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ALL ABOUT SINGAPORE: WHY SINGAPORE IS ‘BEST CITY IN THE WORLD’

all about singapore- Singapore Financial District from Marina Bay Sands Park

new Singapore Financial District from Marina Bay Sands Park

ALL ABOUT SINGAPORE: WHY SINGAPORE IS ‘BEST CITY IN THE WORLD’

When it comes to evaluating cities I have some long-held personal criterion for ‘Great City’ status. To achieve this status in my books a city must have the following:

1. Nature  Outdoor spaces, greenery and quick, easy access to nature. A city void of nature, purely filled with streets, buildings and gray is too heavy.  A Great City has lots of nature.

Cycling at Singapore Eastern Shoreline Park

2. Architecture  Interesting, beautiful and varied architecture. Cities filled with ugly, uninspired buildings are dull and depressing. I yearn for the great visual stimulation of exciting artistic architecture, preferably including skyscrapers.  I love skyscrapers.

Marina Bay Sands- Singapore

Marina Bay Sands Hotel

3. Food  Delicious, varied, plentiful and easily-accessed food is critical for comfort and enjoyment.

Singapore- Little India- Tandori Chicken

Tandori Chicken on display in Little India

4. Arts and culture  A Great City needs museums, art galleries, performances, music, and events. The more variety and frequency the better.

Singapore National Museum

Singapore National Museum

5. Night life  Dance clubs, a variety of music, parties and events are happening in Great Cities.

Singapore Visitors Centre- Orchard Road

6. International flair:  a diversity of people and their culture such as foods, arts, performances, and architecture.

Singapore LIttle India- Flower vendor

Flower vendor in LIttle India

Examples of  cities that cut my ‘Great Cities’ list include San Fransisco, Kyoto and Hong Kong.

Nevertheless, these three Great Cities do have one major fault in my book: COLD. I hate being cold. I’m eternally happy to stay toasty warm. Even hot is fine with me. Give me the tropics, thank you very much!

Enter Singapore.

In addition to meeting all criterion for ‘ Great City’ status, Singapore is tropical. In fact, it sits just 1 degree N of the equator, so it’s hot year round. Yeah!

In fact, being so close to the equator, the temperature is quite constant year round, with day time temps at 30C-32C/ 86F-90F and night time temps at 23C-25C/ 73F-75F. Just perfect. Tropical means first of all that I’ll never get cold and can always be assured of staying warm.

Singapore- Fullerton Hotel with Financial District skyscrapers

Singapore- Fullerton Hotel with Financial District skyscrapers

Secondly, tropical means Singapore is full of my favorite type of nature- trees like banyan, figs, palms, bananas, ginger plants and a variety of flowering bushes such as frangipani, jasmine and bougainvillea.

In fact, this city is so packed with trees, flowers and greenery that no matter where I go, I seem to be in the midst of  lush gardens. This includes cycling along all major streets and highways, which are lined by tall magnificent trees.

Singapore- East Coast Park Beach

In addition to its lush vegetation, Singapore, as an island nation, is surrounded by sea. The country’s shoreline includes the miles-long East Coast Park with beaches, magnificent trees, picnic and camping areas, and loads of outdoor activities.

Singapore River- Boat Quay warehouses-skyscrapers

restored Chinese warehouses backed by skyscrapers along Singapore River

The country supports one of the world’s largest shipping harbours. On the nation’s northern border, a narrow ocean channel separates Singapore from its neighbor, Malaysia.

But beautiful shorelines are not the only glimpses of water. The Singapore River runs right through the CBD (Central Business District) and is lined by restored colonial Chinese warehouses, skyscrapers, grand British colonial  buildings and riverside restaurant & entertainment districts.

Singapore- East Coast Park

As for nature, the city boasts a world-class Botanical Gardens, several hilltop parks, beaches, tropical islands, lakes and tree-lined rivers and canals. Singapore is so jammed with nature you basically can’t help but be submerged in it.
Singapore- Marina Bay Sands with bridge at Fullterton

Marina Bay Sands Hotel towers over Singapore River and Asian Civilizations Museum

As for architecture, the city is packed with unique modern architecture, soaring skyscrapers, colorful restored colonial shop houses, statuesque British colonial buildings, Chinese temples, Indian temples, Muslim mosques, Christian churches, the famous colonial Raffles Hotel, and futuristic shopping malls featuring entire walls as video screens.

 

Everywhere you turn, the buildings are a visual feast. Many of my favorite buildings in the world are in Singapore… here’s a sampling:
LaSalle College of Arts

LaSalle College of Arts

Marina Bay Sands Hotel complex

Marina Bay Sands Hotel complex- under construction

 Little India- Muslim Mosque

Muslim mosque in Little India

Indian Hindu temple in Little India

Indian Hindu temple in Little India 

ArtScience Museum

ArtScience Museum

Singapore- Indochine Restaurant- Clarke Quay

Indochine Restaurant- Clarke Quay

 Orchard Road- Shopping Mall

futuristic Ion shopping mall on Orchard Road

The incredibly varied architecture points to the international flavor of the city. Although mainly Chinese, Singapore also has among its citizens many Indians, Muslims and Westerners. In addition, as a major tourist destination, the city is continually full of international travelers visiting for business, shopping and sight-seeing.
Chinese dim sum

Chinese dim sum

Singaporeans love eating so the city is full of inexpensive food courts with small stalls selling every kind of food imaginable including Indian, Chinese, Malay, Indonesian and Western. Of course there are numerous upscale restaurants, too, with cuisine from nearly every country in the world. Eating is easy, convenient, quick, and varied. Perfect for someone like me who has to eat every 3-4 hours.

