Singapore sling ... (and other things) .... a quick intro ...

Beaches, tropical rainforests, amazing cuisine, beautiful buildings, wonderful cocktails (too many slings yum yum), super friendly folk, cosmopolitan shops, café lifestyle. Who knew eh!

Having passed through Singapore many many many times, I have always just used this great place as a transport hub, and even though I have spent hours and hours in transit, in the terminal that is not that great,, as a result, I never thought to get out and have a look.  Maybe I was also a little jaded by KL (Kuala Lumpur), where I did venture out and besides the Petronas Towers saw very little.... 

Singapore is completely different, to what I expected, I have now also met people along the way that have spent time there and they agree with how the were pleasantly surprised. There are a tonne of expats living there and the economy is fab, but Singapore should and easily could, do more to promote itself as a truly brilliant tourist destination.  This place is absolutely beautiful....  reminds me of Rio ....

I was met at the airport quite late, by the driver from the hotel I stayed in (Quincy by the way) highly recommend it, everything included, great price, great location just off Orchard Road.

My wonderful driver turned out to be the most interesting guide aswell, the road into central Singapore from the airport is really straight, really long and down the centre, it is filled with beautiful flowerbeds, which I actually learnt can easily be pushed aside and the whole road can become an emergency runway if needed, genius !  That is what you notice the most about Singapore, how well planned and organised it is.  I even learnt later on that half of the new and wonderful grand prix track is actually on a floating pontoon that can be moved and used for other things when the grand prix is not on.

The country is tiny, the population quite high yet no-one seems to get in anyones way.  Due to the governments investment in public transport, high tax on cars and wonderful city planning it feels as though there are relatively few cars on the road, and despite the fact the place is quite built up, when you are n the ground you can appreciate the efforts that have been made to ensure the place has a really green feel, with little parks and gardens built anywhere possible.  The architecture and modern design of the buildings has to be amongst the best in the world (check out the great buildings here).  Tax is low, crime is virtually non-existent, food is exceptional and it is wonderfully multi-cultural, I have fallen in love with Singapore.

More soon …

CBT  - x