On Wednesday, January 14th we left the lovely Hotel Majestic to go to the airport. The next city to visit was Singapore. After a few mishaps earlier in the trip, we were able to have a successful departure from the hotel. We had such a great time in Vietnam so we were all looking forward to seeing what Singapore had in store for us. After a delayed takeoff and a three hour flight, we finally made it to Singapore. It didn’t take 10 minutes for all of us to see the significant differences from Ho Chi Minh City to Singapore. One of the biggest differences was the police presence in the airport. The police walked in unison while each carried a semi-automatic rifle. A few of us had already heard how strict the government was in Singapore, but I, personally, was not expecting the presence to be as blatant as it was. As a contrast from the United States, Singapore’s immigration information card stated, in red bold letters, that drug smugglers will receive the death penalty. No questions asked.
After going through customs and reclaiming our bags, we met tour guide Jeremy Koh. Jeremy is a native Singaporean. He and his wife Evelyn would be our tour guides for our time in Singapore. Once everyone gathered their bags we went to the Singapore Flyer for lunch. The Singapore Flyer is the world’s largest observation wheel and one of Asia’s biggest tourist attractions. From its highest point, we were able to see the Singapore skyline from 541 feet. We saw the beautiful blue water, Gardens by the Bay (one of the world’s largest botanical gardens) and state-of-the-art buildings galore. You are able to see Indonesia and Malaysia from the Singapore Flyer. The Flyer truly captivated the beauty of the city.
From there, Jeremy took us to Chinatown. Chinatown contained many areas for shopping and food. Also located in Chinatown was a Buddhist temple. We toured the temple and learned several stories about Buddha. Singapore is a very diverse country and has a demographic of people that carry Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, and Hindu faiths.
Next, Jeremy took us to our hotel (Swisshotel Merchant Court). The hotel was located two blocks away from Chinatown and was built next to the Singapore River. After checking in to the hotel, and brief rest, we met Jeremy in the hotel lobby and made our way to Clarke Quay, located on the other side of the Singapore River. It is a place that is filled with food, entertainment, and nightlife. Clarke Quay is a beautiful place as roofing and decorations light up and change colors throughout the night. Jeremy informed us of the things to do while at Clarke Quay.
At Clarke Quay, we boarded a boat to tour the Singapore River. While on the riverboat, we were able to get a closer view of the architecture – towering buildings and some of its older French-Colonial buildings. We were also introduced to the Merlion, a legendary creature consisting of a lion head and a the body of a fish, located on the right side of the river. The Merlion symbolizes the history of Singapore. One of the earliest founders of Singapore supposedly saw lions throughout the land of Singapore. Jeremy told us that there has not been a sighting of lions in Singapore and it makes the story questionable. Nevertheless, the country has adopted the story and combined it with Singapore’s history of fishing in the river to create the Merlion. We all posed and took several pictures by this symbolic figure of the country.
Next, we had dinner at the Lau Pa Sat, a festival market full of restaurants that served traditional Southeast Asian Food. After having a filling meal, some of us went to the laser show and the rest of us went to the casino. Singapore is second in the world for gambling. Singapore spends a lot of money on its casinos as is clearly evident by the design and architecture we saw. The casino consisted of three floors with games ranging from roulette, poker, blackjack, and more. After an unsuccessful night (speaking for myself), we went back to the hotel to conclude our first night in Singapore.
Singapore is country full of things to do and things to see. Jeremy gave us a great introduction to Singapore, and we were so excited to learn more about the country and the businesses that chose to operate in the country.
Written by Wilburn Oziogu
