Singapore

Over the years, we’ve often been in transit through Singapore on our way to somewhere else, but never actually broken the journey to spend some time here. Just prior to the pandemic, I booked a trip to Vietnam with my girls and their partners. The plan was that after a week together enjoying Hoi An, we’d all go our separate ways to different parts of Asia before heading home. Marg and I opted for Singapore and booked five nights’ accommodation. The pandemic arrived and that trip never went ahead, but the Hoi An resort and the airline honoured our bookings and eventually we were able to use them. The Singapore hotel did not. It gave me a cut-off date by which time my funds could be used and refused to extend it when I asked for more time. We eventually made the Vietnam trip in November 2022, but the Singapore extension never happened because the money I’d paid was gone.

On this trip, we’re travelling again with my brother Rod and his wife Cornelia. It’s essentially an England and Ireland visit, but we’ve added in a short Singapore stopover on the way. It will give Marg and me a chance to do some of the things we wanted to do when I originally booked accommodation here. Needless to say, it’s a different hotel this time.

We arrived late in the afternoon. Our hotel is in Chinatown. From there we walked towards the river. It didn’t take us long to get there, but I formed a few first impressions. The area we visited was a contrast of old and new. Traditional Chinese temples and buildings with wooden window shutters shared the same streets as modern high rise buildings. A number of structures incorporated dedicated green spaces into their design, so there were often lush gardens visible on the sides of buildings high above the ground. Stunning sculptures along the riverbank told stories about the city and its heritage. Historic bridges crossed the river and the famous old Fullerton Hotel was dominant. It’s interesting to stand before the statue of Singapore’s British founder, Sir Stamford Raffles, and view the modern city behind him.

We walked down to Marina Bay to check out two icons of Singapore, the Merlion fountain and the Marina Bay Sands Hotel. There were large crowds there doing the same thing as us. It must be like that most days of the year, I guess.

I was feeling the heat, and particularly the humidity. The glare of the sun was intense. I was very happy when we found some shade. I hadn’t really packed for hot weather on this trip. I couldn’t really imagine I’d want to live in a climate like this for too long.

We made our way through the dining area along the river. I’d been in places like this before. You can’t take more than a few steps before someone steps into your path waving a laminated menu and informing you that they have the best food along the strip and the best prices. “Come in, come in, sir. You won’t be disappointed.” We walked along checking out the places. To be honest, the menu choices, food photos, and happy hour prices of almost every place we saw looked identical to those of the previous place we had walked past. Eventually we settled on one and took a riverside table. After a very satisfying Indian meal, we made our way back to Marina Bay once more to watch the 8pm light show. It wasn’t spectacular from where we stood, though I suspect it made better viewing for the guests of the Marina Bay Sands from their viewpoint.