Island Life Magazine Ltd August/September 2014 | Page 27
TRAVEL
Terry travels to Singapore
I
Singaporeans are very proud
t has been said that
and competitive people. There
Singapore could be
is a Singaporean word ‘kiasu’
simply dismissed
which means ‘afraid to lose’ and
as the Island of
over the days that followed this
‘McDonalds’ of South East
clearly was the case. It struck me
Asia! Despite this, over the
as an extremely clean place and
years many of my friends
I was advised that you could be
who had visited Singapore
arrested for dropping chewing
had always highly
By Terence
gum or rubbish on the streets.
recommended a visit to me
Willey
The people were charming and
without exception.
keen to hear about English
However, it was just last
culture and the city had an undeniable
Christmas time that my first visit to
Asian feel to it with a mix of Malaysian,
Singapore was more by chance than
Indian and Chinese traditions.
intention while traversing the long
There was so much to see and I was
route to Australia to visit my son with
able to enjoy the most exquisite Oriental
Singapore Airlines. I suppose it was my
food which was beautifully presented.
general desire to sample this intriguing
place for the first time that gave me a real I arrived on Christmas Day and was
able to see some of the most wonderful
excuse for breaking my journey for three
Christmas lights and markets boasting
days on each leg.
to be the 10th best in the world! The
I set about finding an established
zoo is most definitely worth a visit and
colonial type hotel in the centre of
was very extensive and offering a night
Singapore. Following my arrival I was
safari. The public transport is efficient
taken from the airport to my hotel in
and reasonable and taxi drivers were
the city centre which was a 35-minute
apologetic for charging 20 dollars for a
drive and during this period I was able
30 minute drive.
to engage quite extensively with the taxi
I had been given the impression that
driver who was not afraid to boast that
Singapore consisted of much concrete
and modern architecture. However, this
was not the case and beautiful gardens
and greenery existed everywhere with
the central reservations of most roadways
and dual carriageways lined with lovely
trees. I learnt that the Singaporeans were
superstitious and in fact deeply religious
and my visit to their National Museum
and Art Galleries demonstrated the real
heart of the Singapore people and a
desire to make their mark in the world.
Taking the sky high views on the
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