A Short Stay in Singapore

Singapore, a city that is also a country, is home to 5.5 million people. It was founded as a British trading colony in 1819. We were just 137 kilometers (85 miles) from the equator and as a result it was hot and humid. We spent just two and a half days in Singapore.

Singapore is the fourth largest financial centre in the world after New York, London and Hong Kong, and the second busiest container port in the world after Shanghai. It is one of the most globalised cities in the world, with a third of its citizens being foreign born nationalised citizens. Chinese Singaporeans make up much of the population, but this country is also home to Malaysians, Indians, Europeans, and Americans. English is the common language but Mandarin and Malay are widely spoken too. Singapore gained independence from Malaysia in 1965 and has been known as the Republic of Singapore ever since.

Singapore has some unique and rather strict laws. Taxi drivers must be national born citizens.  Chewing gum is illegal.  The legal drinking age is 18. Alcohol cannot be purchased past 10:30 pm. Drug traffickers are punished by death. Spitting is also illegal. Basically, Singapore is a clean, modern, and safe city.

Here is what we did with our short time in Singapore.

GARDENS BY THE BAY

On our first night in Singapore we went to Gardens By the Bay, one of Singapore’s premiere tourist attractions. Here, man-made trees sparkle and tower overhead, flowers bloom, and a cloud forest is contained entirely within a glass dome. We went for a walk on the OCBC Skyway, a walkway that is suspended from man-made trees, offering unique views of Singapore. We were lucky enough to be on the Skyway for the evening light show which takes place at 7.45pm and 8.45pm.

SINGAPORE ZOO

Singapore Zoo is a fantastic zoo where animals are kept in large open enclosures. Over twenty years ago Dave and I visited Singapore Zoo and the Night Safari on our round the world trip after university, loving them both. This time around we spent most of a day at the zoo thoroughly enjoying seeing the many species on display. Our favourites were the rhinoceros, polar bear, orang utans, snakes and enormous salt water crocodiles.

NIGHT SAFARI

Our last night in Singapore was spent at the Night Safari, the world’s first nocturnal zoo. Unlike traditional nocturnal houses, which reverse the day-night cycle of animals so they will be active by day, the Night Safari is an entire open-air zoo set in a humid tropical forest that is only open at night. It can be explored by foot via four walking trails, and by tram. We loved the lions, tigers, hyenas, hippos and cheetahs which were all far more active by night. 

RAFFLES HOTEL

Raffles Hotel is a colonial-style luxury hotel in Singapore and was named after British statesman Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, the founder of Singapore. We had a wander around…although didn’t stop for a Singapore Sling in the Long Bar.

WHERE WE STAYED

We stayed in our first Airbnb, a three bedroom apartment complete with washing machine and dryer (pretty much all our clothes were washed and dried here), with a great central location, near Burgis Shopping Mall. We travelled around by MRT, a clean, modern and efficient underground system. Shops, cafes and restaurants are everywhere in Singapore and you can get everything. We managed to fit in an english breakfast before we left, Dylan in particular was very happy.