soaking up in singapore Spirit

And it’s been more than a month’s stay for me in this LA LA LAND- Singapore but I still have my tourist spirit very much alive in me. The landscapes of Singapore have been evolving so fast, with new buildings and landmarks appearing at breakneck speed as quoted by one and all. The cleanest city in a garden with huge mammoth HDB (houses), towering business buildings and immaculately clean roadways which are pretty organized in every aspect blow me off my mind. Quite obvious for an Indian like me who has always witnessed garbage to the disposed anywhere but not in the bin. The Airport itself is a massive Modern Architectural structure and for a moment I almost felt I landed in the middle of a rainforest. They made it eco friendly “that’s what they say” with lots of trees and natural lights inside the airport in fact there were whole gardens in there.  The first few days after landing in Singapore, I had butterflies in my stomach and in a quest to discover this foreign land I started traveling throughout the city in its most convenient mode of transport (MRT- Mass Rapid transit trains). I wandered down Orchard Road which is full of bright lights, sky scraping buildings and buzzing posh and expensive shops like Louis Vouitton, Gucci, Prada, Ferrari and all I could do is pose for a click in front of these chic labels. I even haunted the most talked about Clark Quay and Boat Quay area which is the hub for nocturnal party lovers is full of bars and restaurants outlining the banks of the Boat Quay river. And the cherry on the cake was the trip to Marina Bay. The marina bay sands hotel and the Merlion which stands tall in pride featuring itself to be one of the Singapore’s symbols was a feast to my eyes. How can I forget to mention about the helix bridge which looks amazing like queen’s necklace when lit with blue lights. The entire area looked amazingly different and unique in its way before and after sunset. Every single element in Marina Bay seemed to be so futuristic showing how economical, rich and beautiful Singapore is.

I wanted to discover the Chinese and Singaporean Indian culture and hence decided to visit Chinatown and Little India. Little India was a bit more like the real chaotic, disorganized and a little shabby world than the rest of Singapore with lots of temples, Indian restaurant chains like Hotel Sarvana Bhavan , Anjappar and Thallapakkatu(mainly south Indian) and areas to wonder round. Undoubtedly this is the only area in Singapore where people do not follow the stringent traffic rules. Chinatown was a really cool area lit with Chinese lanterns, oriental music and has authentic foodstalls and souvenir stands everywhere. A trip to the Singapore National museum and Fort Canning helped me connect well to its history. Though not as culturally strong like India I was amazed by the fact they portrayed their rather minimal heritage really remarkably. Starting from video shootout of recipes of nasi lemak and laksa to the tailoring of the Chinese dresses by the craftsmen every single aspect was so detailed and informative that it was worth a salute. I regret that I had to miss the night and light show of the National Museum due to my evening class schedules.

The utterly clean Singapore is flooded with rather strict yet funny laws. Although some of these laws have more to do with common sense, the Singapore government certainly has their own “special” way (to be read as fines and time spent in jail) to convince you not to do something. So here’s what some would call weird laws.

Cannot consume food/water in buses trains or stations…P.S –even if we r chocking to death,

Cannot walk on the streets and its JAYWALKING and heavily fined.

No chewing gums buddies.

If you are convicted of littering three times, you will have to clean the streets on Sundays with a bib on saying, “I am a litterer.

Connecting on unsecured Wi-Fi hotspots means hacking. Need just “some” Internet to read mail or reserve some train tickets? Better go to an Internet cafe shop rather than logging in on an unsecured network. In Singapore it’s called hacking

For many it’s the city of dreams, for some it’s a shopping paradise, but whatever be your reason for travel to this small country be ready to take in a lot of surprises.