Crazy Rich Asians

 Singapore has to be one of the most perfect countries; at least, to my way of thinking.  It is sparkling clean and people-friendly. When Rachel Chu, the leading lady, gets off the airplane at Singapore’s Changi airport, she marvels, “An airport with a movie theater…” I always notice is how quiet it is. The airport has a sunflower garden, a butterfly garden, a nature trail, plenty of child friendly activities, along with artwork,

shopping, and eateries. Transit passengers have a choice of four free tours while they wait – including a tour of Singapore. Amazingly, the airport is self-supporting and has some of the lowest landing fees.  Changi is the only Singapore airport but on the way into the city center the multi-lane highway is lined with flower pots that can be remove to provide a landing strip in case Changi is disabled.  Closer to the city the overpasses are draped with beautiful flowers. 

Rachel is mesmerized by her first view of the city with the

towering Singapore Flyer. Called an Observation Tower, it was the world’s tallest wheel when it opened in 2008.  In the background is the Marina Bay Sands with the world’s largest roof top infinity pool.  It is featured near the end of the film with the synchronized swimmers performing. 

At one-time Singapore was referred to as “the cess pool” of Asia.  All that changed when Lee Kuan Yew became the first prime minister. He instituted some draconian measures: visitors were turned away if they had long hair and chewing gum was banned. My youngest son, Jim, spent a semester at National University of Singapore and when he saw the list of things that were banned he was having second thoughts but then realized he didn’t do any of those things – urinating and spitting in the street, spraying graffiti, public nudity. Many places have such laws but as a cab driver told me, “In Singapore we enforce our laws.” One may recall the American teen who was sentenced to six strokes of the

cane for theft and vandalism.  Even the international attention brought about by his well-to-do, crying mom didn’t make a difference.

The colonial-style Raffles is where the hotel scenes were filmed. It is one of several luxury hotels in Singapore; it is one of the oldest. The hotel’s Long Bar is where the Singapore Sling was invented. We thought it tasted like Hawaiian Punch.

The Merlion, a mythical creature with a lion’s head and body of a fish, is the icon of Singapore. Today it is prominently displayed along the river in front of what was once the post office but now is the luxury Fullerton Hotel.

One of the movie’s last scenes is at the Gardens by the Bay. Take

note of the tree-like structures in the background. They are vertical gardens towering from 80 to 160 feet and have several functions. Some have photovoltaic cells to harvest solar energy for lighting up the trees; others are integrated with Cooled Conservatories and serve as air exhaust receptacles. 

Like many things Asian, there is a lot of symbolism most of us miss.  In the mahjong game, Rachel, from the west, is seated in the west seat while Nick’s traditional mother is in the east seat.  At the end Rachel tosses down the eight bamboo tile to intentionally lose the game and letting Nick’s mom win and she says she turned down Nick’s marriage proposal proving to Nick’s mother that not all Americans think only of money and their own happiness. 

Innovative Singapore

We have been to Singapore several times and each time I am amazed by something new and Pickering with sky gardens at various levels. Typical of Singapore the area next to the street is lined with trees and the street-length lobby has a meandering stream creating a green environment unique for a city hotel plus it is located across from a small park.  The infinity pool with colorful birdcage lounges is located on one of the sky garden levels offering an expansive view of the city. It was especially impressive as I watched a thunderstorm roll in late one afternoon. As one might expect from a 5-Star hotel, the service, accommodations, and food was great.

unique that has opened since our last visit.  We stayed at the newly opened Parkroyal Hotel on

One of the things John and I love to do when we visit foreign countries is to take a cooking class. It is a great way experience the culture.  The Parkroyal on Pickering is located a short walk from Chinatown home to Food Playground Cooking School where we made Pandan Pancakes with Coconut Filling, Chicken Satays, and Fried Kway Teow. 

