After finally landing (after 21 hour flight with 8 hour transit in Qatar) in Singapore Changi Airport all that was left to do
was to pass through the immigration check. At first I was a bit nervous as to wether everything will be fine and I won’t just get stopped and sent back. Fortunately everything was fine and I even got a candy which said something like: “Welcome to Singapore” from the immigration officer lady. Uppon leaving overly-airconditionned airport I was hit by tropical heatwave and strong smell of food. That’s when I was sure that I was in Singapore.
Since I arrived at my hall quite late in the evening, after unpacking I didn’t have much time to do any exploring. Ā As I’m a food person, from next morning everyday for about a week I would find a new place to eat. Prior to my arrival I’ve done quite a lot of research on places to eat and visit so I knew where I was going I just had to find a way to get there. Ā Most obvious thing to do was to use the famous MRT (Mass Rapid Transit) which is a transport system a bit similar to London Underground (but cheaper [~1,5 dollar per ride depending on the location] and more convenient). It’s very convenient and frequent and it’s only disadvantage is abuse of aircon on the trains and on the station, but then again it’s a problem which many places in Singapore are facing. Managers of shopping malls and other public places in Singapore seem to be thinking that fridge-like temperature is the perfect temperature to maintain.
Food here is really great. It’s not only cheap (3-4 singapore dollar [1,5-2 pounds] per meal) but also really tasty and there is such a big variety of choices (all kinds of asian cusine as well as western food). Obviously there are also more expensive restaurants and for example western food here is quite expensive (pizza ~20 dollars) but it’s possible to eat very cheaply and the taste is really nice. I’ve been here for a bit less than a month and nearly every day I eat something new. So far I haven’t found many things that I would dislike but sometimes I miss potatoes as they are not so popular here compared to European countries (people here eat mainly rice and many different kinds of noodle). If you enjoy eating Singapore is definitely a place you should visit.
In terms of prices of other products many things seem quite expensive even as compared to the UK. For example in terms of snacks a regular cup of Ben & Jerry’s icecream costs about 15 singapore dollars (~7.5 pounds). Many other snacks are also expensive, maybe besides the local ones.
One of the other things I really enjoy about Singapore is the tropical climate together with local fauna and flora. Waking up in the morning and seeing parrots on trees on my way to shower is really a great experience. Recently near the canteen, which is near the jungle, I saw a 1 meter long monitor lizard just walking about 2 meters away from me. The fact that there is no winter all year for me is really great as i personally hate winter. Some people may find the climate a bit overwhelming but for me it’s just perfect.