Singapore

Singapore has a reputation for being sterile, boring, and expensive (not the best adjectives for boosting tourism).  But, it also has modern infrastructure, lots of expatriates, and warm weather year-round.  Overall, the city piqued my interest enough to spend a couple days there on my vacation.  Here's what I thought of it...

First impressions: Arrival at the airport was a breeze.  Passport control took about 15 seconds and the baggage claim monitor noted exactly when the first and last bags were placed on the belt.  Even the restroom encouraged people to rate its cleanliness (it was spotless, by the way).  Is this place an Asian version of Zurich?

FU sure knows how to clean a toilet!

Public Transport: I decided to take the subway to my hotel because I think it’s fun to experience public transportation around the world. Singapore over-delivers in this area as well. The map is easy to follow, trains are clean, and the other riders are quiet.  

City Life: My hotel was on Orchard Road, which has the biggest concentration of shopping malls I have ever seen in my life.  Basically every building has a mall in the first two floors and there are luxury brands everywhere.  If you combined all the Orchard Road malls into one, it would be by far the biggest mall in the world.

Two random things I noticed while exploring the city: 1) the escalators all move VERY fast, and, 2) the “up” escalator is not always on the same side.  This may not sound like a big deal, but if I see two escalators next to each other, the “up” should always be the one same side that traffic moves (right side in places like North America and central Europe; left side in UK, Australia, Japan, etc).  It’s a small point, but I hold Singapore to a higher standard of efficiency!

My first afternoon in Singapore, I had lunch in Chinatown.  It actually didn't feel very "Chinatown-ish" to me because everything was so pristine.  You can still buy plenty of cheap souvenirs and tasty restaurants, but you won't find any knock-offs.   

"Painted Ladies" of Chinatown

Downtown Singapore is really just a concentration of skyscrapers, although the adjacent bay area is much more worthwhile for tourists to see.  The amazing Marina Bay Sands is even more impressive in person (and, of course, it has a giant mall in the basement).  

Singapore waterfront

Marina Bay Sands 

Very cool double-helix bridge

Also in Marina Bay are some other tourist attractions (an art museum and an impressive urban garden). Across a double-helix bridge, there is even a cricket field that literally sits in the water.  Singapore has made great strides to reclaim land and it boasts some pretty impressive statistics about the land mass, which has grown dramatically as a result of these projects. 

By the way, there is also an "Olympic Walk", which makes me pose the logical question: Why would a city that has never hosted the games have an Olympic Walk?  Actually, I did some research and Singaporean athletes have only won a total of 4 medals in all Olympics combined!  Regardless of their Olympic success (or lack thereof), it was a good place to view the skyline.  

Singapore: Future olympic host city?

Unlike most cities across Europe, cathedrals are not among the top tourist attractions.  I actually passed a very cute looking church one afternoon and walked inside, just to find that it is now a leasing office for luxury residential units.  I took a picture of it anyhow.

Faux church in Singapore

Nightlife: I got the impression from my friends that locals and expats do not integrate very much.  We went to dinner in a mall, so I can only imagine where locals go. (Food stalls?)  All joking aside, mall restaurants don’t have the same stigma like they do in the US, since the whole city is just a giant mall.  One word of caution is that alcohol is heavily taxed, so it ends up being disproportionately expensive.

Most expensive city in the world?  I was surprised to see that Singapore has the world’s highest percentage of millionaires (1 out of every 6 households, according to Wall Street Journal).  With that information in mind, it is not surprising that Singapore was also rated the most expensive city in the world.  To be perfectly honest, I did not get that impression in my short time there.  Nothing was cheap, per se, but far from the prices I paid in places like Zurich and Tokyo. 

My friend living in Singapore said that the real expenses are in expat-quality housing and purchasing permits to own a car.  With so many multinational companies taking advantage of the country’s infrastructure and low corruption, the costs of living have definitely increased quickly and low-skilled employees are finding it harder than ever to maintain any quality of life. 

Does Singapore live up to its reputation? Overall, I did find Singapore to be sterile – especially compared to all other Asian cities.  It is also extremely efficient, which I appreciate a lot.  However, I would never say that it’s boring.  Anyone who loves shopping will be in paradise, and there are plenty of opportunities to eat and drink all types of foods.  The airport has amazing connections, including some low-cost airlines that are much better than their European counterparts.  I could have stayed busy for at least a couple extra days if only I had more time.  Basically, Singapore offers almost everything that people could want, as long as they are willing to pay for it. 

