Singapore

Singapore

When structuring this trip as a 'round the world' fare, there were a lot of constraints that I had to adhere to. One of the key constraints was the necessity to always be travelling west, a restriction of our ticketing of our Star Alliance round the world tickets (backtracking through 'hub' cities allowed). The other constraint was more pace oriented. China was going to be hectic, and was. Bali was intended to have a slower pace, and it was. Vietnam was going to be fast again, and it was. We were going to get sick occasionally, and we did (mainly me, could be due to the fact that I am the only male in this travelling posse, and ate stupid things).

So, when scheduling the trip and anticipating the future, my wife and I agreed that a five day stop in Singapore would be a good thing to put into the schedule. And it was.

I have probably been to Singapore and Hong Kong as many times as I've been to New York City over the past 10 plus years. In the late 90's I had to go to Singapore twice in just over two weeks from the west coast of the U.S., which is the type of travel that I would not wish on anyone. That said, Singapore is a city that is always a pleasure to visit, if one can downplay or ignore the type of weather that exists at 1 degree north of the equator. It is spotless, orderly, prosperous, energetic, and intelligent. Whether Singapore is a country or "city state" can be debated, as the island is about 35 miles by 16 miles in size, and if I remember right, less than five million people (someone else can check the stats).

Changi airport is a benchmark for international airports, modern and efficient. We know it well over the last month or so, as we have gone through it four times! I remember from a prior visit years ago that is was a government goal to have a visitor off the plane, through customs, and in the city in their hotel room in less than an hour, and this goal has been met with every visit of mine to Singapore. This time however , the contrast of Singapore to the other countries we had visited was more staggering than a normal visit.

The kids could read the signs, as everything is in English (the official language of Singapore). Mercedes and BMW's outnumbered the motorbikes. Manicured landscaped highways were the norm. I started it calling it "SingaMall" to my wife and kids on the way in from the airport, and the moniker stuck. The next couple of pix will be different from Vietnam and Cambodia!

I think shopping is the national sport. There are more malls per square kilometer in the center of town than anywhere else I've been. And these are not low end malls, with high end watch or clothing stores, top global brands, everywhere. We went to a mall, Vivo City (www.vivocity.com.sg) which was spectacular in terms of location, stores, merchandising, and restaurants. We watched Spiderman 3 there with the kids in "4K digital", as we were too cheap to shell out the $25 Sing (about 18 USD) for the first class airline type seats with electronic recline, wine and beverage service, etc. Not a bad way to go see a movie.

The following was a photo from our hotel room on the 21^st floor of the "Marina District". My wife said that it looked like a postcard, and I guess it does!

 

I'll probably get into some of my thoughts on democracy vs. rule of law, minimization of corruption, respect for property rights, encouragement of education and government investment in appropriate people, technologies, and infrastructure at the right time, but not tonight.

Singapore is anything but homogeneous, it is a totally heterogeneous mix of ethnic Chinese, Malay, Indian, Indonesian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, jillions of expats. But it works. It still has it's own share of wacky stuff:

Fish head curry is a big deal in the Indian restaurants of "little india".

The temples were anything but sedate:

And had their own idiosyncrasies! One does not see sculptures like this every day!

 

Since Singapore marked five plus weeks on the road, it was time for some review. A few comments on "stuff" and packing for a trip like this. Packing for this trip took a lot of forethought. We discovered www.ebags.com, and rapidly became one their best customers, as we assembled our luggage for this trip. Great company, good prices, good stuff. The five of us each got one rolling bag, and one backpack. I got an extra rolling backpack which we named the 'football', short for the case that always follows U.S. Presidents with important codes etc. In our case the 'football' contains all of our key tickets, travel confirmations, a bunch of the electronics etc.

Each rolling bag is kept to 20 KG, plus or minus a few KG, as this is the weight limit on most airlines. Even with this as a limitation, but the time we hit Singapore, we had purchased a bunch of stuff. Not much, as travelling or a loooonnnggg time is a great filter for anything that you might want to purchase, as purchasing means carrying. And carrying is a pain when you are changing hotels every few days, and moving countries every ten to twelve days. Lugging bad, lightweight good. And the Belk's have never been known for 'travelling light' (maybe the largest understatement of all my writing to date). Singapore, of course, caused us to buy some stuff, but not much, and nothing heavy.

