Impressions of Singapore

Just returned from a flying visit to Singapore. Was there over the weekend.

Most striking was the green foliage so abundant everywhere. Gives you a very pleasant cool feeling and some roads had such lovely trees which gave great shade from the relentless scorching heat of the equatorial sun. One morning I walked in the park on Pearl Hill and saw a beautiful huge tree that is easily more than a century old. There is also a reservoir up there, well-fortified with a stone wall and fencing including a sign warning against trespassing. A small pond with floating lotus flowers and a special area for tai chi practioners well made use of by the elderly complemented the natural surroundings of carefully landscaped plants and footpaths. Needless to say the air was fresh and cool and the sun-dappled staircases coming up the hill from various directions provide a challenge for those not so fit. A couple of young ladies ran up effortlessly while a middle-aged woman struggled step by step, slowly but surely making her way uphill.

Beneath the roads runs an efficient system of mass rail transit carrying thousands of passengers to their destinations rapidly while above ground skyscrapers vied to dominate the skyline. You can see more people underground than along the roads except for the famous Orchard Road, the main shopping belt. Another well-known landmark is Bugis Junction which now houses modern boutiques and restaurants in cool air-conditioned comfort. However right across the road is the other side of Bugis which is a warren of tiny hole-in-the-wall stalls offering a myriad of goods ranging from food to cheap clothing, bags and footwear. However, the ventilation is surprisingly efficient enough to avert heat exhaustion as one battles the crowds that throng the narrow passage ways in search of a good bargain.

Another feature is the ubiquitious food court in every shopping mall where stalls sell a variety of food of different ethnicity. The food is affordable and will not raise any eyebrows if a Malaysian does not convert the price into ringgit. If one does so, then one will savor each morsel thinking how much cheaper it is across the Causeway. I still find Malaysian food more palatable and more delicious than Singapore fare. I was most disappointed by the fried radish cake ( Chow lopak ko ) which was simply stir-fried with sweetish black soya sauce, without any chives or beansprouts and there was hardly any aroma from the dish. One that is well fried will have a lovely fragrant aroma such as can be found in a "pasar malam" ( night market ) in Malaysia.

I'm now back in Kuala Lumpur for a quick round of delectable Malaysian hawker fare before returning to the Land below the Wind where the food is worse than that in the Republic. It is simply unpalatable, except for the seafood that you can find in a seafood restaurant but then, these can set you back by a tidy sum. Food has to be delicious and at the same time affordable to the man in the street. I find that if the food is unpalatable, it leaves me very dissatisfied and unfulfilled and I would not hesitate going for another round if there is a better choice, so that my day is not spoilt. Lousy food has that effect on me.