Singapore Art Museum

Singapore Art Museum

Museums include the grand Asian Civilization Museum, the even grander National Museum, The National Art Gallery, The Philatelic Museum (stamps) and others.

For performing arts there are Classical Symphonies, Plays and Musicals, Dance Performances, Theater Productions, Opera and free outdoor weekend rock concerts by regional bands. Paintings and other art are showcased at museums, galleries and the Esplanade.

Singapore- famous dj Chris Ho

my pal- Singaore’s famous dj Chris Ho

The city’s nightlife is just as varied as its food, entertainment and architecture. On offering is everything from cocktail bars, huge dance clubs, pubs and sports bars to local dives featuring every kind of music including pop, house, Indie, trance, rock, punk, Indian Hindi dance music, jazz, classical…you name it.

Singapore- new financial district skyscrapers at harbor

As if all that’s not enough, Singapore is super clean, organized, safe, smooth and efficient.

Surprisingly to me, many western travelers I meet say they don’t like the city because it’s ‘too clean.’ ‘too orderly.’ ‘too sterile.’

In my book clean is Great! Orderly and efficient is Wonderful! Safe is magnificent! After tromping around developing countries in SE Asia for months on end, clean and efficient are practically heaven.

Singapore- Merlion night view

Singapore- Merlion night view

That’s why I vote for Singapore as the very best city in the world. Whenever I’m there I feel happy and excited. I begin plotting ways to stay longer. I love feeling like I’m perpetually in a giant garden, gazing at amazingly creative buildings, eating delicious Indian and Chinese food on the cheap.

 

I love cycling through the East Coast Park, along the Singapore River and even through the city streets. I love attending concerts, festivals, dance clubs and events. I enjoy the international flavor of my favorite city. Can’t wait to get back there!

Reporting from the road, Lash

 

 

 

 

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You might also find the following posts useful: 

5 Unique Adventures in Singapore

Asia’s Amazing Shopping Malls

10 Free Things to do in Series:

Singapore

Chinatown

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Wanderlust Hotel in Little India, is part of a collection of artistic boutique hotels. The theme for Wanderlust reads:“a left-field and totally experimental boutique hotel set to draw madcap voyagers and curious travellers to its doorstep.”Now how’s that for a motto?!Sign me up please! And that’s exactly what they did.To create Wanderlust, the company employed several award-winning Singaporean design teams, giving them full creative freedom and encouraging them to push their limits, to come up with something new and exciting. The final themes employed were Industrial Glam, Eccentricity, Is It Just Black and White? and Creature Comforts.The result is a cool industrial lobby and three floors full of exceptionally creative, fun, wacky, way-out-there rooms. It’s a fun, fantastic place for anyone who loves color, design, high-tech, low-tech, futuristic design or just unique living spaces.It would also make a wonderful play space for city clubbers. 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The loft was accessed by an industrial-style metal staircase.Downstairs, right smack in the center of the room, sat a sturdy old-fashioned oval bathtub. Perfect for a bubble bath and long soak for sore muscles and travel-weary mind and body. As soon as I got settled in, I began filling the tub with steamy hot water. I added some of my own fragrant bath gel for foam.bathtub in my room – Wanderlust HotelThen I set about exploring the room’s facilities and gadgets to the soothing sound of gushing bath water. Most of the appliances and electronics were so state-of-the-art that I couldn’t even figure out how to use them. Lol. I had to call for assistance with the super cool espresso machine, the radio, and even the gorgeous HD TV suspended on the wall.By then my bath was ready. I slipped in for a relaxing soak and watched a fun movie on my big-screen TV. Soaking finished, I got online for a while (free wifi in the rooms, naturally) then headed up to sleep in ‘my cage’.part of Wanderlust ‘s fabulous vintage chair collectionI had arrived in Singapore in the late evening, so by the time I reached Wanderlust I didn’t have time to explore the rest of the hotel until morning. But I was so excited to look at all the interesting rooms and spaces, that I popped out of bed early and headed down to the lobby.Wanderlust has one more famous quirk to its name: a collection of famous vintage chairs situated throughout the lobby. There’s a bright blue dental chair, a vibrant purple salon chair and several other collectibles. I’m told people stop by Wanderlust just to visit their chairs!Most boutique hotels proudly present gourmet food of one sort or other in their restaurants. Wanderlust is no exception. Cocotte focuses on French country cooking. A display case full of rather unusual imported cheeses greets guests at the entrance. 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