Shopping, high rises and smog...3 days in Singapore

We landed the evening of October 30th. The airport was gorgeous and as over the top as you would expect in a wealthy city that is 80% expats.

We stayed in a beautiful Courtyard hotel with a rooftop lounge and pool. For those of you who have not stayed in a Mariott Courtyard outside of the U.S., the Courtyard brand is surprisingly high end elsewhere. We had a great room looking out towards the bay.. when we could see it.

The first thing we noticed our first morning was the dreadful air. There was a grey/brown haze that was blanketing the city. After some research, we found out that this was a normal annual occurrence in Sept/Oct, as Indonesia does massive burns. It was also extremely hot and humid. Around 95 degrees and up to 100% humidity. 🥵😥😓

Singapore is full of luxury high rise condos, offices, and hotels. There is as much shopping in Singapore as i remember in Dubai. Gucci and other high end retailers in every corner... even more than Starbucks coffee shops. 🤪😀

There are also more luxury cars per capital than anywhere else in Asia. This is due to the extremely high tax, and the roughly $50k permit to own a car for 10 years. That really keeps traffic in check. We didn’t see any real traffic.

Ok, now for the fun stuff. Ok, maybe not! We were warned that there is not much to do in Singapore, and, unfortunately, they were correct. Although we enjoyed our 3 day layover, and it spared us from a 12 hour flight from Bangkok to Melbourne, there wasn’t much to do.

We spent part of a day walking through Little India part of town and visited a cool 60+ year old historical park. Really no words to explain this place. It was filled with statues and signs depicting Chinese mythology. The brothers who built it spent $1mm — crazy money for that time.

We did the hop on-hop off bus, but not a whole lot to see. My favorite spot was the beautiful botanical gardens, including a giant rain forest. It was quiet and peaceful. We also learned that Singapore is #3 in gambling revenue despite having only 2 (very large) casinos. It is basically a place to spend money.

We did get some much-needed rest during our stay, enjoyed some good food, and a few of the best bars in the world. Yes, Singapore has several of the top 50 bars in the world. Operation Dagger had the most original cocktails. And our all-around favorite was Atlas: a beautiful bar in an old Art Deco building. The inside was a throwback to the ‘20s, with a three-story tall gin collection. Jos could hardly contain herself. Kind of like me in a good rum bar.