February 28, Singapore

I scheduled a 24 hour stopover in Singapore. I thought about splurging for a night at the Marina Bay Sands, but just couldn’t justify it. I’ll have to come back for that under different circumstances. A few highlights from one day in Singapore:

The botanical gardens are really nice, and people really seem to take full advantage of the space. It’s almost like a scene out of a movie- for some reason it reminds me of some weirdly idyllic park scene out of a John Woo movie. I feel like it reminds me of that Mission Impossible movie he directed. There’s just a lot going on. I saw a bunch of Muslim women celebrating an engagement or something. I also saw some people filming some low-budget martial arts film. That and tons of kids running around. Very impressed- on par if not better than Central Park in some respects.

I visited the Gardens at Marina Bay, including both of the conservatories, the Flower Dome and Cloud Forest, as well as the Supertree grove. The gardens and architecture are pretty amazing. It’s something I think that’s worth experiencing in person. Featured image is from the Supertree sound and light show at night.

I visited the Marina Bay Sands, and the Casino and mall. It’s … just a nice mall and casino, which seems indistinguishable from other luxury malls in other major cities to me at this point. I’m not sure why that is… it’s like there’s some kind of conspiracy or consensus about what a luxury mall is supposed to look, sound, smell like etc. That being said, it’s also got some good stuff to experience. I had the burger at the Daniel Boulud restaurant. Yet another ethically problematic culinary experience- a burger stuffed with foie gras and short ribs.

I spent the night at the Changi Airport. It’s the nicest airport I’ve ever been to. It’s outstanding in it’s amenities, efficiency, and organization. I spent the night at the transit hotel there… and it’s one of the nicer places I’ve stayed on the trip. It included pool accesss and breakfast too.

The Singapore metro system is really nice. It just makes the metro system in DC seem embarrassingly shitty in comparison. A few things caught my eye- a little kid on the metro with what appeared to be an older relative, carrying a binder full of go strategy and positions. Another was a little kid with a violin case on the metro. Something about that just made an impression-