Singapore - the first time

I first visited Singapore in November. At the time, I was on my way back from a six-month backpacking odyssey in Europe. I was travelling with Dean, a friend from Portland, Victoria. We flew out of London on 15 November, arriving in Singapore late afternoon local time the following day. Dean and I then spent another three days exploring some of the city’s iconic attractions before catching overnight flights to Australia on 19 November.

We based ourselves at the Traveller's Club, a backpacker’s hostel on Bencoolen Street in central Singapore. At the time, Bencoolen Street was Backpacker Central with all manner of dodgy venues offering cheap food and accommodation. The Traveller's Club was an experience all its own. The hostel was in a high-rise apartment building where guests were hosted in crowded dormitory rooms crammed with bunks. Privacy was not an option, and you paid extra for a room with air-conditioning.

Dean and I spent time exploring the Singapore River zone, including its iconic Merlion statue. Back then, it sat at the mouth of the river, with the open sea extending beyond it. These days, the Merlion sits in a sheltered bay surrounded by reclaimed land, and the towering Marina Sands casino complex dominates the skyline. 

We also visited the Raffles hotel for a quick look at its famous Long Bar. Back then, you could visit without waiting in an insanely long queue or forking out for a pricey entry ticket.  The bar was also on the ground floor. You could walk in off the street. These days, the bar is on the hotel's second floor. I recently learned it was relocated less than a year after Dean and I visited, as part of a major renovation.

I fondly remember visiting Mount Faber, where we caught the cable car across to Sentosa Island. The image above is a postcard we received with our cable car ticket.  Dean and I were mesmerised by the view from Mount Faber. High-rise apartments filled the skyline and spread across the city in every direction.  We'd never seen such a condensed urban landscape before.

I also recall a sign in a public toilet cubicle on Mount Faber warning visitors they’d be fined if they failed to flush the toilet. It was a classic introduction to the nanny state that Singapore is renowned for. Although I wondered how on earth anyone knew if you'd failed to flush?

However, my memories of Sentosa were less inspiring. The island was billed as Singapore’s newest attraction, a playground for grown-ups. However, we felt the venues and themed exhibits were rather underwhelming. I also recall signs everywhere reminding us that spitting would attract another of those ubiquitous fines.

On our third day in Singapore, Dean and I split up and did our own thing. Although, if truth be told, I asked him for a day by myself. In hindsight, I probably didn’t frame my request in the kindest of terms. Dean was rather upset by the request. As a result, our final days travelling together ended on a slightly sour note. A month or so later, I travelled to Victoria and spent Christmas on his family farm.  I apologised, he forgave me, and our friendship was duly restored.

I spent my solo day exploring the city’s ethic districts, including Chinatown, the Muslim Quarter and Little India. The image above shows the Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple in Little India. It’s one of the oldest Hindu temples in Singapore. It was built by Indian pioneers in 1881 and is dedicated to Kali, the goddess and destroyer of evil. As you can see, the candy-striped temple's gopuram or grand tower entrance is adorned with an impressive array of colourful Hindu deities. The interior is equally impressive, filled with majestic statues of the goddess Kali.

On our second night in town, Dean and I joined the locals for Singapore’s annual Christmas Light-Up Ceremony.  The event was hosted inside Centerpoint, Singapore's largest shopping mall, conveniently located on Orchard Road, the city’s premier shopping street. We watched Wee Kim Wee, the city-state’s President, switch on festive lights along Orchard Road using a giant podium button. I've kept the event's program, which you can see above.  It was accompanied by a lyric sheet containing a selection of popular Christmas carols.

One final memory. Singapore is renowned for its clean and highly manicured streetscapes. Therefore, I’m sure its government would be mortified by the photo above. I took it in a back street of Singapore’s Muslim Quarter. I simply couldn’t resist the fact that even a city as polished as this still has a dodgy slum district. No doubt this street scene is long gone. However, one slightly ramshackle experience has survived. The colourful chaos, noise and clutter of Singapore’s hawker food halls is still the same three decades later, although they're better presented than their counterparts in 1990.

