22.09.18 - 30.09.18 Singapore

From the Maldives, we went to the next island nation, the cleanest city in the world (at least there are the highest penalties for polluting the city), 700 km² in size, just a little over 50 years old, 6.5 million inhabitants, of which only 3 million were born in Singapore, the fourth most important financial capital in the world, every 6th person has at least one million US dollars in cash (the highest density of millionaires in the world), death penalty for drug offenses, probably the strictest laws in the world (in a first world country), pornography ban (including Playboy and similar), ban on same-sex sexual acts, national hobbies: eating and shopping - Singapore.

We had already been here for 5 days on our last trip and reported extensively on our old blog - it was exciting for us to compare our current impressions with those from back then. At that time, 'we had to be satisfied with two upper beds on a covered rooftop terrace, where three grumpy old men also lived.' Whether we really had to do that is debatable, but we definitely did. This time we were looking forward to this modern metropolis and wanted to enjoy it to the fullest, so we treated ourselves to a pretty nice private double room in a nice boutique hotel. And we were also not deterred by the high prices and ate and did what we felt like, and also bought some useful items (new sandals, headphone adaptor, etc.).

Singapore impressed us again this time. The diversity of the neighborhoods is remarkable. Already back then, 'we crossed three different worlds. Chinatown, Little India, and the area around Arab Street. It is exciting that a city can be so different just three streets away.' And once again, we were able to experience the advantages of a western transportation system that also includes pedestrians. So we spent our days covering long distances, revisiting some things we had already seen, and discovering new things.

For example, we realized that on our last visit, we completely ignored the famous 'Gardens by the Bay' located behind the Marina Bay Sands. So this time we visited the so-called Supertrees and enjoyed the view from their Skywalk.

We also visited the Haw Par Villa again, and our experience 5 years ago was very similar to the current one: 'The inventor of the famous Tiger Balm created a quite quirky theme park there. He was of the opinion that he had to give something back to society after making a million dollars. We didn't really understand what this theme park is about until the end - but something to do with Chinese myths. Only the punishments that await us in hell were quite clear to us.' It was funny again, especially with the cheerful swing music playing on the premises.

5 years ago, there were some culinary highlights in Singapore that Lea was especially looking forward to (Veganburg, vegan sushi, soy shakes, vegan ice cream, vegan noodle soups...). Mathias' culinary focus has changed a bit, so there was a lot of new things for him to discover. Mainly at the hawker centres in town. Because the sale of food on the streets was banned in Singapore in the 1970s for cleanliness reasons, the street food scene here is different. Because the city did not want the street food culture to die out, it built so-called hawker centres everywhere or converted unused buildings into such centres. Street vendors can rent a fixed stand at a low price and sell their dishes at street prices. They don't have to worry about seating, washing up, and cleaning, as people are employed by the centre for these tasks. In Singapore, you can find true wonderlands of food every few hundred meters, where you could spend hours, days, and weeks and constantly discover something new. It is really hard to describe how beautiful these places are. The offer is huge and because Singapore is so culturally diverse, the food in these centres is too. The difficulty is deciding what you want to eat, as most of it is simply delicious and ranges from simple noodle dishes to full meals that you would find in restaurants. If you do some research, you will find many opinions on where the food tastes best. You can even get many recommendations for various stands in the Michelin Guide, two of which have even been awarded a star... The cheapest star meals you can eat in the world. Mathias couldn't resist trying them either, so he gladly stood in line for them. At one of the stands for 1 3/4 hours, but only 15 minutes at the other.

So our daily path led us to a hawker centre at least once, where by the way, there is almost always a vegetarian stand, so Lea didn't have to just watch Mathias indulge in culinary delights - at least not always. Our favorite was probably the Chinatown Complex. By the way, besides the great food, it is also a lot of fun to watch the bustling activity.

So our 8 days in Singapore ended way too quickly, and we are already thinking about when we can come back or if Mathias could work there for some time....