Singapore

After a few days in Cambodia, we headed onto Singapore for the rest of the week.  Ricky and I arrived there on September 20th, 2011.  Singapore is a tiny island located at the southern tip of Malaysia.  The island is half the size of Rhode Island and has a population of 5 million (5 times Rhode Island).  The capital is also Singapore, and it occupies most of the land.  It is a wealthy, advanced country, with a per capita GDP 33% higher than the U.S.  They have a harsh judicial punishment system, and low crime rates--even lower violent crime rates.  The murder rate is 4th lowest in the world (beaten by Iceland, Monaco and Palau). 

Touring Singapore is nothing like touring Cambodia.  It is a busy, first-world city, with no ancient ruins.  It is also much more expensive.  It was neat anyway, and I'm glad I went.  The highlight of the trip was the six hour "Joo Chiat Food Walk."  This was at the Betelbox Hostel in Geylang Serai, on Joo Chiat Road.  Our guide, Tony Tan, showed us life in the high rise apartments, told us about Singapore's history, the Geylang Serai area, the religions, the languages, the law, and of course the food.  Our group had two Americans (us), seven Australians, and one Korean.  At a nearby fruit shop we tried maybe 10 different fruits, 6 of which I've never had before.  Mangosteen, mango, dragonfruit (both red and white), rose apple, guava, starfruit, pineapple, watermelon, yellow watermelon, and another which I cannot remember.  If you've never had a mangosteen, I recommend you try it now--it is probably the best fruit I've ever had.  We had dinner in Tony's restaurant (located below his hostel), where we tried about 20 dishes and 6 desserts. 

The tour group, outside the hostel.

View of the east side of the city, from a high-rise apartment building.

Tony Tan, explaining the local businesses and real estate. 

A mangosteen.  Ugly outside, tasty inside.  It is segmented like an orange.

The dragon fruit are the pink, flowery ones.  Rose apple is the red, pear shaped one.  Guava is green on the right.  Mangosteen is dark brown, top center.  Mango is the yellow one on the far right.  Starfruit on the bottom.  And the tan one in the upper left...I can't remember.  It was grey and gelatinous, but very good as well.  

Food was a big part of our time in Singapore.  Below is a "hawker center."  Instead of having street vendors, the city rounded them all up and put them in organized locations.  This mainly kept the food clean, and the streets clean.  Lots of good, cheap food found here.  There are centers in Chinatown, Little India, and a few other areas.  Each hawker center tends to sell the cultural food of whatever neighborhood it is located in. 

Chinatown hawker center. 

Our favorite area in the city were two riverfront spots called Clarke Quay and Boat Quay (pronounced key--Clarke "Key").  They had good restaurants, bars and views. 

Boat Quay

Clarke Quay.  Much of it had those huge umbrella-like structures, which created a shaded, rain-free, outdoor shopping and eating walk-way.  

Clarke Quay at night.

Chinatown.  Entrance to the MRT (Mass Rapid Transit) station.  Their metro. 

Little India.

Raffles Hotel.  This hotel was named after Sir Stamford Raffles, the founder of Singapore.  It is from the late 1800's, and the interior looks like it was taken straight out of British colonialism.   Supposedly Rudyard Kipling and Joseph Conrad (old English writers) used to hang out here. 

Long Bar (Raffles Hotel).  

Singapore Sling.  We got these at the Long Bar, at Raffles Hotel.  Why?  Because this is the spot where the drink was invented.  They don't readily advertise the price, and when we got our check and realized each cost S$31 (25 US dollars), we were a little shocked.  

View of the financial district.

Lastly, the Merlion.  Not the best name.