After three hectic days of sightseeing, Dean and I made our way to Changi Airport. Here we parted ways. Dean had changed his ticket to fly back to Melbourne, which was closer to home, while I continued to Sydney. Early in the morning on 20 November, I landed in Sydney, ready to begin a search for accommodation and employment. What happened next transformed my life and set me on a path that’s continued until this day. You can learn more about this watershed moment here.

Jewel at Changi

One final post from Singapore. We took some time out at Changi Airport to explore the truly stunning Jewel complex that opened here a few years ago. We missed this extraordinary indoor destination on our last visit to Singapore, and transit stops from Europe never give us enough time to pass through security to visit it outside the terminal.

On paper, Jewel is simply a multi-level shopping mall at the airport, with the usual retail and dining outlets, plus an airport hotel. However, this is Singapore, so it’s also a compelling tourist attraction. The building’s centrepiece is a massive atrium surrounded by a terraced forest garden. In the atrium’s middle is the world's tallest indoor waterfall, the Rain Vortex, which falls 40 metres into a pool below.

While Garry headed for the lounge, I spent almost 45 minutes circling the collecting pond, climbing the stairways that wind through the tropical gardens, and exploring the uppermost Canopy Park level. The top floor features a series of attractions that you can pay to explore, including a rope-net climbing experience, two hedge mazes and garden walks with stunning aerial views of the Rain Vortex. However, I gave the paid options a miss.

 
The experience is simply breathtaking. The coolest feature? It’s got to be the inter-terminal Skytrain track that runs through the middle of the atrium. Crazy! But it’s very cool! I’ve read that more than 300,000 people visit Jewel each day, or more than 50 million a year.

Sentosa stopover

Sentosa Island is Singapore’s purpose-built mecca for tourists. Since the 1970s, the Singaporean Government has progressively transformed the once heavily militarised island into a tropical playground filled with artificial white-sand beaches, golf courses, amusement parks, cafes and holiday resorts. Garry and I decided to base ourselves on Sentosa during our brief homeward-bound stopover. Three years ago, we explored Singapore while travelling to Europe for business. However, aside from a brief excursion to Singapore Oceanarium, a giant aquarium on Sentosa, we largely gave the island a miss.

I first visited Sentosa in November 1990. Back then, access to the island was only possible by ferry or by a cable car system that started at Mount Faber. Like so much of Singapore, it offered clean and perfectly manicured public spaces, along with a series of rather tame, uninspiring attractions. It’s somewhat ironic that I recall the cable car ride across Keppel Harbour but little else from my backpacker day trip.

These days, in addition to the cable car, a monorail and a causeway link Sentosa to the rest of Singapore, making it easier to access. We cashed in some Amex loyalty points and treated ourselves to a poolside room at the Barracks Hotel. After our memorable experience in Krabi, we quite liked the idea of pool access directly from our room. Our room rate included breakfast and a canapé cocktail hour every afternoon. Pampered is the word that comes to mind.

Our flight from Heathrow landed shortly after 5:00pm. As a result, we rocked up to the hotel shortly after 6:00pm and were immediately invited for canapes by the pool while the staff prepared our room. Who says no to a free cocktail? After settling in, we decided to explore the Sentosa nightlife along the Straits coastline. We walked there via the Sentosa Sensoryscape, a series of domed gardens connected by a walkway to the coast. Everything was decorated for the Chinese New Year. This is the Year of the Horse.

We quickly discovered that almost every restaurant and café kitchen stops serving food after 8:00pm. As a result, we ended up dining at the only thing still open, a local KFC knock-off. Our luck didn’t improve much the following day. We decided to spend the day at Universal Studios, a short walk from our hotel. The theme park opened in 2011 as part of a massive redevelopment of the island’s central zone.

