Singapore & Hong Kong

Singapore

If one was to judge a city by its airport, one would say that Singapore is a very clean, modern and welcoming city that functions 24 by 7. That first airport impression turns out to be exact, albeit the fact that not everything functions 24 hour a day.

Just by looking at the buildings and the streets, nothing indicates that Singapore is an Asian city. Everything looks just like a modern westerner city, with an ultra modern transport network that is easy to access. English is spoken everywhere and signs are also in English. Only its population - Asian in majority - and the equatorial temperature remind visitors that Singapore is a city in southeast Asia.

It's difficult to describe a typical Singaporean. The population is composed of different ethnic groups: Chinese, Malay (native people), Indian and Caucasian. Eurasians are also recognised as an ethnic group. Likewise, their religions are diverse: Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Taoism, Hinduism and more. They are all encouraged to maintain their culture and religion, that allows Singaporeans to preserve their diversity that can be seen in the different districts: Chinatown, Little India, Arab Street etc. The common trait to Singaporean is that they are all proud of being Singaporean. Despite its youth (independent since 1965), Singapore is a spectacular melting-pot and a model for respect of religions, ethnics and differences.

The city is clean and safe. There are almost no crimes, nor any police officers can be seen on the streets. It seems that the government counts on the citizens to report infractions and on heavy fines (monetary or other) to dissuade people from committing crimes. Whatever the reasons, it seems to work. The streets feel very safe, even at night, in places not well lit and devoided of people.

Now, let's talk about serious stuff: the Hawker Food. As its name indicates, hawker food is the cuisine made and sold by roving vendors. In the old time, the hawkers wandered the streets and set up their cart to sell their food, usually at very affordable prices. But for sanitary reasons, the government banned that practise and set up food centres for the hawkers in the 70s. Nowadays, those vendors no longer rove the streets, but the name stuck and the food remains good and cheap.

The problem for a visitor like me, who doesn't know the local dishes, is to know which dishes to try and which vendors are best for which dishes. There are many Food Centres, in each of them, there are several dozens if not hundreds of vendors. Thus it's impossible to try them all in 4-5 days. Fortunately for me, a friend of mine connected me with a friend of hers (born and raised Singaporean) who gave me a lot of tips on the Hawker food. They are truly delicious!

Practical details

The Changri Airport has a lot of ATMs. There are some inside the security zone, before passing the immigration when you arrive.

The Ground Transport Desk at the airport is a 24-hour counter that is catered to handle transportation requests and queries. Tickets for the Airport Shuttle Bus (SG $9) can be purchased there. The shuttle operates 24-hour and can drop passengers at most hotels in downtown.

Between 5 am and midnight, there are many transport options from Shangri Airport to town

Depending on the duration of your visit and how often you intend to use the public transportation, you can either get the Singapore Tourist Pass or simply an ez-link card.

There is no mosquitoes in Singapore! They spray quite often in order to eradicate the mosquitoes

I was surprised to find that Singapore is quite hazy during my visit. I was told that the haze is due to the smoke from the grazing and burning of forests in Indonesia. Visibility is considerably reduced by the haze, which is not too good for taking pictures.

There are a lot of Hawker Food to try. Here are some suggestions that were given to me:

There's also what is called the Satay Street next to Lai Pa Sat Food Centre in downtown. Every evening, a section of Boon Tat street is closed to traffic, making place for satay vendors on the street.

The admission price for the Marina Bay Sands' Observation Deck is relatively expensive, but the view up there is quite impressive. The use of tripod is not allowed up there, so it's not easy to take sharp pictures at night and timelapse pictures. That said, one can probably use a mini-tripod or something to wedge the camera against the rail to take pictures.

There are two light shows - called Garden Rhapsody - every night at the Supertree Grove at 7:45 pm and 8:45 pm. It's a great show and it's free. The Marina Bay Sands also has its own laser show, free as well, every nights at 8 pm and 9:30 pm.

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Hong Kong

In the mid nineties, I found a HK 50 cents coin that someone had drop at an airport. The idea of visiting Hong Kong did cross my mind back then (it was mostly to get cheap electronic products). This year, I have finally made it to Hong Kong. Many things have changed since then. For a starter, Hong Kong is no longer a British colony. The pricing of electronic products are no longer that attractive. And the coins have changed.

