Singapore kind of caught me by surprise I had been expecting it to be hilly, slightly mountainous terrain similar to Hong Kong but from the window of the taxi I saw that it was flat. Like Hong Kong though the country still has plenty of land. Hong Kong’s is mainly due to its hilly terrain that makes it unable to build upon while Singapore has pockets of forest, green lush trees which have been left there to grow their natural way.
I could see why Singapore is known for its gardens. My wife earlier had wanted to visit Singapore’s botanical garden but on our way to our hotel The Marriott located on Orchard road, the main shopping district of Singapore. My wife said “Chris, there is no need to go to the botanical garden, the whole country is like a garden”. Even the strips of malls have lines of trees out front helping to shade you from the heat and humidity. Lucky I’m living in Japan and it’s Summer here and I’ve adjusted to the heat so Singapore’s weather was comfortable for me but to think that the temperature is like this 365 days of the year.
Singapore known for its melting pot of ethnic groups and cultures with Chinese,Malay, Indian, Peranakan and European making up the country that their first language outside their home is English for business and education but until going there I thought it was like Hong Kong where most people can speak English but still use Chinese as their everyday language so when I first stepped into the glitzy malls along Orchard road I wasn’t expecting to hear everyone speaking English.
Singapore’s Town Hall
The Fullerton Hotel
Singapore appears to have retained more intact buildings from their colonial era than Hong Kong, which mainly demolished them to build towering skyscrapers. Singapore on the other hand still studded with old terrace houses, river side warehouses, neo gothic churches and vast government buildings all built in the colonial style.
That night as I laid in bed, the last thing I remember before falling to sleep was thinking Singapore is nothing like Hong Kong.
Singapore was insane expensive – even higher prices than in Denmark on some things like, hotel, cars and beer! Nice place though – Loved the efficiency of the taxis but not the control freaks in my hotel. When I checked out they sent up a guy to the room to see if there was missing stuff in the mine bar! It was like I could not leave before they checked my room – I found that extremely rude, I have +120 hotel nights per year and never had that before !
Alcohol was very expensive in Singapore even more expensive than the food we ate at the hawkers. I have never. Experienced that with hotels either, they didn’t do that with us.i’m glad you still liked Singapore.
Chris…. You are really expanding our world with your posts…. Love this about Singapore…. I think we will enjoy it when we visit…. Hugs… sylvia
Thanks for your kind words Sylvia, you will enjoy Singapore
I believe Singapore is so flat, because they used the earth from their hills to reclaim land from the sea to make the island bigger. I have no idea why I know this 😉
Thanks for sharing the interesting facts. It makes sense I live in Japan and they build on a lot of reclaim land here. In fact I live on an island that is reclaimed land