Weekend with the locals in Hyderabad

On Friday afternoon, the local director in Hyderabad asked: "So, do you have any plans for the weekend?"

I truthfully admitted that we do not. 

His response: "Good, because we have plans for you" (big smile)

Me: "Oh that sounds great" (nervous half-smile)

At the end of the workday (which happened to be around 7:30 pm), a couple guys on the team asked me and my trainee to change so we could all go out for the evening.  A few minutes later, we were in the back of a hotel car and en route to a nearby temple. 

I thought back to the many Friday nights in Chicago that I spent with my colleagues after work.  Not once did these evenings begin with a trip to the temple.  

We removed our shoes at the front gate and walked through the stone enclosure.  As expected, every wall was elaborately decorated with scenes involving the many gods.  I tried asking questions to learn more about the scenes but the responses were not too detailed (beyond what I could see from looking at the images myself).  It made me wonder if most people even know much about the details of their religion or if they simply visit the temples out of routine and obligation.  Either way, it was an interesting experience and I enjoyed integrating myself into local culture (even though I probably looked completely out of place). 

One of the many scenes depicted on the walls

Central structure within the temple walls

From there, we drove through the city and stopped at a few sites that I remembered from past trips to Hyderabad.  At one point, we hit bad traffic and I noticed a broken down bus up ahead.  Then, suddenly, a bunch of passengers exited the rear door and started pushing the bus.  I literally couldn't contain my laughter, as I thought about that scenario in Chicago.  The passengers would NEVER even consider such assistance.  It's a different world out here. 

For dinner, we stopped at a well-known local chain called Paradise for some biryani.  Biryani is actually one of the few Indian foods that I enjoy because it is a simple rice dish with vegetables (or meat) and spices.  No mystery sauces that disguise the true ingredients, no yogurt, and no mustard.  The restaurant was described to me as "Mc Donald's" for biryani, which was frightening.  Fortunately, the fast-food concept was only for the street level, but there is a premium full-service restaurant on the second floor.  I think I was the only white person in the entire restaurant, but the service in India is so gracious that I didn't feel uncomfortable.  In fact, the people go out of their way to make you feel special.  (Part of me wishes they could just treat me like a regular customer because I don't like being the center of attention).

On the way out, the local guys insisted that we try paan, which is a traditional food that involves all sorts of "stuff", wrapped into a leaf.  As soon as I bit into it, my mouth was immediately filled with flavors of dish detergent and grass.  My first instinct was to immediately spit it out into my hand, but I didn't want to be rude so I tried to force some of it down my throat.  Bad idea.  I stored the rest of it on the side of my mouth until we reached the car and I had the chance to inconspicuously spit out the rest onto the sidewalk. Tip of the night: don't EVER eat paan.  

paan on the inside

I spent the next morning in a much more comfortable environment: the spa.  I didn't eat much throughout the day because I was still full from all the food that was forced onto my plate from the night before.  I have decided that being a "guest" for meals is stressful (even if they're not home cooked) because people are so eager to make you enjoy the local specialties.  It's so nice but it's also a lot of pressure in a region where food is very difficult for my palette.  

Saturday evening, we went out again - this time to the mall.  Yup, the mall.  Apparently, this is the hot spot in Hyderabad because it was filled with people.  The experience started on the awkward side because I really have no desire to shop while other people are watching me.  Maybe I've been alone for too long, but I just don't understand the appeal of shopping with other people.  Much like running, everyone has his own pace and I'd rather save the conversations for another time.  

Fortunately, the shopping part of the night was short-lived, as we stopped at an outdoor bar and shared a giant pitcher of beer.  (This bar was next to Chili's, which made me feel right at home).  If there weren't so many Indian people around, I would swear I was at a suburban mall in the United States.  

I really appreciated the time that the local team spent to entertain us during the weekend - especially considering that they work 6 day weeks and spend long hours commuting to the office each day. They managed to get me out of the hotel twice (which is a feat in itself while traveling in India).  I have a long way to go before feeling like a local, but this was a step in the right direction.