First surprise. I thought that being a former British colony, English was widely spoken in Hong Kong. It is not at all the case. Of course, there are some Hongkongers that speak with a perfect English accent. But more often than not, people don't speak English, even at shops or restaurants in touristy areas. For some reasons I was conditioned to think that people speak English in Hong Kong, but given the fact that most tourists in Hong Kong are from mainland China, it's makes sense that Hongkonger learn Mandarin rather than English. So, I had to look up on YouTube to learn a couple of Cantonese phrases in order to get around.

Just like in Singapore, there is no issue with safety in Hong Kong. But unlike Singapore, police officers are everywhere. The ongoing protests of the Umbrella Movement probably have something to do with their presence. But with a police force strong of 28,000 men, I'm sure that their omnipresence on the streets is just a normal thing. In any case, it's very practical to ask for information as all police officers speak English.

Hong Kong is densely populated and its sidewalks are mostly narrow. That's why walking in Hong Kong is kind of like going on an adventure. One has to make one's way through the crowd whose movements are unpredictable. It's kind of like in a video game where the goal is to make it through moving objects. People appear from nowhere to block your way. They slow down to block you, then as you try to pass them, they accelerate. In some districts, workers pushing the carts join the crowd against you. (I'm exaggerating of course). On sidewalks of more than 3 m wild, it feels like walking on the Champs Elysées in Paris or on Fifth Avenue in New York.

There are many skywalks between buildings in Hong Kong. Of course, it is as crowded on the skywalks as on the sidewalks, but at least, the skywalks will provide you protection against the rain. Oh yes, with the rain, the umbrellas appear on the streets and up the game difficulty since now you have to avoid them as well. The game on the skywalks, at least for me who is stranger to the place, is to go as far as possible from one place to another without having to come back down to the street. That requires some blind navigation across the buildings in order to connect one skywalk to the next one. Ah, the things that I do in order to make my trips more exciting!

Beside the narrow sidewalks, Hong Kong reminds me a lot of New York City: the skyscrapers, the finances, the crowd, the taxis (except they are red instead of yellow), the night activities. However, there are more parks in Hong Kong and more access to Nature. And Hong Kong has a little hill called Victoria Peak (a 552 m high mountain) where the view is magnificent.

Practical details

Just like in Singapore, there's no problem finding an ATM at the airport in order to withdraw money before getting out.

To get from the airport to my hotel, which is in the Western District, I found that taking the bus (HK $40) was more practical than taking the Airport Express train. The latter takes 25 minutes between the airport and Hong Kong Station, but then you have to take a free shuttle (running every 20 minutes) in order to get to the hotel. The bus is direct, and moreover you get to see the landscape. However, it's definitely worth taking the Airport Express to go to the airport when leaving, even though it's more than double the price of the bus (HK $100). With the Airport Express, one can check in the luggage and get the boarding pass at the Hong Kong Station, thus avoiding the long queue to do so at the airport.

If you stay 2-3 days or more in Hong Kong, get the Octopus Card. It's very practical. Not only you can take public transport with that card, you can also use it to pay at convenient stores and restaurants, thus avoiding carrying a lot of cash.

The Mid-Level escalators link Central, the financial district, to the residential district of Mid-Level higher on the hill. Depending on the time of the day, the escalators take people to work in Central, or take them back home to Mid-Level.

The best way to get to Victoria Peak is probably via the Peak Tram. That said, the line for this funicular tramway can be long, very long. When I was there, the wait time to go up was more than 2 hours, and the wait time to go down was almost as long. The alternative is either to take bus number 15, to take the taxi, or simply to walk up (if you know the way). Even walking up the steep hill will take less time than the 2 hours or so wait in line, and walking down takes approximately 35 minutes.

It can be very cold at the summit of Victoria Peak because of the wind. It's interesting to observe the change of lights from sunset in to the night.

The famous Cantonese cuisine can make it difficult for solitary travellers. Aside from the dim sum or noodle soup restaurants, the Cantonese restaurants serve dishes family style (to share). Dishes are à la cart, meaning that, for instance, a meat dish only has meat and nothing else. If you want meat and vegetables, you'll have to order several dishes, plus some rice if you want rice. The portion of each dish is usually for 2 or more people, thus too much for one single person. That said, some restaurants accept to make half-portion dishes, allowing solo travellers to order in variety without having too much food.

There is a light show on both sides of Victoria Harbour - Kowloon and Hong Kong Island - every night at 8 pm and at 9 pm. However, when I was there, only the Kowloon side had the sound and light show, and the first show started a little before 8 pm.

Dates of the trip: 29 October - 10 November 2014 (4 days in Singapore, 6 days in Hong Kong)

Last updated: 2015-04-14 22:57:14 -0700