Another little tiger/dragon

Singapore

Singapore skyline

Reissusarjan seuraava kohde Aasiassa oli Singapore. Pidennetty viikonloppu tässä pienessä talousmoottorissa ei jättänyt kylmäksi taaskaan. Viime kerralla pääsin vierailemaan kyseisessä kaupungissa vuonna 2011. Tällä kertaa oli mielenkiintoista nähdä nopea muutos sekä vertailla hieman kulttuuria ja vaihtoelämää kahden pikkusuuren välillä. Otsikon mukaiset ’’neljä pientä tiikeriä/lohikäärmettä’’ ovat Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan ja Etelä-Korea. Nämä neljä mestaa ovat yhdessä nousseet maailman johtaviksi talousmahdeiksi pienestä koostaan huolimatta. Jokaisella niistä on omia erityispiirteitään. Hong Kong ja Singapore ovat enemmän tunnettuja finanssipuolelta kun taas Taiwan ja Etelä-korea teknisten vempeleiden tuottajina.

Sentosa cable car

My next trip in Southeast Asia was a visit to the other little dragon/tiger. The ‘’four little dragons’’ more known as Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan are the little economic miracles of Asia.

Singapore at night

Singapore had changed quite a lot since my visit in 2011 and I enjoyed my time there a lot! Have to admit though that after some time in Hong Kong the city is a little bit too polished in some ways compared to HK. These two cities are great vacation destinations and Singapore has managed to develop into a more and more tourist friendly destination. Resorts world Sentosa and Marina bay sands mega casinos have become very well known landmarks and the infinity pool in MBS skypark is a phenomenon itself.

MBS building

My trip started with a MTR trip to the airport in Hong Kong. I find the airport express in here great. Only 24 minutes from the city center and you are inside the terminal! This is amazing for such a packed city. You’re even able to check your bags in Central and leave to the airport without the bulky bag. The flight was priced decently as it was only 130 euros for a return ticket. Sometimes there are even better deals available.

Once arriving to Singapore it was already 2am so I had to take a taxi to my friend’s apartment. I needed some sleep as well since Friday was fully owned for a visit to the Universal Studios Singapore. This place is the most artificial thing on earth but the rides in the park are from another world.

We were lucky to have great weather combined with not too many people in the park. Somehow we also managed to get complimentary fast track passes which means even though there had been lines we could have just skipped them with this pass. Universal Singapore features some of the most advanced ride technology in the world and for example Transformers the Ride is a 100 million USD installation that includes 610 meter track where a vehicle is attached to a platform that can rotate 360 degrees while moving on the track. This platform is connected to a Stewart platform with six degrees of freedom…on top of this you sit in the vehicle with 3D glasses and roam around with 13 different separate movie screens (up to 18 meters high) in front of you providing a very realistic feeling of being inside the scene. I was impressed by this and not surprised that the ride has been said to be the best amusement park attraction in the world. After Universal had disoriented our minds we headed to a food court to eat. The food courts in Singapore provide very good prices compared to some of the restaurants in the city.

Battlestar galactica

On the second day we got the same sunshine and +33 degrees of heat. I can imagine Hong Kong in the summer now…in Singapore this heat means also a battle between air-conditioning and warm weather. Sometimes it’s actually quite cold inside the buildings while they overdo the blast of icy air.

In 2011 I visited Marina Bay Sands and the view to on the other side of the building was basically a huge construction site. Now instead of this they had completed the gardens by the bay and the palm trees almost too green to be true. What a difference in just two years or less! Gardens by the bay is a very interesting combination of steel and plants. The Supertrees or vertical gardens in the middle of this 100-hectare area are 25m-50m tall.

Gardens by the bay

Since 2011 they have also made the Skypark less accessible without a payment. Now you are only able to go to the bar for free and other areas are accessible only with a payment. The infinity pool is open for hotel guests only. This is understandable since the occupancy rate is very high.

Enjoying the day at Universal

During this day we also visited Holland village which is a nice international expatriate area. Holland village or ‘’Holland V’’ is a very calm place and there are many restaurants to choose from (not the place for a student to have a dinner every day). Another restaurant I found amazing was a sushi factory type of fast food place. You were able to pick all the ingredients in your sushi to make a roll and they would serve it in a convenient take away box!

Sweet

The view from the crib balcony

Singapore public transportation wasn’t too crowded even though a taxi driver said it’s too full. Maybe this guy has not been in HK. There is a similar system to Octopus card to use the public transportation (MRT instead of MTR there).

In the end the short visit provided some cool insight to the everyday life of students in Singapore compared to HK. It is great to be able to visit people studying in other Universities in Southeast Asia. This view to the city was totally new from the last visit in 2011.

Marina Bay Sands view

Another trip to little tiger/dragon coming quite soon!




- NIKLAS