Singapore Cons

Is it possible to fall in love with a city?  If it is, then I fell for Singapore.  The city and its people were perfect.  The only negative, and it is a small one,  is that prices for food and lodging are similar to a major American city.  My hotel was about 250 USD per night and each meal ran about 40 USD.

My flight from Bangkok (BKK) to Singapore was quick and easy.  The Bangkok airport is pretty great over all and I flew on an airlines I have never heard of before.  Scoot Airlines.  My flight was safe, cheap and quick.  Flying time was about 2 hours.

If you happen to have a window on the correct side of the plane you might get a glimpse of Singapore.  It is a huge city.  Changi Airport (Singapore Airport) is on the far eastern side of the city.

Changi Airport was clean, huge, efficient and the people working there spoke English.  I found all the employees I interacted with to be remarkably friendly and helpful. (unlike most American airports – looking at you Atlanta)

I spent one night at a Marriott near the Bangkok Airport.

Travel from Pattaya Thailand to the Bangkok airport is pretty straight forward.  It is about an 1 and 1/2  hour taxi ride.  Unfortunately, there is really only one main highway and if a big accident occurs, you might easily miss your flight.

With that in mind, I traveled to the Marriott Hotel near the airport in Bangkok.  This proved to be a relaxed trip that only cost me 1,500 Bhat.  A very low cost probably due to there being fewer tourists here in June.

The Marriott was great in all ways and the bed was wonderful.  One night cost about 100 USD and breakfast was about 30 USD.  Loved my stay. Marriott offers a free shuttle from the hotel to the airport. 

My first night in Singapore I actually stayed at a hostel.  There are so many videos online about doing trips cheaply, that I figured if there was a good hostel it would be in Singapore and I wanted to see if an excellent trip can be had for very low cost.   My experience leads me to believe that the videos online regarding super cheap travel are wrong or misleading.

I did not enjoy the hostel.  The rooms were filled with bunk beds with little gap between them.  There was one communal bathroom and one long sink for everyone to brush their teeth.  I cannot recommend this. If your objective is to travel and see the world, work, make some money and travel correctly.  

Traveling on the super cheap was not fun even for one night.

My next 3 nights were spent at the Paradox Hotel in Clarkes Quay Singapore.  What a great hotel in every way and right in the middle of where you want to be.   Price was about 250 USD per night and breakfast buffet about 30 USD.

There main ways to get to the Gardens. Both ways are very easy.  From the Paradox Hotel (Clarkes Quay), you just walk along the river.  You will eventually get to Marina Bay Sands (the big building with the surf board shaped area on top).

The Gardens By The Bay is located behind the Marina Bay Sands building.  Walk around the big building and you will see the Gardens.  This is a long walk in the heat from Clarkes Quay.  Be prepared for a hike. Bring an extra shirt if you do the walk as you will want to change when you arrive.

Alternatively you can ride the MRT (train) just outside the Paradox Hotel.  It is easy to catch a quick and smooth ride that drops you off at a station right at the Garden.  

One day I did the walk.  One day the train. Both were enjoyable, offering different experiences.

Singapore is famous for many things to include law and order, a peaceful people, clean city streets and buildings, and lots of fines for people who do the wrong thing.  

I arrived expecting to see a virtual police state with police everywhere I went.  Shockingly in 4 days, I never saw even one policeman, not even a police car in the distance.  I never even heard a siren.  There are cameras in many locations  but these never seemed intrusive to me.

I am still stunned at the total lack of police to be seen.  My conclusions about this make me feel really good, but it also troubles me.  It makes me wonder about me, my life and my own country.

I felt, while in Singapore, that the city is the way it is because the people want it that way.  In other words, it is clean, orderly and virtually crime free because living in that kind of city makes the people happy. They are not forced to live like this.  They live like this because their lives are better for it.

I was safe everywhere I went.  People were happy, kind, friendly and helpful to me. Every time I met anyone from Singapore I was impressed.

Mass transit was entirely safe and totally clean because they want it like that. I have stopped riding mass transit in America.

I suspect Singapore is not a perfect city, but I am certainly impressed and more than a little bit jealous of the life they have in such a wonderful place.

I will return to Singapore many times in the future.