Where they Grow Buildings and Trees that light up!

Well as you can see I’ve been busy running around the globe! When you visit 4 continents in one week, one tends to be busy and apparently blog updates fell behind!

Singapore was a great city to visit! The smells, shops, food and buzz of activity made me feel that I was finally half way across the world from Canada. When I was in Australia the cultural differences were lacking. I had the chance to explore Singapore over 5 days. 

The city is rich in history and boast of a bright future. There was the city planning museum that I visited, where the displays laid out how the city had a century long plan for expansion, and this plan is visited every 5 years to ensure that everything is moving on target and adjustments are made annually to keep up with what is “hip”. A mandate from the government has resulted in the city being covered in gardens. The only thing Singapore grows is buildings, so to take away the concrete jungle feel by placing gardens EVERYWHERE! Each building development needs green space; each bridge seems to have flowers hanging on the edges and the center of roads too!  I visited the Singapore Botanical Gardens, these gardens were started in the 1800s.

I also visited The Garden by the Sea was opened in 2012 and has a wide variety of vegetation and flowers. In addition they have what they call Modern trees! Have you read the Lorax? In the center of the Garden are a cluster of giant trees! They are made of metal and they harness solar power and capture rain water. It is covered in veins and at night were lit up by lights, in addition every hour the trees put on a synchronized light show! 

Everything in Singapore has a light show! The newest Hotel (it is three towers with what appears to be a boat on top with a pool in it!) puts on a water show twice a night. The show includes water fountains, lasers, smoke, fire, music, videos, and even Bubbles! Every corner you walked around there would be another light show on a farris wheel or a bridge. 

Carrot Cake and Bubble Tea!

The highlight of Singapore would have to be the Hawker! These are similar to food courts scattered throughout the city. There would be 50-60 different food stands to choose from. The variety of food was everything from Indian, Chinese, Thai, Malaysian, Fruit Stands, Bubble tea stands, Frog leg soup stands, even Organ soup (your choice! Kidney or intestines or balls?!?! All in a soup) The most adventurous thing I tried was Carrot Cake,The main components of Singaporean carrot cake are daikon (‘white carrot’) and rice flour dough (‘cake’) fried with egg, garlic, and spices. Chilli is optional and diced scallions are added at the end. If done just right the result is a savoury dish that’s crispy on the outside but melts in your mouth.

Sour Tadpole Desert (really shaved ice with sour fruit and gummies)

There are two varieties of carrot cake black and white, Thick soy sauce (i think we need to throw out all the thin soy sauce we use back home and only use the thick kind!) is added to the black variety to give it its colour and extra sweetness. I wasn’t fooled by the name, but it was a rich warm mass of mushy bread like food. It was rather unpleasant. The Sour tadpole desert was ten times better! By the end of my time in Singapore I was outraged if a meal was $5.00! For $6.00 you could have a main course, dessert and a fancy smoothie or bubble tea!

Singapore defiantly was a break for my bank account! I spent not even $30 on entry into museums and parks and walking tours for the 5 days I was in town. In addition the Hostel was only $16 a day! A nice change from Australia. The weather was still hot, but now humid! Walking around was easy throughout the city and the metro and buses were well marked and cheep! I even visited Orchard Rd, the shopping district, the area felt a lot like Vegas, high end shops with lots of lights and people.

I met lovely people at the hostel, enjoyed the roof top lounge area at the hostel, ate lots of food that i had never tried before and enjoyed walking through China town several times. (since it was leading up to chinease new year the streets had extra stands selling an assortment of sweets, red envelopes and cured meat!) the roads were blazing with lanterns strung across the road once the sun set. Singapore was rich in a culture i had never visited before. it was a taste of Asia. I dream about traveling and working/living abroad, Asia has never been a place i think about visiting.... until now. Cambodia, Vietnam, and other countries would be amazing to visit one day soon!