The Lion city (Vacation part 2)

After 12 hours of travel and stopovers in Hong Kong and Bangkok, we finally arrived in Singapore. Even from the taxi ride from the airport, you could tell Singapore was a city of World class. The 4 lane highway leading to the city was shielded with rows of majestic 50 foot tall trees. Past deforestation on the island state today means that each tree in Singapore has been transplated from elsewhere; an amazing thought when you see the degree of “greening” present in Singapore. It truly does make a difference in reducing the perceived temperature (Singapore is 1° north of the equator but feels considerably cooler than South Korea in summer).

We arrived at my friend Theresa’s late Tuesday night with the gracious invite to squat at her place until Saturday. “Tree” and I have been friends since our second year of university and have copied an assignment or two off of each other (at least I’ve copied from her!). We were amazed when we walked in, to see that Tree’s apartment complex has a beautiful outdoor pool, which we would use at every opportunity throughout our stay. She has done pretty damn well for herself!

Singapore is a phenomenal city. Founded and planned out by the now beloved Sir Stamford Raffles in 1819, it has transformed itself from a rugged port of trade into a financial powerhouse. Over the next 3 days we found ourselves traipsing through little India (and paying $5 for a meal for 4, and $2 for a pair of “Oakley’s”), Arab town, Chinatown, engaging in Singapore’s national pastime (shopping) and generally getting lost in the city. At night, Theresa took us to a catered, roof-top party, to a club on the 70th floor of the Swiss hotel, walking along the harbour edge near the downtown and pubbing at the high-end Clarke Quay (people watching the entire time).
On Friday we spent the day on Sentosa Island after a cable car ride from Mt Faber. Sentosa Island is Singapore’s version of the Toronto Islands, except that it has been developed as a getaway from the city, rather than Toronto’s airport/residential community/public space hodgepodge. The aquarium and Pink dolphin exhibits were fantastic (even though I thought the KL aquarium was better for a fifth the price!). Virginia screamed and hollered so much when the dolphin trainers asked for a volounteer, that they picked her only to stop her disgraceful behaviour. I think she even pushed a kid out of her way as she ran to the front! How embarrassing! We swam at Sentosa’s beach, unconscious of the half a dozen freighters in the background and obvious quality of the water… it was a beach and we were on vacation! The night ended with a trip to the night safari where we were treated to fire eating, a performance of otters showing the children how to recycle and a ride through the safari. The safari’s animals were “secured” in fence-less zones that used rocks and moats to contain them… I still think there must have been some sort of “zapping” device that helped reinforce the perimeter… especially after the Bull Elephant charged our tour bus, which we narrowly escaped!

Surprisingly, despite Singapore’s beautiful buildings and landscape, the diverse and warm people, the cheap public transit ($15 to get across the city and $1.20 to ride the fully automated subway system to anywhere in the state), and the great shopping, the thing Steph and I appreciated most was the food. Korean food is great, but lack of variety is something that is killing us. I also noticed that after being in Singapore for 2 days, my 8 week old Korean cough had vanished. Hmm!

The next morning we were bound for Malaysia and the small island of Rawa. What a blast!Follow Virginia's account of the trip.
Also check out Theresa's amazing pictures!!!