Singapore

December 8-11

As soon as we got off the plane in Singapore, we knew we were in for a whole new experience. We had such a lovely, relaxing week in Samui, it was easy to forget the little things that come from time in many southeast Asian countries--undrinkable tap water, gasoline for motorbikes being sold in reused alcohol bottles, can't flush toilet paper down the toilet, etc. But even though Singapore is only a couple of hours away, it is seriously a whole different world. In fact, it might be a whole different century.

First of all, bathrooms are plentiful. Now this might seem like a weird thing to point out, but when you've been on the road as long as we have, you come to appreciate when you can use a bathroom when you need to without worrying about cleanliness or scrounging for a coin. There were 5 or 6 bathrooms between debarking the plane and baggage claim, and everywhere we've been in this city there are free, public, CLEAN bathrooms around every corner.

As we made our way out of the airport, we found a "Star Wars Library," where you can scan a Singapore library card to have a robot find the appropriate volume for you and bring it down off the shelf. While we couldn't partake in the fun, we did get to take our picture with a couple of our favorite droids.

Then, we found the MRT (subway). By far, this is the most efficient, clean, and peaceful public transportation we have taken in any city. Signs around the cars remind you to give up your seat for those who need it ("Be a Stand-Up-Sally!") and take your bag off to make more room for others ("Do the Bag-Down-Benny!"). The trains are blessedly air conditioned, and even crowded trains are spacious and silent. Like the rest of the city, there is no trash anywhere, and there are visible security guards around in case you need anything.

If you are familiar, you may know that Singapore is notorious for its extreme laws against seemingly common ills in other places. Littering is a $10,000 fine. Smoking or eating on the MRT is a $500 fine. Leaving your tray on a table in a food court (more on this later) can get you a $1000 fine. Smuggling marijuana is punishable by death (which our flight attendants made sure to remind us of as we traveled in from weed-friendly Samui). The worst of these have seriously suppressed freedom of speech and dissent in the country. But it is impossible to deny that the laws regulating public behavior have created a really lovely place to live. I have seen maybe 5 pieces of trash during our entire stay. The public transportation is clean and safe.--everywhere is clean and safe! This is the first place I have felt completely free of any fear of pickpocketing (knock on wood). People have affordable housing, healthcare, and education. There is a clear sense of community and civic obligation--a sign in a bathroom in the MRT station (one of the cleanest I have used on our entire trip) cheerfully reminded that "A clean bathroom is good for everyone!" It certainly feels like living in the future...a future that has the potential to turn dystopian, but for now seems to create a very livable society for those involved.

A good example of strict rules (to us) birthing a healthy community was shown to us by our tour guide Linda. We used my credit card points to book a Michelin Food Tour, since Singapore is known for its high-quality, affordable food options in its "hawker centers," which are kind of like food courts back home. There are over 150 hawker centers around the city, and they are located near government-sponsored housing centers, so there is a community hub in the middle of residential zones. The other magic of the hawkers is that they capture the multi-cultural background of Singapore. Chinese, Malay, Indian, and other cuisines are lovingly preserved in each individual stall. While these stalls started out on the street, they were quickly moved inside and highly regulated, meaning they are exceptionally clean and high quality, especially for the price and variety. Our tour took us to several stalls that are either in the Michelin guide or have their own stars, all while eating in a booth in the middle of a food court.

Linda shared a lot of Singapore's history with us as we walked around to each of our tour stops, and it was clear that she has a strong sense of pride in her country. She told us about how important it is to Singapore to make sure everyone has affordable places to live and the ability to access community. When she instructed us in how to clear our trays from the tables, she explained that the expectation is that everyone is taking care to make the best environment for the next to come along. When she explained while an elevator had recently been added on to a hawker center, she told us that as a "Blue Zone," Singapore has an incredible number of people who live past the age of 100, and in a few years about 25% of the population is going to be over the age of 65. The elevator needs to be there so everyone can continue to access the community hub inside the center.

It's striking to be in a place where there are such strict punishments for things that seem so minor, but to see how much that has created a really idyllic environment. Walking around the corner from our hotel, there are multiple beautiful parks and community areas, including public workout equipment, basketball courts, and swings. As Cal and I took a turn the other night, he commented that something like that "couldn't exist in Seattle," because they would quickly be trashed. It's gotten me thinking about school a lot, and the issues we face as we have turned away from traditional punishments like detention or suspension. Believe me, I am not advocating for $10,000 fines or corporal punishment, but the lack of consequences has created a serious lack of accountability, which has led to a place that really doesn't feel like a community. Without accountability to each other, we aren't able to really engage with each other. It is striking to me how a society at-large has created such a sense of community, seemingly through extreme consequences. At the same time, it may just be that the consequences are severe because the transgressions, to a country so focused on a tight-knit functional community, are themselves severe.

