Best & Worst, Singapore

Modern Architecture, Downtown Shopping District

The CBD (Central Business District)



Enjoying the local potstickers

 

Marisa in front of the marina




Denton with the SkyPark in the background




more modern architecture




our famous friend, Graham from National Geographic TV



Marina Bay 

 BEST

• FOOD! The food in Singapore, was some of the best (by far!) because it’s a hub for Chinese and Indian people. The food is fresh, delicious, diverse, and cheap!
• Modern architecture; after months of Asian influenced themes, Singapore was a completely different world and blew our socks off. Lots of skyscrapers that are just incredible!
• Meeting Graham and other Couch Surfers. Ok, this is a little embarrassing that I’m fessing up to this… we met a mini-celebrity. His name is Graham and he has his own travel show on National Geographic TV. He set the world record for visiting the most countries in one year (I think he went to 130), and he does it all OVERLAND.  Meaning… no flights. He gave us an earful about traveling across America on Greyhound… yikes. A Link to Our day with Graham in Singapore (he didn't mention us though :-(  ) and a huge rant about Christianity and Hell.
• Western toilets and potable water! This was the first time we could refill our water bottles in the sinks, rather than buying more water 3x per day.
• Singapore Botanic Gardens. Not only is the city of Singapore spotless from garbage, litter, or anything unsightly, but the gardens were PERFECTLY manicured. I mean perfect. They were stunning and a great place to spend an afternoon wandering about and tucking under the trees for some shade.

WORST

• Humidity! After spending one month on breezy Bali and Lombok, the humidity basically knocked us over. We were SO SWEATY and hot… all the time. No evening breeze like Sacramento. We melted.
• $$$, the exchange rate was not as good as the rest of Southeast Asia.
• Our accommodation was located outside of the city center and we had to take lots of public transporation.
• Smog/Air quality. Though the air quality was good during our visit, the months of September and October is the “Slash and Burn” season in nearby Indonesia and Malaysia. The air from those countries gets pushed in Singapore and makes it smoggy and gross.
• Singapore is one of the most expensive places in the world; expensive rent/mortgage (imagine pay $1 million for a 3 bedroom apartment?), expensive produce (it’s cheaper to eat at a restaurant than to cook for yourself), and shockingly, there is NO minimum wage. How can the most expensive country in the world, NOT have a minimum wage? I don’t know.