Singapore: musings and observations

In no particular order, here are a few things that we noticed in our seventy-five hours or so in Singapore:

• JD felt noticeably stared at on the main island, but not so much on Sentosa. He thinks it might be the beard (very few locals, or even expats, have them).
• At 5'7" (170cm), I am taller than 80% of the population
• Singapore is truly multicultural, in a way that Australia will never be. A row of eight seats on a train will have people of five different ethnicities sitting side by side.
• Although English is the dominant language, most signs are in English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil.
• Shopping is a spectator sport. Orchard Rd was crowded at 8pm on a Saturday night, with people walking up and down, not so many people buying. It reminded me of the Strip in Vegas, with shops instead of casinos and shops.
• ION Orchard from the street looks like a Vogue magazine brought to life. You know how the first dozen pages or so are full-page ads for famous brands? So is the shopping centre. Dior, Cartier, Armani, Prada, Coach, Hermes, ad more, all side by side, like in a glossy magazine. Bit intimidating for the likes of me.
• While there were a number of private security people (directing traffic, hotel doormen etc), we saw almost no police whatsoever. We think we saw some at one station (very dark navy uniform, white chevrons on their epaulettes), but not in the way you see them all over the place in Australian cities.
• Chewing gum can be consumed, but not sold, in Singapore. Not that we saw anyone doing that. Or littering. And absolutely no graffiti anywhere.
• The trains are brilliant.
• No food or drink allowed to be consumed in train stations, let alone in trains. And no durians (v v stinky fruit) may be carried on public transport. Or large packages (stated example: tv bigger than 32")
  
• All platforms have barriers so no-one can fall onto the tracks, even when it gets stupidly crowded.

  

  The floor markings are to encourage those on the platform to stand aside while others disembark. The locals pay only marginally more attention to them than anywhere else in the world.

• Although it reportedly gets stupidly crowded, we never encountered it. And Melbourne and VLine intercity commuter trains also get stupidly crowded at peak hour.
• The ticketing system is simple, with a premium built into the single ticket purchase (around 1/3 cheaper if you use a reloadable card), although it's still very cheap
• The trains are frequent (every five minutes or so), and the platforms are well signposted, and stops are well-signalled inside the train
• The carriages are not separate - the carriages are linked like bendy trams. (Although Ray, the skydiving train electrical engineer said they are actually a little less space-efficient than traditional separate carriages.)
• That's why the signs identifying where the emergency exits are have really long arrows - the ends of the train may be a long way away.
  
• The trains are all blissfully air-conditioned (only a problem if you chose to get soaked running through a fountain shortly before boarding - just ask Jos)
• Many of the upright poles are trifurcated - allowing three people to hold on at the same height.

  

  Bendy trains! With trifurcated poles!

• Changi Airport is brilliant
• Although the entry side of immigration & customs seemed a bit 1950s with no aircon to speak of, the departures side was astonishing.
• Free wi-fi everywhere at the airport, no strings.
• Good range of restaurants to choose from (we chose Thai), including places that sell tea suitable for picky Strines like me. And I finally got that milkshake I had been hankering for, too.
• Because the island is so small, there are no domestic flights. All flights are international, by definition.
• Luggage screening is simple and well-staffed
• There are snooze lounges with recliners of sorts and travellers' lounges with showers ($8 for towel plus amenities) and tvs and stuff. We didn't use them this time, but may well do on the return trip (we have a four hour stopover on our way back)
• No annoying PA announcements, except in the sound-enclosed gates lounges, other than periodic reminders to get to your gate lounge in time.
• I'm not remotely surprised it has been voted world's best airport for 21 consecutive years. It has my vote.

In summary, we all really enjoyed the place, but we'll choose a cooler month in which to return.

Have you been there? What did you think? What have I forgotten to mention?