Anyway, back to our adventures...

The two main things we did in Singapore were eat the amazing food and explore the amazing public spaces. Let's start with the food--as I said before, we did a food tour on our first day through the hawker centers. The food represents the traditional elements from each distinct culture that make up Singapore. Some of the highlights include:

Curry Puff

The Singapore version of a Cornish Pasty. Puff pastry filled with Indian spices, potatoes, and a hard-boiled egg.

Pork Noodles

Freshly made noodles, freshly made wontons (both boiled and fried), freshly braised pork...seriously sooooo good!

Seafood Laksa

Handmade noodles in a spicy coconut broth with shrimp, scallops, fish cake, and an egg. I'm drooling just remembering the chew of those noodles.

Pandan Cake

Pandan is a green plant that has a flavor somewhere between a coconut and vanilla. This cake was the lightest and fluffiest thing I've ever eaten.

Hainanese Chicken Rice

This is one of the most famous dishes in Singapore, if you can't tell from the line in the photo below. If you look closely, you can see the picture of Anthony Bourdain on the side of this stall--this was his favorite place in Singapore, and he helped make it famous. Definitely good, but far from our favorite stop of the day.

The other gem we discovered after the tour was a little restaurant just around the corner from our hotel. A tiny hole in the wall, we sat just across the big window through which you can watch the cooks work. We ordered spicy wontons, pork buns, and (stay with me here) braised pork head, which was served cold with lots of chilis and peanuts. To tame the fire in our mouths, we had the house special--Duck Shit Tea with lemon. Apparently, the origins of the name have to do with either how the tea looks, or how a clever farmer was trying to ward off thieves. Either way, despite the name, it is absolutely incredible, as was everything we ate. We loved it so much we returned the next night to sample Singapore's famous Chili Crab. When we entered the restaurant, the waiter immediately recognized us and happily greeted us with, "You're back!" Thankfully, the second night was as good as the first.

The second way we spent our time in Singapore was exploring some of the public parks. On our first day, we rode the MRT out to the Botanic Gardens. The garden itself is 166 years old and is the first and only tropical garden to be named a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It spans 82 hectares and includes walking paths, the National Orchid Garden, a Learning Forest, a Seed Bank, and more. We walked among palm and rubber trees, beautiful flowers, past "Swan Lake" with an honest to goodness swan swimming in it, and alongside various creatures such as free-roaming roosters (terrifying) and Monitor Lizards (which look like tiny Komodo Dragons). We even got to glimpse a few of the rarer species that call the garden home, like the elusive Slender Squirrel and enormous Giant Golden Orb Weaver spider, all accompanied by the cacophonous shriek of a million cicadas. The gardens are free to enter, though some of the attractions inside (like the National Orchid Garden) cost. Thankfully, the free sites were enough to keep us occupied for as long as we could stand the 90° F, 100% humidity.

On our second day, we walked down through Chinatown to visit the "Buddha Tooth Relic Temple" (it's actual name), which houses beautiful statues and museums alongside the eponymous relic. The temple is fairly modern as far as temples go, but is extraordinary nonetheless. The enormous temple's many floors lead up to an enormous gilded chamber, in the center of which sits an enormous solid gold shrine protecting a single sacred tooth. From here, we continued down to Fort Canning Park, which is the site of former British Colonial strongholds and now is a beautiful public park. Just like the Botanic Gardens, this park is idyllic and pristine. The garbage cans were literally the cleanest garbage cans I've ever seen. There is zero trash on the ground, the benches and swings throughout are clean and well-cared-for, and the facilities are spotless. Again, we strolled through the park as long as we could stand the humidity, then took a break inside the Fort Canning Center where we explored the free and thankfully air conditioned museum on the history of the Fort.

We were only in Singapore for 2 full days, and we never really planned to come here. The only reason we did is because it was the only non-Thailand direct flight out of Samui, and we knew we could easily go north from here. However, we are again happily surprised by a place for which we didn't have many expectations. All we knew coming in is that Singapore is expensive, but even that didn't turn out to be the case. As long as you eat in the hawker centers or Chinatown, food is reasonable and delicious. The only activities we engaged in (besides the food tour) were free to the public, and there are so many more places we could easily have gone had our time extended. The people have universally been kind and welcoming, and the city is just so pleasant. There are so many places to exist here that are free of charge and expectation, and those places are clean and safe and a joy to be in. Singapore definitely has its unique challenges--I'm not proposing we fully adopt their political stances--but it is certain that they have created a lovely community to visit.