It proved to be a colossal waste of time and money. The shortest queue time for most rides was at least an hour, with up to two hours for the most popular options. Half the rides were also closed. We decided to do our best and make the most of it. We started with the Transformers Experience. After queuing for an hour, it broke down as we approached the boarding zone. We eventually abandoned the ride and moved on to our next queue.

We stumbled across a 15-minute wait time for a roller coaster that had been 90 minutes earlier in the day. After standing in line for 15 minutes, a staff member announced that the wait time was now two hours. Apparently, the 15-minute wait posted at the entrance was a system malfunction.

We decided to go for lunch at a faux New York pizza diner. While waiting to be served, the cash register system crashed, leaving me standing at the counter for ten minutes while it rebooted. We finished our food and decided to give Universal Studios a miss.

We did salvage something from the day by buying tickets for the Wings of Symphony fireworks and light show held in an open-air, purpose-built stadium on the seafront. It was relaxing to sit in the warm evening breeze and down a cold beer while watching the pyrotechnics do their thing.

Dinner was at another fast-food restaurant because, once again, we forgot to plan ahead for Singapore's early dining hours. This time it really was KFC. 

Garry decided to spend Sunday, our final day, chilling out by the pool. I decided to explore Sentosa’s military history. On the island’s northern tip is Fort Siloso, a decommissioned coastal artillery battery. It consists of 12 such batteries, which made up "Fortress Singapore" at the start of World War II and saw action during the Battle of Singapore. The fort is now a military museum open to the public.

To get to the fort, I caught the cross-island cable car. This network traces the island's hilly spine, offering spectacular views of the coast, Sentosa’s artificial beaches and the Singapore skyline. Upon reaching the terminating station at Siloso Point, I made my way down to the beach for a quick look at resort life Singapore style before heading for the fort via an aerial canopy walkway.

The fort itself was an excellent attraction. A series of exhibits in its repurposed buildings told the story of the island’s early history, its redevelopment as a military base, the Battle of Singapore and life under occupation. I learned plenty about Singapore’s history and the colonial British hubris that ultimately made it a sitting duck for Japanese invasion. 

The fort was built to defend Singapore against an invasion by sea from the south. However, during the Battle of Singapore in February 1942, the guns were instead turned 180 degrees inland to fire at rapidly-advancing Japanese forces approaching from the north (via British Malaya). The fort subsequently served as a POW camp until the liberation of Singapore in 1945.

The only downside to my walk through history was the heat. It was unbelievably humid. Thank goodness the Singaporean authorities had the forethought to install air conditioning throughout the complex.

Our hotel offered a late afternoon checkout. This gave us just enough time for one final adventure before heading to the airport. We couldn’t leave Singapore without feasting on some “traditional” Black Pepper Mud Crab. We grabbed a late lunch at the Sentosa Resorts complex, consisting of 900 grams of deliciously decadent seafood. However, we passed on the 1.8kg Alaskan King Crab offered to us for half price. Then, when we returned to the hotel to collect our luggage, we were offered a final farewell cocktail. Nice!

One final image. Access to the Fort Siloso canopy walk is via an elevator tower opposite the cable car terminus.  The front of the tower is covered by a giant hanging mural. This woven mat of tiles shimmers, flaps and rattles in the wind.  It's insane. I can't decide if it's cool or kitsch.  I guess that's good art - it makes you think?

Hell on the M25

We spent our final day in the UK reviewing toy samples and meeting with our second-largest supplier in Folkestone. It was miserable weather all day. At one stage, the rain was so heavy that we could barely see more than 50-100 metres ahead of us on the M25.

Disaster struck on our drive back to Heathrow. An accident on the M25 Ring Road saw westbound traffic brought to a halt for more than 45 minutes, about an hour’s driving time south of Heathrow (according to Google Maps). Even more frustrating, we'd just passed the last viable off-ramp, less than 100 metres behind us.  The accident was also less than 500 metres ahead.  Had we driven through ten minutes earlier, we'd have missed it.

