We found utopia and it’s Singapore
An acquaintance of mine is an immigrant from the Soviet Union. I’m part-Russian and traveled there twice. Sometimes this acquaintance and I commiserate over our Russian backgrounds and other times we butt heads over U.S. politics and the state of our country. Before we left he said to me, “You’re going to be so happy to come back to the U.S., you’re going to drape an American flag over your shoulders”. He was implying what we hear so often - America is the greatest country in the world. And I get it, he grew up in a complicated place at a complicated time, but I think we can be concerned for and even criticize the state of our nation and still love it. I can also want certain aspects of American life to improve and still want to live there.
It has been impossible not to compare each place we visit to the U.S., and in each country we’ve been to, I’ve seen shining examples of how that country is doing something better than in the U.S. For South Africa, it was the food, which was both fresh and affordable. In Kenya, they banned plastic bags and bottles in 2017; now they are going after single-use plastic manufacturing. And in Singapore, well, they do a lot of things better…
It’s clean. It’s beautiful. It’s modern. It’s safe. There’s no traffic pollution, or roads clogged with parked cars, or aggressive drivers; all because they disincentivize car ownership and created a superb system of public transportation. The rate of obesity is also low (~10% to our 50%) again, in part thanks to a culture and city structure that is not centered around driving. And thanks to former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, half of Singapore is dedicated to green space - in the form of lush, beautiful gardens and parks (most are free!). And before you say, “isn’t Singapore the place where you’ll get 20 lashings for chewing gum?” Yes, they have laws. And while we didn’t see a single police officer, we read that they have extremely strict gun and drug laws. We saw signs in the subway indicating there are fines for littering or eating on the subway, and … it appears that hand grenades are strongly discouraged. When we inquired about the hand grenades, we were told those signs were not depicting a hand grenade (whoops), they are depicting a durian - a fruit that smells God-awful. In fact, Dave insisted on bringing some back to our hotel room, which led me to consider moving to a different room. While not illegal, it would be inconsiderate to eat the smelly fruit on the train, so no one does it. “BUT WHAT ABOUT MY PERSONAL FREEDOM? Shouldn’t I be able to eat a fruit that smells like moldy feet in a public place if I want to!?” And perhaps that sums up why Singapore is so pleasant - it’s a society made up of people who all decided it was worthwhile to give up a few of their personal freedoms for the greater good.
Lucille and Dave at the Flower Dome - the largest greenhouse in the world, home to over 30,000 plants and 160 species - at Garden by the Bay.
The Cloud Dome replicates climates found in jungles. It houses a waterfall, tropical plants, and a massive skywalk.
Super Trees are at the center of it all and can be seen from most parts of the city.
My cousin Margaret happened to be there, visiting her Singaporean family, and was kind enough to bring us on a tour of Henderson Waves - the highest pedestrian bridge in Singapore. The bridge connected to parks, where you can find well maintained exercise equipment.
Life expectancy is dropping in the U.S. (it’s currently around 76 for white Americans, 70 for Black Americans). Meanwhile, in Singapore, the number of centenarians doubled in the last 10 years and the average life expectancy is 84 years.
The wet market in the Tiong Bahru neighborhood offered up a wide array of seafood you can’t find at Whole Foods…
…including a few things I wouldn’t want to buy at Whole Foods. Sea cucumbers anyone?
Or some Brother’s Pig’s Organ Soup?
Dave giving his review of durian, a fruit found all over Singapore and Thailand.
Singaporeans are organized in 4 ethnicities: Chinese (make up about 75% of the population), Malay, Indian, Eurasian. Chinatown is a vibrant place with good food and lots of good people watching.
Fresh garlands made of marigolds, roses and jasmine were sold everywhere in Little India, to be used as offerings at local Hindu temples. The smell was spectacular. This is also where we discovered laksa (YUM).
We have been introduced to so many new smells, flavors and sounds on this trip. The sound of hippos snorting their way through the grass behind our tent in Kenya. The eerie sound of the call to prayer in Dubai. And now the joyful hustle and bustle of Hindu temples.
The Singapore Botanical Garden is free, huge and the best I’ve ever been to (and I live near the amazing Boothbay Botanical Garden, so that’s saying a lot).
The National Orchid Museum costs about $5 and is mind blowing.
The only flower we didn’t see was a poppy.
If you saw my instagram post, you know we went to the Era’s Tour on our last night in Singapore. Dave and I bought the tickets months ago and gave them as a surprise to the kids. It was awesome. It was mind blowing. It life changing. I won’t bore you with a whole lot of Taylor Swift content here, but let’s just say seeingTaylor Swift with 60,000 people from all across Asia, was the icing on the Singaporean cake.
It’s worth mentioning that the kids were there too…