Tips for Visitors to Singapore

So you're coming to Singapore?

Not put off by descriptions of Singapore as "Disneyland with the Death Penalty"?

Not fazed by our "totalitarian dictatorship" country?

Willing to quit chewing gum cold turkey?

Tourists!

Can't live without them. 

How to turn a Hole in the Roof into a Tourist Attraction

 

JICA 1998 - the trip that started my love for Japan

 [In 1998, while I was with the Ministry, five of us were sent on a Friendship programme with the Japan International Cooperation Association - JICA. JICA has several programmes for the region, where citizens of the region (ASEAN members) are invited to visit Japan and learn from Japan. So participants from Social Welfare sector (like my organisation) would be invited to learn about Social Welfare in Japan. These trips were highly sought after, as it was all-expenses paid, and we even got some spending money! We were young, but even then we were (or at least I was) cynical bastards, and we suspected that this was also Japan trying to win friends and bribe South-East Asians into forgetting or forgiving them for the atrocities of WW II. 

Anyway, when we got back, I was asked to write an article for our in-house magazine or newsletter (I forgot which). This (below) was what I submitted.]

Here's how #ChatGPT describes Singapore with a sense of humour

"Singapore is like that neat-freak friend you have who vacuums their house every day and alphabetizes their spice rack. Everything is clean, organized, and efficient to the point where you might wonder if there's a secret government agency dedicated solely to keeping the streets spotless.

Citibank Global Wallet in Japan

 If you have a Citibank Global Wallet and you need an ATM in Japan to access your cash, go to a Seven-11 (or a 7-i) in Japan. And use theirATM. 

There is options for the instructions in English, and the option to skip info that you do not know.

And you can get your cash.

Urban Hawker in New York: Anthony Bourdain had the idea. How did this Singapore street-food market in New York turn out?

[Singapore Hawker Culture transplanted to New York]

Poached chicken rice from Hainan Jones at Urban Hawker in New York, on Jan 9, 2023.
Rachel Vanni/The New York Times

January 23, 2023


NEW YORK — Some people get excited each time New York City puts in a bid to host the Olympics. Not me. I think, “Who needs it?” The attention the Games bring may be helpful for Beijing, Tokyo, Paris, Los Angeles and other small, easily overlooked cities. But all I can think about is the traffic.

One plan I did support was the idea of building a sort of Olympic Village in Manhattan where top competitors from around the world could show off their speed and grace before cheering spectators. I refer, of course, to Bourdain Market, a gargantuan food hall that would have been modelled on the hawker centres of Singapore.

A Better Penguin Parade

We had previously, in 2018, had a tour to Phillip Island to catch the nightly Penguin Parade.

It was a "once in a lifetime experience"! That's what I say whenever I have an experience, and then say, "never again! Once in this lifetime is enough!"

The Penguin Parade of Phillip Island is a once in a lifetime event. 

If you're lucky or smart, you might even manage to skip it in this lifetime.

If the point is to get a really good view of penguins, the Penguin Parade at Asahiyama Zoo would be more satisfying!