Impressions of Singapore

As we were leaving for the airport and heading out into the ‘suburbs’ again I still found it strange not to see houses. After passing countless apartment blocks I wondered if maybe these enhanced the sense of community for people living in them – having to share common spaces – having their kids play in the only green space down at the base of the building. Or do they isolate people? It is hard to tell.

We met a woman on Tuesday at the cooking class whose husband works for an international firm and gets transfers all around the world. They have spent the last six months in Singapore. She mentioned that only 10% of the population live in actual houses!!

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The humidity was crazy. I understand it is like that all year round… we decided that if you lived in Singapore you could not avoid being skinny – the heat puts you off food and just walking a couple of blocks feels like an extreme workout!

Because of the humidity, smells just hung in the air. Chinatown during mid afternoon was an interesting mix of various food stalls and car fumes – something that I think would take a bit more getting used to.

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To be honest, I wasn’t really as gastronomically adventurous as I could have been in Singapore. On our final day I did try a pastry with durian filling. Have I mentioned the durians? Locals know these watermelon-sized fruits as the ‘King of Fruit’. I think most westerners would disagree. The skin is spiky and it is a funny greeny-yelllow colour. The smell is the thing that gets you. It is hard to describe. A mixture of onions and tropical fruit and that mouldy sandwich you left at the bottom of your school bag for four weeks (or was that just me!?). I had heard that it was the smell that got you – perhaps if you actually tasted it, you could work through the smell. So I tried this pastry thing. The first bite was bad, it made me want to gag, and then after a couple of chews I thought, hey, maybe this is ok, it seemed to fall into line with other tropical fruit flavours, but no. Finally it hit the back of my throat and it tasted just like it smelt. I’m afraid to say I could only manage one bite and the rest went in the bin.

I tried a couple of other local delicacies but wasn’t really taken with anything. To be honest the heat really got to me and my appetite really wasn’t anywhere it’s normal healthy (ok gluttonous) state.

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I noticed a few advertisements around for the upcoming National Orange Ribbon Day. What did this mean? It was a day celebrating racial harmony in Singapore. Celebrating the way different cultures lived together in peace and encouraging people from other cultures to interact together and appreciate the differences in each other in the future. How idealistic. From the outside it certainly seemed like a very peaceful place. I guess you can only tell so much from the outside though.

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Overall, I don’t think I would ever spend more than 3 or 4 days in Singapore – unless of course I had come specifically for the shopping. It was a bit strange – not as clean and orderly as I had envisaged after reading about it, but still it managed to feel like it lacked any real character.

Having now visited, I have updated my original top ten. So, in no particular order:

1. Chilli crab (o.k. being the food obsessive that I am this probably would come number one – it was great, messy and time-consuming, but so tasty.)
2. Singapore Zoo (fantastic for any animal obsessive)
3. Cooking class at At-Sunrice Cooking School (a definite highlight. I guess every food obsessed traveller argues that the best way to learn about a culture is through it’s cuisine. Not sure if I learned a lot about the locals through the cooking class – but I did feel a little bit more involved after learning how to cook local cuisine.)
4. Corn in a cup (yes, I’m a simple girl at heart.)
5. Walking through Chinatown, exploring the various nooks and crannies.
6. The gondola ride from Sentosa Island back to Singapore Island (not technically the highest point, but high enough for me!!)
7. The Esplanade Complex (or ‘The Durian’)
8. Chinatown Heritage Centre (a very interesting insight into one of the main racial groups of Singapore.)
9. Experiencing the MRT (Singapore’s underground rail system – a great example of what Auckland public transport could be but never will be.)
10. seven-storey malls. (OK, I never actually shopped in Singapore, but as a female I must pay homage to any shopping mecca – and Singapore certainly is one.)