle here. As I walked out the other end of the mall, I was on Orchard road. I could see shops and malls as far as I could see. One thing that is very striking about Singapore is the greenery around. There are tall trees, gorgeous floors and well-manicured plants everywhere you go. This road was no different. Walking amongst the crowd, the one thing I was on the lookout was for some local fare. My friends had told me to find hawker stands and food courts that served all sorts of delicious treats. Singapore is home to Malaysians, Chinese, Thai, South Indians and thus local cuisine comprises of the best and most wonderful of foods from these lands. In a small shopping center I saw a little food court with 3-4 restaurants. I didn’t want to waste any more time and got straight to eating. I ordered what looked like strips of really moist and soft chicken on a bed of very fragrant rice. The meat had been sliced from boiled and baked chickens that were hanging whole at the tiny restaurant. The simple meal, accompanied by a very tangy spicy sauce was delicious and cost only 3.5 SKD. I drank what was a green tea iced tea infused with condensed milk.

As I was exiting this little shopping center, an Indian man in a garment store caught my attention and I found myself in a suit store. The next thing I know I was amidst a very serious sales effort from the man from south india, named Adam. I had promised myself I wouldn’t shop but found it almost impossible to resist a great deal on a tailored suit. Every time I tried to exit the shop the salesmen would slash the price and lure me right back in. My resistance was meek and in my mind I reasoned that I needed to buy 1 suit and 5 shirts for when I start my job!

A few hours spent negotiating and selecting what I wanted to buy had gotten me hungry again. On a recent food visit to Chandni Chowk in New Delhi, my aunt and I had tried the small plate concept, sampling little portions of food at multiple locations in the process being able to try a variety of things. I was keen on doing the same and came across another, larger open air food court on Orchard road. My eyes fell on a guy selling soup. I ordered myself a meatball soup. He placed two big pieces of lettuce, some spring onions, poured a hot clear soup on top and put in the pork meatballs. This was a very light and flavorful meal and I devoured it down observing the locals around me enjoying the fare as much as I was.

It was dusk now and I wanted to go to the Marina Bay area for what I was told would be great views of the skyline. I took a bus from where I was and was impressed by the order and efficiency. Display boards at the bus stop displayed arrival times for every bus, commuters swiped a card when they got on and swiped it again when leaving, and everyone respected each other’s space.

The Marina building is a might impressive building that has three towers with a ship like structure going across on top. “Shopping at Marina Bay’ was a beautiful looking mall with highly aesthetic interiors, an artificial lake with boats running at the lowest level and countless people enjoying an evening out. As I exited the mall on the other side from where I entered, I was met by a fabulous view of the Singapore skyline across the river. On my side, hundreds of people were gathered to watch a light and sound show being projected on a spray of water just beyond the deck. The projections, lasers and the dance of the fountains with the dramatic background in the back made this a wonderful scene. Locals had come out with families and were lying down and sitting down on the sprawling two leveled deck overlooking the show.

I managed to get a round of dumplings and an interesting mango shrimp fried snack at the mall before I left. After marveling at the architecture around a bit more I headed to my hotel on the metro. The metro just like the buses and the taxis was equally efficient and easy to use. You could recycle your metro card once you got off to get the 1SKD deposit (Part of ticket price) back. Very clear indications on the track and in the train ensured you couldn’t miss your train even if you tried. Singapore has very strict rules and is very harsh on offenders. I was starting to believe that this was a good thing as people enjoyed and respected the land a lot more as a result.

My flight out of Singapore to Japan was at 6 am and I had decided not to sleep. After freshening up, I made my way to the famous Clark Quay. I was starving by now and was looking forward to getting a good local meal. It is hard to describe Clark Quay. It was the area with all the bars/clubs and fun spots. The place was bustling with people of all age’s criss-crossing each other hopping from pub to bar to club. Sheesha bars, international cuisine, live music, you name it and this place had it. The center of the entire area had this fascinating fountain and imposing structure. Had I been here on any other night I would have been overjoyed but I was looking to get local fare and this was not the place for that. After a while of looking around I decided to get a beer at a pub. Oh all of Singapore I was told by one of the cabbies, loves Manchester United or MU as they call them fondly. Watching the game and sipping on some beer indoors a live one band came on. After enjoying a few songs I decided to move to another bar called Octapas; cleverly named as it served Spanish finger foods called Tapas.

The ambience here was better and I decided to cave in and ordered a plate of toast with goat cheese and serano ham with a pint of Tiger beer. The live band here was belting hits by lady gaga, U2 and Santana. Now over the disappointment of not finding the food I desired, I moved to another bar that had a very colorful rickshaw parked outside called Singapore Sling. This bar was empty barring one table inside. I perched on one of the tables with a long island iced tea as the singer of the band playing welcomed me to Singapore. As I sat and listened to her gorgeous voice, a boisterous group joined; Shyam, Raj and Michael, all Singaporean, the first two of Indian descent and the later of Chinese descent. They were locals at the bar and the singer was pleased to see them. What ensued thereon was a hilarious night. The three took a liking to me and started to chug drinks amongst themselves, slow dance with each other to John Mayer, and voicing their feelings loud and clear.

After a group photo with the lead singer (Sheesh I forget the name of the band), they took me to a club called ….. The club had a stage with a hip hop band singing everything from David Guetta, Justin Beiber to Jay Z. It was pretty hilarious. The group seemed to know the entire management as we took our first drinks with much of the staff. I had my first green tea and whiskey. Sounds odd but was surprisingly good. Sort of like the red wine and coke I had in Spain. The drinks kept coming and the emotions were high as the mighty Raj (he was big built) kept fist pumping me with all his might. After an hour or so I realized Raj had lost his friends and was really not in his senses. It was also time for me to go pick up my stuff and head to the airport but I decided to drop Raj home as he was in a bad state. If I remember correctly in a very odd moment, Raj sitting at the back, growled like he had been all night and bit of some of the seat! It was bizarre. It was raining hard and I the cabbie was occupied in an interesting conversation with me so he didn’t pay attention then.

I made it to the airport in time, hungry, tipsy and very satisfied. Singapore had been amazing. I had taken an instant liking to this small, diverse and rule loving country. A quarter of the 6 million Singapore population comprises of foreigners and expats and I can understand why. There is really something for everyone here. It is a hidden gem amongst the Asian giants. As I hear stories about young professionals working in different cities around the world and ponder over my future as well, it wasn’t hard for me to see a life here for a few years. I have been able to visit many countries and cities in the last few years and I have to say Singapore ranked high amongst my favorites London, New York City and Cape Town in terms of livability.

So if you need a tailored suit at a good price, I bet my friend Adam over on Orchard road in Singapore would be more than happy to make you a sale! “My friend, we go to god empty handed, spend today, get this great suit,” Adam said. Sold!