One day we visited the iconic Marina Bay Sands Hotel with its ^nd floor. While access to the pool is only available to guests the adjacent Observation Deck with the same great views of Singapore is open to the public for a small fee. The Sands, which as the name suggests, has a casino, over 300 stores and a museum. After a walkthrough of the shopping area we went to the ArtScience Museum. The exhibit, The Art of the Brick, is currently featuring the artwork of New York-based artist, Nathan Sayawa, who creates large-scale sculptures using LEGOs. After long days at his desk as an attorney he found enjoyment creating artwork from LEGOs then he discovered he could make a living doing what he loved to do so he left his law practice.

mind-boggling rooftop infinity pool on the 52

Next to Marina Bay Sands is Gardens by the Bay, an imaginative new addition to this already “green” city.  It is just one project aimed at transforming Singapore from “The Garden City” to “City in a Garden.” Upon arriving the first thing John and I noticed were the Super Trees ranging from 75- to 150-feet in height some of which are connected by a 300+-foot skywalk. The vertical gardens are comprised of more the 200 species of plants that offer shade during the day, but also provide solar energy, and at night are part of a sound and light display. We took a golf cart tour of the grounds which includes Heritage Gardens with four themed gardens based on the culture of Singapore’s three main ethnic groups and colonial past. And, that was before we went inside!  There are four main eco zones in the dome with flowers, plants and trees from around the world. I was especially impressed with the African Baobab Trees and the Cloud Forest complete with a waterfall. We should have planned to spend the day and stay for the nightly light and sound show.

Singapore is also home to a bird park, botanical gardens, and a great zoo with an exciting Night Safari. It wasn’t until we were ready to leave that we learned they now have a Water Safari. Guess we will just have to visit again.

Singapore Always Surprises

Singapore is one of the most perfect places so it is no surprise that the world’s largest flyer is in the city. We visited Singapore the first time in 1998 when our son, Jim, was an exchange student for a semester at National University of Singapore. We have returned several times. On this trip Jim, interested in seeing the changes that have taken place, flew in from San Francisco to join us. The best place to view the city is from the Singapore Flyer which opened in 2008 and is currently the world’s largest observation wheel. It is located in the new Marina Bay area where the Marina Bay Sands Resort is scheduled to open later this year. The Sands Resort will be the world’s largest hotel with over 2000 rooms, a unique sky garden, theaters, discovery center, restaurants and floating pavilions. Since Jim was going to school in Singapore the Marina Bay area has been developed, mainly on reclaimed land.

The Flyer is 541 feet and takes about 30 minutes to make one complete circuit. Each capsule holds 28 people and can be set up for dining, weddings, and other special events. A narration along with a map details the sites as the Flyer makes a complete rotation. Built beneath the Flyer, thus hiding the foundation and supporting structure of the Flyer, is the Yakult Rainforest Discovery area with tropical trees, waterfalls, and pools with koi fish. It is an excellent use of space and in keeping with Singapore’s name as the Garden City.

The Flyer complex is a hub for tourism with shops, restaurants and tour buses. We boarded the FunVee hop-on-hop-off tour that took us past the major parts of the city including the city’s other icon, the Merlion. The Merlion is half fish and half lion. The name Singapore means “Lion City” but studies have determined that lions never lived in Singapore. We stayed on the bus for the whole circuit then took the Hippo River Cruise. I think the views of the city are best from the Flyer and river cruise. The city is very clean and the guide on the boat said it took 10 years to clean up the Singapore River because they had to remove 15 feet of sludge from the bottom of the river.

We stayed at the Pan Pacific Orchard hotel – there are two Pan Pacific hotels. The other is in Marina Bay. The Pan Pacific Orchard is just off Orchard Street, the shopping street, with everything from GAP to Starbucks. Jim really enjoyed the food at the hotel recalling, “There was nothing like this in the dorm!” The breakfast at the Club Lounge offered a variety of international choices each presented in traditional serving dishes. Jim and John opted for Seafood Soup with Vietnamese Noodles while I tried the Roti Canai “flying bread” with Vegetable and Lentil Curry. Their Sunday Buffet was just as impressive. It seems that Sunday buffets are very popular in Asia.

We had an early flight from Singapore to Siem Reap so we stayed at the Crowne Plaza Changi Airport. The dinner buffet was another amazing expanse of international food with everything from lobster to kobe beef. Many airport hotels in Asia look like resorts with beautiful pools, spas, and lots of greenery. No matter how many times we visit Singapore there is always something new to see and do.