Singapore is noted as one of the most beautiful cities in Asia and recently I had opportunity to see this for myself. The
country of Singapore is little more than the
city of Singapore, located on an island south of Malaysia only 85 miles north of the equator.
Their claim of being a beautiful city is certainly well-founded. The first things I noticed upon entering the city from the airport were the palm-lined highways, flowered walkways, manicured clover-leafs and virtually trash-less streets. I thought city officials were simply trying to make a good impression by maintaining the highways around the airport but it didn't take long to determine these manicured streets are typical of the entire city!
One wonders how the city is able to achieve such cleanliness and beauty with a population of a little over 5 million. With a little research, however, it's evident there are some pretty strict laws to keep it as such. For instance, not only is against the law to litter and NOT flush a public toilet after use, I was told the entire country of Singapore does not sell gum! I guess city officials decades ago were tired of seeing gum remains stuck around the city that they just banned the sale of it altogether. Good thing I'm not a gum chewer =)
After attending an
AP (Advanced Placement) Conference dealing with high school curriculum, friends of mine and I decided to tour the city visiting sites such as
St. Andrews Church in the downtown area. Eventually we ended up taking a night boat tour down at
Clarke Quay. Needless to say, witnessing the display of modern and historic buildings along the water was simply spectacular.
The city name of
Singapore is derived from a Malay word
Singapura which means
Lion City. Knowing this helped me understand why a statue of a lion was so prominently displayed at the entrance of the harbor.
Of course, how could I venture to a city like Singapore without finding my way to the
Coffee Bean periodically? I first got to know the
Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf while living in Korea and, I have to admit, it is my favorite coffee joint. Unfortunately it is not in all Asian countries, like Singapore but not Thailand. Living in Bangkok has been difficult for this very reason but I think I'll make it with
Starbucks as a worthy runner-up =)
