20 aug 2023 – What to do for two weeks in SG (SG is how the locals call it)? Well, there is quite a lot to see and to do, and a visit to Singapore can be quite fun. It is one of the most developed cities / countries in Asia and it is a very safe and clean place as well. People say SG is very superficial and fake and although I do have to agree with these people, I still enjoyed my time here. Singapore is a melting pot of different cultures and it just celebrated its 58^th birthday. A young nation indeed, with not much historical culture. For the majority the parks, gardens, and “forests” have been man-made. It is a city where you can enjoy modern architecture, colorful light shows, beautiful botanical gardens and much more. Two weeks is a long time to visit a city and I would normally not stay such a long time if it wasn’t for my job. So that’s what I did for most of my time; conducting business ;).

As you all know by now, I am a true mountain and nature guy. Whenever I am traveling or on a business trip, I try to make the most of my stay. I spent most of my free time visiting parks, the botanical gardens in SG and a small island. Unfortunately there are no mountains to be found in Singapore. It is not my first time in SG. All the way back in 2012, my best friend Rob and I already did a short visit to Singapore. Back then we visited some of the city’s highlights so I do not feel the need to go there again. I will choose nature over crowds of people any day of the week. However, there is actually one day that I did visit the unofficial mascot of Singapore; the Merlion statue.

This place being overly crowded, I quickly moved on. The reason for me to go here is to trace the steps Rob and I made in 2012 for one good reason. Back in the day, here in Singapore I made another good friend, which I am still in touch with; Belle from the Philippines. I was trying to find the exact spot where she suddenly and spontaneously jumped in front of our camera. A short conversation followed and the rest is history. That short moment of outburst from Belle, had been converted in a long-life friendship. I enjoy thinking back about that day.

Back to present day… on one of my first day’s off (on Singapore’s national holiday; 9th of August), I am on my way to visit MacRitchie nature reserve. A relatively large nature reserve with several long walking trails. Since it’s a holiday, most people are off, and they all seem to have the same idea as I do. Despite the early visit, it is still crowded. But it also feels good to have a long walk in the forest and along the lake. It’s hot and humid today and since I am still recovering from the flu, I decide to go for a “short” walk only; just three hours. I can have some rest in the afternoon and go for a back massage as well. In the evening I was able to see the fireworks from my room on the 11^th floor. The firework is to celebrate the country’s birthday.

The following weekend I visit a small island, Pulau Ubin, with a new friend I made here. We go in the morning to avoid the crowd and the forecasted rain in the afternoon. After a ten-minute ferry ride, we arrive at the main city of the island, where several shops are renting out bicycles. We both decide to rent one, so that we can see a little bit more of the island in a relative short time. Pulau Ubin is not a remarkable or very beautiful island but it is something different from a city for sure, and it can provide a nice break from the city life. We visit some of the highlights; the highest point of the island, views on the lakes, a Chinese temple, the boardwalk on the coast, but the most fun and enjoyable thing to do was the bike riding itself through the forests. Most roads are paved and well sign-posted, with maps all over the island. This makes it very easy to go around. We enjoyed our time here but went back to SG around lunch time.

In the same weekend I also visit the botanical gardens. These gardens are huge and after wandering around, just by myself this time, for a few hours, I had only seen half of it. As the sun is setting, I decided to visit the other half next time. The gardens have many different areas to see and I was really impressed by the beauty and upkeep of the park. With the tropical climate in Singapore, there are many beautiful flowers, plant and trees to be admired in the park all year round. There are different sections of the park with different themes; one theme is about curing, medicinal and poisonous plants. But what impressed me most was some of the “wildlife” that roams around freely. On more than one occasion I crossed paths with a large monitor lizard, just minding his own business. With a length of more than 1 meter (including tail), they are big and impressive. It’s very interesting to observe them up close, without any barrier between me and this majestic animal. They do not seem to be bother at all by people, while they are scavenging the ground for food.  

On my last free day in Singapore I made a visit to the cloud forest and flower dome. It is on a weekday, so luckily it wasn’t overly crowded. The cloud forest is a lush mountain clad with plants from around the world in a large kind of greenhouse. It has one of the world’s largest indoor waterfalls and it re-creates the high-altitude rainforests (that can be found between 850 and 2500 meters). Because it is a recreation of real cloud forests, you can see very unique and beautiful plants that you would otherwise only see on certain altitudes. The forest is Avatar themed, but I am not interested in these statues, projections and virtual reality experiences. They did a real great job with the Avatar experience and I notice that most people are making lots of photos of these statues and fake plants and flowers. But in my opinion, they missed some of the most beautiful thing’s nature can offer. If these people would just stop for a second and have a closer look at the plants and trees, they would see some extraordinary plants and flowers. It is so much more impressive and prettier than what man makes. The flower dome is home to many beautiful plants, a succulent plant garden, an Australian garden, a corner of beautiful Baobab trees, and much more. Yeah, I think it’s safe to say I like to be surrounded by nature.

On my last evening, as I was walking around a bit, I found a shop where they rent out bikes and I rented one on a whim. I needed a good workout thus I took the bicycle along the Singapore Straight (the coast) for two hours. The roads and paths are well marked and there is a separate lane for bicycles. It was a beautiful bike ride and next time I would probably even go further, probably as far as I can go along the coast; which is pretty much along the entire island.

It had been a good two weeks, I really enjoyed working with my local colleagues; they took me to a few nice restaurants and I am looking forward to see them and work with them again, hopefully this will be in the near future.

Edit to post: as a matter of fact I am returning to Singapore two weeks after this trip, for another project. This will be a short project (1 week), where I do not expect to have much free time. Therefor I will likely not write about that trip.

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