Traffic alerts warned that the motorway wouldn’t reopen until 6:30pm. The bag drop for our flight closed at 7:10pm. Google Maps said it would take at least 48 minutes to reach the rental car depot. Surrounded by four lanes of traffic going nowhere, Garry and I quietly resigned ourselves to our fate. Another flight missed.

Then, a small miracle occurred. The road reopened shortly after 6:00pm. Even better, the lengthy road closure had cleared all previously reported congestion approaching Heathrow. Google Maps claimed we’d now reach the rental car depot in 30 minutes. The race was on.

We pulled into the depot at 6:35pm. Our lucky streak continued when a dedicated shuttle bus bound for our terminal arrived six minutes later. Upon hearing of our dilemma, the driver offered to take us there immediately.

Qantas called me as we approached the terminal (I guess there are benefits to flying First Class, even on a points upgrade). When they heard how close we were, they offered to keep check-in open until we arrived. Our bags were finally tagged and dropped shortly after 7:00pm. We’d miraculously made our flight with barely minutes to spare. Never again!

We’re now in Singapore reacclimatizing to warmer weather in preparation for our final flight home on Sunday. Loving our hotel on Sentosa Island. It was once home to the British Army barracks. A quick dip in the pool is the perfect antidote for jet lag. And before you ask, we cashed in more Amex loyalty points to pay for these fancy digs.

An Indonesian passport stamp or two

Time for another retrospective post. I’ve visited Indonesia three times over the years. Twice on business and once for pleasure. Both business trips were made to the island of Bintan, while my leisure trip took me to Bali in October 2017.

Bintan was a classic tourist destination. The island is located less than 130km north of the equator. As a result, dozens of tropical retreats and resorts are scattered along its coastline. It’s also easy to reach, thanks to a 45-minute transfer by high-speed ferry from Singapore.

My first visit took place in May 2000. At the time, I was the Managing Director of Text 100’s Australian office. Every year country managers from across Asia Pacific (APAC) came together for an annual offsite. Bintan was chosen for our first gathering of the new millennium.

I flew into Singapore late on 23 May and made my way to the Westin Stamford, the tallest hotel in Singapore (and the world’s tallest when it opened in 1986). Much to my surprise, the hotel upgraded me at check-in. As I recall, the fully booked venue had reassigned my room thanks to my late-night appearance. 

However, the upgrade was spectacular. I was assigned the Presidential Suite at the top of the building. It featured a separate dining room, dressing room, walk-in wardrobe and balcony offering unrivalled views of Singapore. It’s the only time, despite decades of business travel, that I’ve been upgraded to the hotel’s most opulent suite.

We caught an afternoon ferry from Tanah Merah wharf in Singapore the following day. I vividly recall its location, less than 500 metres from the southern threshold of Changi Airport’s eastern runway. You take a road to reach it that skirts around the airport’s perimeter fence. It’s one of those "behind the scenes" routes the locals use, rather than the arterial roads visitors take from the airport into town.

My passport reveals that we docked at Bandar Bentan Telani on the northern coast of Bintan. We spent four days on the island before returning to Singapore on 27 May. The following day I flew home with Singapore Airlines. 

At the time I was a dedicated Star Alliance member. I loyally flew Air New Zealand, United and Ansett Australia whenever I could. However, following the collapse of Ansett in September 2001, I gave up my Gold Status and joined the OneWorld alliance. These days I'm a lifetime Qantas Gold Member and have almost continually held Platinum status for two decades.

I honestly recall very little of my first time in Indonesia beyond a round of golf we played on the final day. We stayed at Angsana Bintan, on the island’s north coast. It features an 18-hole golf course, designed by Greg Norman, that’s popular with day-tripping golfers from Singapore, as well as those seeking a semi-luxurious golf break. 

I returned to Bintan in 2004 for another APAC Country Manager’s offsite. However, this time I was returning as Regional Director. My new HR director, Steven, decided an offsite in Bintan was an ideal way to curry favour with the troops following my promotion.