So given the one bag rule, and given minimum purchases, we felt way overweight (and I'm not talking about the other weight that has been gained on this trip!), and looked to unload. We discovered that the major express companies all have 10KG and 25KG fixed price fixed size boxes that you can send. Not cheap, but one had to factor months of more lugging, which made it look cheaper rapidly. We sent back 23.5 Kilos of stuff in a 25 KG box. Over 52 pounds of stuff! We all had clothes that we had not worn for the five weeks of travel. My kids had been lugging an amazing amount of stuff that they had snuck along (a box of colored pencils that weighed a pound or two!). We had to ship the Girl's schoolwork back to California (all completed under heavy protest, but completed nonetheless).

So, we shipped the 50+ pounds home. The fact of the matter is that we have gone six plus weeks with one rolling bag and a backpack each. Don't need the closet of clothes, just need more accessible ways to do laundry! We also have watched less than an hour of TV in aggregate in six weeks. I'll have more on this to come, but it amazing how travel can massively alter your lifestyle in ways that you don't really even think about while you are doing it…

 

 

Comments

[Amy Waterman]

Jeff, I try to make it part of my Monday routine to see if you have posted anything new on your blog. I just can't shake the fact that you are doing this with your children at such a young age. It is such a good thing. They will be so acutely aware that they live in a world that contains great difference and similarity. I wonder what our children will be like as adults. It makes me think of Maria Montessori and her belief that if we can show our children that everyone is with us and we are not alone (Our families, our co-workers, the people who made the clothes we wear) - all are with us. If we know that, then we cannot hate and we can make changes that work towards accounting for everyone. It seems that this is what you and your wife are giving you children (in addition to great amounts of time with their parents). Can't wait to see what is next for the Belk traveling band. -Amy Waterman

[Alan A. Reiter]

Hi Jeff,

Great weblog. I'm amazed you have the time and inclination to post so much when you're having so much fun on the road.

I'm glad you posted the type of electronics you took -- almost as much as I take when I travel alone . I take fewer digital cameras but more camera phones.

I only traveled around the East Coast with my parents when I was young, and started my international romps beginning the summer after graduate school -- when my father thought I should (1) get a job, (2) get a wife, (3) get kids and then take a trip!

Well, at the very least he thought I should have gotten a job before I took off for seven weeks. Bah! What's the fun of waiting for a mere job when Europe was beckoning?!

As Amy wrote, I think it's great your kids are able to see the world at such a young age. It will give them an entirely new perspective. Too many people in the U.S. have no conception about the rest of the world.

Have a great time...and continue posting.

[Shulamith Walker]

My daughters, thirteen and eleven, and I are reading your travel journal and are enjoying it so much. The pictures are captivating. The pictures of water are what first caught my eye. My older daughter, Emily (13), said "Why didn't this guy just write a book?" We are taking turns reading the captions. We really want to travel and especially to Venice. The book This is Venice by M. Sasek, copyright 1961,in his series of travel books for children is one of my very favourite books. The illustrations are so lovely and the information is fascinating. The island you were wondering about is "San Giorgio Maggiore, a sixteenth-century masterpiece by Palladio, on an island of its own." (This is Venice, page 54). The pigeons at the Basilica of St. Mark used to be fed by an official, but no more. I appreciate that in Kotor? you pointed out their recent war history and noted their probable perspective contrasted with the tourists. It may not have been Kotor. It was the place where you said the rocket went right by a 15th century relic.
We too are not light packers. We just camped for five days to do a lighting show at Marburger in Rountop, Texas. I actually packed our World War II iron army cots, wicker trunk, out door chairs, child's card table, 1950's yellow vinyl covered kitchen stool, outdoor wooden table, small rug and large round mirror, books to read, water colours and water colour paper, many avocados, ten hymn books because I love to sing old hymns and involve others, a computer and I do not know the number of shoes. We traveled like Saudi's in the desert. I just read yesterday about traveling far and wide with a maximum of twenty pounds in one pack and that's it and they advised only fill the pack three quarters full to make sure to leave room for what you gather. I would relish being so progressive. Why I must pack as I do is puzzling, if not a personality red flag.
Thank you, Shulamith