Post birthday-bash, our Second Half of Singapore had us soaking in the vibrant city-of-the-future vibes that comprises the city of lions.
(More) Frisbee
I got my second dose of Frisbee in Singapore, more specifically on Palawan Beach in Sentosa Island. Sentosa is Singapore’s playground, with indoor skydiving, Universal Studios, a waterpark, various man-made beaches, a cable car, and other fun goodies. I headed straight to Palawan to play Beach Ultimate, which was laid back beach fun. Whenever a point was scored, the team scored on would disband, and 5 more would rush on for a chance to play the next point.
I ended up chatting with one of the onlookers from the next-door beach club, Kai. He had recently relocated from London to work in cybersecurity (a win-win-win if you ask me — avoid brexit, pay raise, explore another side of the world…smart man 😜). The day after, he even took me to a wonderful Taiwanese restaurant at ION Orchard Road (NYT said the flagship was one of the top 10 in the world) and showed me the proper way to eat dumplings. We soon found ourselves at the 3rd highest rooftop bar in the world, which was an equally fun treat.
Botanical Gardens
I also spent some time at the Botanical gardens, which were quite pleasant in escaping the city. Of note was the Orchard garden.
Mermaid
Lena had a lifelong dream of seeing a mermaid. So we saw a mermaid. It was cool.
Teamlab
I had mentioned it way back in my article on Tokyo, but it turns out Teamlab has exhibitions across Asia, including one that I stumbled upon going to the ArtScience Museum. However, the Tokyo one was so sublime that it spoiled me for this smaller scale execution of the same topic. Though, I did enjoy the themes of childhood and community that proliferated throughout the art spaces. People were able to draw houses, people, and animals, which the exhibit would scan and then have them populate the VR world encompassing the walls.
Gardens By The Bay
The Gardens By The Bay, Singapore’s response to the “no culture” reputation that it has, certainly lived up to the hype. While I was only able to see the lighttime nightshow brought on in the Supertree grove, the music, lights, and expansive experience certainly delivered was lovely. However, I would say spending $1 billion dollars on a massive tree-light-show doesn’t really count as “culture”. With that being said, I highly recommend it.
Overall Impressions
Overall, I would say Singapore is worth visiting, but only for a short period of time as a reprieve from the subdued chaos proliferating a proper Southeast Asian backpacking trip. People said that 3 or 4 days is fine, and I would even go as far to say that you only need a long airport layover. You could see the Jewel, Gardens By the Bay, and eat a hawker stall meal in half a day. Sure, Singapore has great shopping and eating, but so does every major Asian city. From my impressions, Singapore is a great place to live, and a decent place to visit, which is better than the other way around (looking at you, Miami).
Off to Kuala Lumpur! Fun Fact, ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶S̶i̶n̶g̶a̶p̶o̶r̶e̶ ̶-̶ ̶K̶u̶a̶l̶a̶ ̶L̶u̶m̶p̶u̶r̶ ̶R̶o̶u̶t̶e̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶b̶u̶s̶i̶e̶s̶t̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶w̶o̶r̶l̶d̶!̶ Turns out I’m (sort of) wrong. Wikipedia says the busiest International air route is Jakarta-Singapore by number of passengers. However, KUL-SIN is the busiest international air route based on number of aircraft. Oh, semantics.