This time we stayed at Club Med, located on the northeast coast of Bintan. The resort is located next to another of the island’s renowned golf courses, this time designed by Jack Nicholas. Once again, we caught a ferry from Singapore and stayed three nights from 21-24 March 2004. I recall several memorable moments during this second trip to Indonesia. 

For example, I’d recently returned from overseas and found myself battling some kind of bug soon after arriving. Or at least I thought it was a bug. Years later I discovered that I was chronically lactose intolerant. As a result, in hindsight, it was highly likely I was simply suffering from a lactose overload.

On our first day, we gave everyone the afternoon off to rest and recover before we kicked off the event with an evening welcome. I spent much of the afternoon in and out of the resort’s pool. Foolishly I neglected the sunscreen and managed to give myself an appalling dose of sunburn. I spent the next three days sore to touch and looking as red as a beetroot.

I also recall wandering down to the beach several times. On my first visit, I was shocked to find the sand stained by tar-like blobs of heavy oil. These sticky blobs were everywhere and quickly made a mess of anything that came into contact with them. I later discovered that resort staff came down before dawn each day to rake them off the beach before the guests awoke. Of course, the surf soon dumped a fresh load along the shore.

Swimming in the sea inevitably resulted in exiting the water covered in black streaks. Sadly, the resort was prepared for this. It had buckets of chemical wipes in sealed foil mini-packs along the beach ready for swimmers to de-grease themselves. Needless to say, I only swam in the sea once. 

I never discovered the oil’s origin. At a guess, ships purging their ballast tanks before entering Singapore harbour were the likely culprit. Alternatively, the area may have experienced a minor oil spill shortly before our arrival.

My final memory of this trip to Bintan was the team-building activity we enjoyed one afternoon. Club Med offers guests an in-house circus experience. This included an outdoor flying trapeze where you can practice swinging from one trapeze rung to another. Your safety was always assured thanks to training staff, a body harness and an enormous net strung several metres above the ground.

Unfortunately, I didn’t take any photos during either offsite. As a result, I’ve illustrated my Bintan adventures using images ripped from the web.

Singapore postcard

Here are a few more highlights from our weekend stopover in Singapore. With a little planning we we got to visit most of Singapore’s top attractions, many of which didn’t exist when Garry and I last visited the island nation.

We ultimately got to explore its impressive metallic Supertree structures at Gardens By The Bay, wander the giant glass-enclosed Flower Dome and Cloud Forest Conservatories also at Gardens By The Bay, get up close with sharks at Singapore's enormous aquarium, and enjoy a sumptuous seafood buffet at the Casino.

The Gardens by the Bay is a nature park and botanical garden spanning 101 hectares on the coast of Singapore. It was created as part of the nation's plans to further enhance its burgeoning “Garden City" reputation. Since opening in 2012, its become the city's premier urban outdoor recreation space and a national icon.  

The parklands' iconic attractions include a series of Supertree scaffold towers and two enormous climate-controlled conservatories. The largest of these is the Flower Dome. At 1.2 hectares (3.0 acres), it’s recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest greenhouse in the world.

The neighbouring Cloud Forest is a higher, but slightly smaller, conservatory at 0.8 hectares (2.0 acres). It replicates the cool moist conditions found in tropical mountain regions between 1,000 metres and 3,000 metres above sea level. The interior is dominated by a bridal veil waterfall cascading from a 42-metre-high "Cloud Mountain". A clever irrigation system regularly envelopes the entire structure in a hazy shroud of artificial mist.

The Supertrees are an equally fascinating attraction. They're part sculpture, part observatory tower and part vertical garden. The Supertree "grove" contains 18 tree-like structures that dominate the surrounding landscape with heights ranging from 25 metres to 50 metres.  The largest of these also houses a rooftop observatory offering unrivalled views of the Singapore skyline.

We spent a full afternoon exploring Gardens by the Bay, as well as experiencing the Supertree grove at night as part of the city's Chinese New Year festivities. I hope you enjoy this feast of Singaporean visual delights.