Come on over, the water's fine

Since we are welcoming four new visitors to Singapore this month we wondered after 10 months of reading this very entertaining and educational blog, how Singapore lived up to their expectations.

We chatted with our first two visitors, Harry Balmoral* and Barry Heathfield*, to see if Singapore was what they expected. Here are their thoughts…

·         Singapore is much more Western than expected. Many expats consider Singapore to be Asia Light/Asia 101 because it’s much more Western that other cities in the region. English is actually the official business language, although it does have four official languages- Tamil, Mandarin, Malay and English. 

·         People here take pride in what they wear. Everyone looks put together. For the most part, the people running around in their errand-running gym clothes are expats.

An expat, wearing gym clothes, running errands and enjoying some delicious food with friends
at the Tekka Market. 

·         Singapore is remarkably clean. Barry went as far as to say spotless.

·         Singapore is a great place to visit (especially visiting the One Degree North team) but there are some amazing opportunities for quick getaways to places such as Bali, Cebu, and Phuket. In fact, one of our wonderful guests copied the itinerary straight from Don't worry, go Krabi for a midweek getaway. He was not disappointed.

·         Technology is amazing. Face Time allows us to chat live and delay free and all for the price of an Apple device. Harry remarked how he felt like he already knew parts of the city as we had previously provided him with a digital tour during our chats.

·         The food in Singapore is excellent. Don't bother ordering the ‘American’ food as it’s rarely worth the calories. Although let’s be honest, it fills the void for a little slice of home when needed.

Enjoying the crowd favorite black pepper crab as well as Raegen's favorite Din Tai Fung. 

·         The subway system (known as the MRT) is awesome and makes getting around so easy. They both understood the system almost immediately and could navigate without parental guidance.

·         Both Barry and Harry were amazed even after reading the Sticker Shock blog post, at how expensive many things are here, with the exception of the MRT (train) and taxis.

·         As with every major city, it’s also nearly impossible to get a taxi when it’s raining. Did we mention that it’s monsoon season? Although we do love the GrabTaxi and Comfort Cab apps.

·         Foot massages from Alleviate are fantastic and not to be missed. If you have some extra time check out the fish spa. Ask for ‘Steven with a V.’  

Gotta love the fish spa

Foot massages

·         The last but most agreed upon point is that it’s hot. That no matter how much we told them that, they couldn't quite wrap their heads around the hot and humid that is our weather. I believe the quote was “Hot yoga has nothing on working out outside in Singapore.”

So come on over, Singapore is fine. 

Cheers..Singapore is awesome!
A Singapore Sling toast at the famous Long Bar at the Raffles Hotel. 

We are excited to have our next two guests head our way this week. Stay tuned for the adventures and revelations surrounding their trip. We guarantee there will be a few more visits to the fish spa/foot massage place in our future. 

Happy Trails, 

Amy & Raegen 

*Of course these are not their real names. I’m sure they’re someone’s, just not theirs.