Singapore, boring Singapore

Sunday, 2 Sep 2007 | Journal

Just about exactly 6 months ago I was in Singapore for the first time and encountered a city which I thought was a bit boring. This was really confirmed on the weekend. I arrived in Singapore a few days early for some fun and games.

So what does one do for fun and games in Singapore? One goes shopping. I think the Singaporeans have an even greater love of shopping malls than the Thai do, plus the expendable income to spare. And so on Saturday afternoon I joined the masses (and I do mean masses) going in and out of shopping malls. My Airport Express wifi base station recently died due to a power surge in my condo and so I waited with buying the new Airport Extreme for this trip as it saves me 20% from the Bangkok price. I was also very happy to find Gap stores in Singapore and got myself a new pair of jeans there.

What else is there to do in your spare time in Singapore? Sentosa! The people of Singapore complained to the government that there was nowhere in the city to really kick back and relax. And so again, in its typical manner, the government designated an island as ‘recreational’ and built a Disneyland like holiday experience. It was fun to sit on the cable car onto the island, see the big Merlion, see a 3D movie, etc. but it was all so … organised. — [Go to the site to see the photos]

“Yes, but Mr. President, we don’t even have our own soccer team to cheer on!”, is what the people said. And so Singapore formed its own soccer team. They imported talent from all over the region and on tv they have this commercials promoting the soccer team. Like I said, ultra organised.

And it is exactly that over-organisation that puts me off about Singapore. My first impressions of Singapore last year were pretty much underlined during this trip. I do enjoy the shopping a lot more than I do shopping in Bangkok, because I’m not perceived as a ‘farang-have-big-money’ here. And walking around the streets everything is really well organised. It is easy to get around, everything is up to standards, everything works, etc. I wouldn’t go as far as calling Singapore itself a Disneyland experience, but it does have certain similarities in that it is one single type of feeling throughout the whole place. What really gets to me is even when I want to get a taxi I have to cue up!

I guess I prefer in a place that is a bit more dynamic. Thats probably why I love Hong Kong (its been a while, I should go visit soon) so much - it does have all the comforts that I so much appreciate. But it also has the back alleys and weird places and odd experiences that I so enjoy in for example Bangkok. Singapore is completely void of that experience.