Vacation Leg 3 - Singapore; Asia's most organised tourist destination.

I've been to Singapore on a transit visa before. My visit however was so rushed that I left with half-baked impressions of the city and had really strong misgivings about the place. None of those misgivings remain today - I rate Singapore really highly now and I'll recommend it as a must visit destination to anyone who visits Asia. Singapore's a big island city-state, perhaps just a little larger than Bangalore. With a diverse population of Indians, Chinese, Malay, other Asian and several western expats, Singapore's got to be Asia's most global city. With English as a first language, it's perhaps Asia's most tourist friendly city and from what I've seen and heard, it seems to be a buzzing business destination too.

My tryst with Singapore has been short, yet fulfilling. Let me tell you a little more about it.

Orientation and Accomodation
My flight from Penang to Singapore was on Tiger Airways - a leading low-cost airline based in Singapore. We landed at the budget terminal in Singapore and after immigration we took the shuttle bus to Terminal 2 of of the main airport. Finding information and places in Singapore is never a problem and before we knew it, we had 2 tourist passes for unlimited travel by public transport for three full days! Sweet start. We'd deliberately chosen inexpensive accomodation away from the city center. Our hotel - Aqueen Balestier, is a cosy business hotel located near the Novena Medical center. A couple of train changes, a hop on the bus and we were right there at our hotel. I must say that we quite liked our hotel, it's away from the madness of the business district, yet conveniently located near some really good eating places and a train station. To top it the rooms are well appointed and unlike other hotels, the staff don't keep bothering you every now and then. So that was that.

Getting Around
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As I mentioned, we had a 3-day unlimited tourist pass that gave us access to all city buses and trains. So transportation wasn't a problem at all. The tourist passes are great value for money. They cost 26 SGD (19 USD) plus a 10 SGD (7 USD) refundable deposit. With the amount of hopping around that we did, it was well worth the price. Singapore's also a remarkably easy place to get around. Every bus stand has route maps for all the buses that stop there. There's an index of nearby streets along with a list of buses that'll take you there. Buses are really frequent too. As far as trains are concerned, Singapore's MRT is one of the most advanced and organised train systems I've seen. Every station has a locality map at each exit, so you'll never be in doubt for how to reach your destination. If nothing works, there's a fairly useful public transport journey planner that you can use. Of course, we never got to the point where we needed that app.

This apart, streets in Singapore are very clearly signposted and that makes it a great walking city. In the city center, it's great fun to walk across various streets and take quick snaps of interesting sights without getting too lost. In terms of getting around, Singapore scores a perfect 10.

Sightseeing
There are several sightseeing opportunities at Singapore. We've been very ambitious on this vacation of ours so my wife and I decided to do the first two days of this itinerary on our first day itself! So the Victoria Theatre, the Merlion, The Arts Museum, Cavenagh Bridge, Little India, the Supreme court, the Parliament square and many other sights came our way on day one. It was hectic, but it was a lot of fun jumping from one bus to another, changing trains and walking around the city. Day one was also my birthday so a top of the world feeling was in order. The Singapore Flyer was just what we needed - the view of the city from atop the observation wheel is quite something. Unfortunately we didn't have a really great camera, so snagging pictures in the dark was quite tough. We did what we could and I'll try to put up the pictures on Flickr as soon as I can.

Day two in Singapore was visiting one of it's must see attractions - the Singapore Zoo. Until recently I'd thought of the Taronga Zoo as the best I've seen. That hasn't changed, but I'll say that the Singapore Zoo is definitely an equal to Taronga. Not only are the zoo, the animals and their abodes in top condition, the zoo's keepers and commentators are very knowledgeable and extremely engaging presenters. Each of the shows that we went to, left us enlightened and wiser about the great wildlife that walks our planet. If you're in a mood to visit the zoo, I suggest you skip the tram and boat tickets. While it may seem convenient to hop on and off the tram and boat, you're more likely to keep walking the same stretch that you've already covered by these modes. In the whole day we did just one trip each on the tram and the boat, so I don't think it was worth the extra money. Another word of advice, particularly if you're in Singapore for a few extra days - 45 SGD (33 USD) gives you entry to all the three wildlife attractions in Singapore; the zoo, the bird park and the night safari. If the zoo was anything to go by, the other two attractions should be well worth the additional cost. I recommend them as must sees.

We decided consciously to give Sentosa a miss - since most locals refer to it as 'So Expensive but Nothing TO See Actually'. However, we've found Singapore to be completely devoid of tourist traps. There's not a single place where we spent a dollar in vain. So I can imagine Sentosa will be interesting for those who like that kind of fun.

Food

Singapore's truly a gastronomic adventure and matched Penang bite for bite. There's all kinds of food on offer, but if there's one particular meal I want to write about, it's got to be the dinner on my birthday. My wife treated me to a sumptuous meal with the legendary Singapore chili crab and a finely grilled stingray. When the menu says chilli crab, take it seriously - there's a lot of chilli in that delicious spread. But the mighty Sumeet is not one to be deterred by the spice. The spice from the crab and the stingray gave me strong battle, but like any other food gladiator I waged war. Claw after claw met bite after bite from me. It was a fight to the finish - I was sweating  profusely, but I wasn't going to five up. No sissy rice morsels to cut out the spice; in fact to be a man I added some extra chillies to the dish. Surely perseverance and bravery had to pay off - to the victor go the spoils of war. The crab lay vanquished, I slept satisfied. It was a massacre as you can see for yourself. A delicious massacre that I have no regrets about though. I'll gladly do it again.

I enjoyed every meal in Singapore. It's definitely one of the costlier places in Asia, but well worth the price for the quality of food you get. The hawker centers, like in Penang, make it incredibly easy for you to find good food. Just walk into any place that looks cheap and crowded and you'll find great, scrumptuous food.

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I can keep saying this and never tire - Singapore's the most tourist friendly destination I've ever been to. You have everything you can associate with a vacation in Asia - great sights, friendly people, good food and none of the ills - touts, tourist traps, pushy salesmen or health scares. It's easy to navigate, a stone's throw from KL by train or by air and just so entertaining for a short holiday. I want to repeatedly recommend it as an absolute must visit.