As we finished our intense but rewarding yoga training course in Koh Samui, we headed over to Singapore. This small but booming country was only completely independence in 1965 from Malaysia. It’s now the fourth biggest financial center and one of the busiest ports of South Asia, with low taxes and modern infrastructure, no wonder business and people want to be in Singapore. That was our first impression as we could almost just see such people all around the city. We felt quite funny with our elephants pents from Thailand and Tshirt from Cambodia 🙂
We can also say that Singapore has definitively one of the nicest airports in the world. It is quite impressive with three terminals and carpet everywhere. There are train shuttles between terminals, very efficient and organized. Also something very curious was how every single bathroom or customer service desk had iPads to rate how friendly and cooperative was the person at the desk or in charge of cleaning the bathroom. They really care about every detail and customer service.
Luckily there is a metro from the airport all of the way to the city for few Singapore dollars, so that we could reach the center without problem. The metro is very clean and comfortable. There are very stiff fines if they find you eating, drinking or smoking inside the metro. When we saw the sign, we had our bubble teas with us, we were happy that nobody saw us ..! We are sure that makes all of the difference in terms of keeping the metro clean.
Singapore it is also the place where people made our stay so special ! First of all, we were super lucky to find a couchsurfer from Japan who works and lives in Singapore for quite sometime. He hosted us for the 4 nights and was super welcoming, warmth and open his condo to us with no hesitation. We are deeply thankful for his hospitality as Singapore is very expensive in term of accommodation, with prices closed to 45$ / night / person in the most standard hostel ! Even though he was very busy conducting his business, we were able to teach him 1 yoga class at 6 am for sunrise. It was the first class for us after having gotten the certificate! 🙂
On the same evening, we had dinner with Lydie’s ex colleagues from IMD. One of them live in Singapore and two other were in the city for some weeks for work. It was really nice to see them and share a good spicy crab toghether. To see people we know from home make us somehow feel like home .
The rest of the time, we spent visiting all of the major attractions of the city. Now, Singapore has an Universal Studios park, zoos, night safaris, water parks and lots of other activities we are definitely not interested in. The city is very big actually, with lots of high buildings, most of them offices but the most impressive one is the Marina Bay Sands. This one hotel in particular consist of three separate buildings with a huge ship shape on top connecting all three buildings. Up on the top, which is on the 57th floor, there is a hotel only guest infinity pool overlooking the beautiful skyline of Singapore. There are also bars and clubs with very expensive drinks but very well worth it for the view. As you walk through this hotel, you’ll find a casino, tons of shops and all kinds of restaurants. We almost felt like being in Las Vegas. Around Marina Bay Sands, there are other museums, parks and the port where you can spot hundreds of cargo ships all around.
If you head east of Singapore, you’ll find the smaller streets, like the Arab street, with hundreds of silk clothing shops and super colorful. Of course, you can dine and find really good and authentic middle Eastern food. You can walk down a few more streets to find Chinatown. Now, we must say this was the cleanest Chinatown we have seen throughout Asia. Lots of nice shops and food stores.
We truly enjoyed this city with its magnificent views, great restaurants, transportation system and super nice people. We would definitely like to come back to see other parts we didn’t get a chance like the botanical gardens or little India.
We now head to Indonesia for volcano sightseeing and beach exploring. Hopefully we can teach yoga along the way as well. Enjoy the pictures!
Useful information:
Have a look at the amazing city view! Go on top of Marina Bay Hotel. The desk in Kudeta, bar on the floor 57th. Drinks are expensive but the view is worth the visit !
We ate Spicy crabs at Long Beach Seafood restaurant at Dempsey. Delicious, not too pricy.