First Impressions: Singapore, The Little Nation That Could

From the moment I landed in Singapore’s Changi International Airport I was impressed. Maybe it was the fact the place was spotlessly clean, orderly and efficient…or maybe it was just the fact that I had spent the previous two months motorcycling through Indonesia that made finally arriving in a country without trash and cigarette smoke everywhere appear that much more beautiful. Whatever the case may have been, my first impressions of Singapore were joyful excitement on returning to a modern, almost western country 😉 (at least compared to where I’ve been the last few months)

Exiting through the lowest level of the airport I came out to the bus terminal. For the mere price of S$2.20 ($1.75USD) I was able to take the #31 bus 22 kilometers into the heart of downtown Singapore where my Couchsurfing buddy lived.

The ride through the city captivated me. My eyes were glued to the view passing by the large windows so much that I nearly missed my stop. Had those windows opened I would undoubtedly have looked like one of those dogs with their head sticking out of the car window, tongue hanging out and ears flopping in the breeze.

As I had slept in Jakarta airport the night before and then had a horrible encounter with Indonesian Immigration trying to leave in the morning — which led to 1) me being detained and taken to the interrogation room where I was threatened and questioned; and 2) being purposely held until my flight had left before being released and forced to purchase another ticket — it was nearly dinnertime before I finally made it onto Singapore soil.

And I Was Hungry!

I decided to start my culinary tour of Singapore at 嘉宴餐馆. While initially I was only going to order one dish, after seeing their menu I decided to go with three — two unknowns and one safe bet, just in case 😉

After much thought and several flips back-and-forth through the menu I finally settled on two new dishes based solely on their names and not their photos: “old village chief to amuse” and “delicious round the waist.” With names like that I dare you to tell me you would not have done the same!

WOW…the food was absolutely amazing! I left thirty minutes later with a to-go box and S$30 ($24USD) less in my wallet but it was definitely worth it. Plus the leftovers tasted equally amazing the next morning, cold.

Next up was the Singapore Pub Crawl, which is often frequented by Singaporean Couchsurfers — both host and guest. In fact the provider of my couch knew quite a few of the other attendees. From 7pm to 3am we made out way up and down Boat Quay, bar-hopping every hour or so.

After the bars had closed at 3am one of the Pub Crawl organizers wasted no time whipping out a couple cases of beer from some undisclosed location. The dozen of us still standing proceeded to spend the next two hours drinking and chatting on the Clarke Quay Bridge — or as it is known by the locals, simply The Bridge. This place is very popular with the 20- and 30-something crowd; even as late as 5am it was crowded with a couple hundred people still knocking back cold — err, by this point warm — ones.

As I crawled into bed around 6am that morning, one thing was clear: this trip to Singapore, originally intended to be a 24-hour visa run before returning to Indonesia, is going to last a lot longer than that!

Total cost of the night: S$20 pub crawl admission plus another S$300 ($236USD) spent on drinks.

More On Singapore Coming Soon!

Ever Visited This Tiny Nation? What Were Your First Impressions?