
We’ve been in Singapore now for about a week and a half, and we really like this city. It’s clean, probably due to the $1,000 fines for littering (about $800 USD). It’s green, with tall trees lining almost every street, and beautifully landscaped greenery at every turn. It’s one of the safest cities in the world, where you can walk pretty much anywhere day or night without fear of getting mugged or pickpocketed. The weather’s a bit on the hot side, but feels great. The shopping is world class, and you can find any type of food imaginable. But there are two things that would keep me from living here full time.
First, it’s incredibly expensive! The average hotel is around $300/night. Normal monthly rent for a small 2 bedroom furnished apartment is around $6,000, and that’s on a long-term lease (and you can find much higher). If you want to buy a car, you must pay $50,000 for the right to drive it, and you have to renew that every ten years, in addition to the cost of the car itself which is also ridiculously high. Fortunately, the public transportation system is fantastic with trains, buses, and affordable taxis, so a car isn’t really necessary. Food can be found at reasonable prices ($2-6/plate) in the hawker stalls (food courts) but prices at restaurants vary greatly.
Second, it’s a big city on a small island. While you can find nature here, most of it is cultivated. You won’t find sweeping hills of untouched foliage with no sign of man, or a spot where you feel alone and far away from it all. And I would miss that. I already do. It’s a very busy and crowded place. But it’s still wonderful and amazing for what it is. They do have some nice nature spots in the botanic garden, Sentosa Island, and in parks, but you can’t really live in a park.
Despite all of Singapore’s benefits and the number of fun activities to do around the island, the locals I’ve talked to all seem to echo a similar sentiment: it’s boring. Although they say it’s less boring than it used to be. We have been anything but bored since our arrival, but maybe that’s just because it’s all so new to us.
Because the prices were high already, we decided to kick off our start in Singapore with a bang by staying at the biggest hotel in Singapore, Marina Bay Sands, which looks like a giant boat held up by three tall buildings.
Unfortunately, we were all recovering from bad colds, and Jen was sick in bed both days we stayed there. But if you have to stay in bed, it might as well be a comfortable one, with good room service, and a view like this:
The long infinity pool on top of the hotel is quite spectacular, and you can see far out into the island on one side, and the harbor on the other side.
There’s an upscale mall connected to the hotel, and a cool fountain show by the bay at night for free, which you’ll be able to see some of in the video below. We didn’t go to the nearby Art/Science museum or do much besides eat (the food court in the mall is great), but we still enjoyed our time at Marina Bay Sands. And we’ll be returning one evening next week to see Wicked on stage!
Next, we moved into a serviced apartment in the Orchard shopping district. While there, we met a really nice family from Ireland. The wife is Singaporean, and they invited us to a fish farm along with her family. What a cool experience! We took a boat out to a floating fish farm in between Singapore and Malaysia. The kids especially enjoyed feeding the big fish with the smaller fish, and also going fishing for their first time (then eating the catch). We watched a beautiful sunset over the water and had nice conversation over some of the freshest and most delicious seafood I’ve ever eaten. Thanks Peter and Pyn for the great time!
Here’s the video and the rest of the photos.
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That does look lovely! And what fun to go to the fish farm! I’m glad you are all enjoying your time there, and that Jen is feeling better. It’s great that you guys makes friends so easily and quickly. It takes me forever to make friends, so I think that would be the hardest part for me if I had the opportunity to travel and be location independent like you are. Well, that and lack of sufficient funds. :)
A Mazing. The infinity pool is pretty impressive. Looks like an amazing city. I would get a little antsie not being able to get away from people though. I like Kristin take a long time to make friends. Good for you.
Marina Bay Sands was huge, but beautiful, and even though I was sick during our stay, I was very grateful for room service and the amazing bathtub and shower. Heavenly! I am so glad we were able to make friends with Peter and Pyn’s family. We were really lucky to meet them while we were eating lunch at the same restaurant near our apartment. As it turned out, they were staying at the same apartments in the room number next to ours. They were so nice to invite us to spend time with them at the fish farm. I agree that it was some of the freshest and best tasting seafood I’ve ever had.
Can I just say how glad I am for the internet? So that I can see and read about these wonderful adventures and experiences you’re having? I’m glad you make friends so quickly and easily too. The friendships you’ve made have have led to some of the best experiences as well!
Wow! Everything looks amazing. And you guys look incredibly happy :) That fish farm looks very cool.
I wonder what the pay is like with such high amount of living expenses.
Lovely video as well, while playing it my adobe player crashed but i enjoyed it a bit.
Sheyi
Nice post. Yes, I think Singapore gets a bad wrap from many. For a holiday, it is a wonderful place. We have been there many times for short periods and always enjoyed it. It is also a great stopover for trips all over Asia. Definitely an easy, clean, gastronomically satisfying, Asian destination.