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I love Singapore. My wife and I go through Singapore when flying to Europe (from Australia) and usually stay 1-2 nights. We'll do the same again on the way back

by movedx 8y ago

I love Singapore. My wife and I go through Singapore when flying to Europe (from Australia) and usually stay 1-2 nights. We'll do the same again on the way back. It's super clean, well run, the public transport makes every other country look like a joke, the food is amazing, the laws are tied meaning it's a super safe place to live and wonder around, and everyone is lovely. We're considering a year of living there (and bracing ourselves for how expensive it is.) If you haven't been: go. It's one of humanity's gems. Edit: also, it has $4 Michelin Star food: https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/singapore-cheapest-michelin-star-restaurant/index.html https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/singapore-cheapest-mi...

as-j 8y ago
Errr, I think that over states things just a tad. I really love Singapore, but: 1. Public transit: it’s good if you go where public transit goes. Try to get out to East Coast park, and you have a 45 minute transit ride vs a 15 minute Uber. 2. It’s clean for an Asian city and depends where you go. Try Little India on a Friday night (and then Saturday morning) but it does clean up amazingly well. The food centers are amazing. I haven’t visited in a few years and miss it. Maybe you’re right, for a year it would be super fun.
- movedx 8y ago
  > 1. Public transit: it’s good if you go where public transit goes. Try to get out to East Coast park, and you have a 45 minute transit ride vs a 15 minute Uber Thanks, captain obvious. I'm aware train lines are fixed in place. Just take the Uber. What do you want, public transport that goes to every door step? > 2. It’s clean for an Asian city and depends where you go ... Of course it depends where you go. I'm sure some parts of New York are clean and others are grotty. That tends to be the cycle of how things go, sadly.
  - pthomas551 8y ago
    Yeah, it’s clear you’ve never lived in Singapore. Lots of important places are inadequately served by transit including major universities, many major embassies, important employers, the best food centers, and many of the popular Western expat neighborhoods. Want a bit of nature? Hope you like a 30 minute cab ride to the Pulau Ubin ferry terminal, which is also not served by transit. Want to go out for drinks? MRT and most buses stop at midnight. Maybe it’s only a 10 minute inexpensive cab ride home for you but your Singaporean friend probably lives in an HDB in a more remote area and is going to have to go a lot farther and pay a lot more. Oh yeah and even if transit seems like it’s in close proximity, many of these areas are seemingly designed in the most pedestrian hostile way possible. What looks like a 10 minute walk can easily be 20 minutes once you factor in absurdly long pedestrian signal times and having to go over overpasses etc. And the average temperature is 30-32 degrees, it feels like 35 when humidity is factored in. Easy for you to say “take Uber” but Uber left SG last year, it’s now Grab which is a much worse experience. And good luck getting a Grab or a taxi during anything approaching peak hours, or when it’s raining. Do you commute by cab every day where you live?
    - movedx 8y ago
      > Yeah, it’s clear you’ve never lived in Singapore. And you've never left Singapore. Mate, everything you've just outlined applies to every other nation in the world. What bubble are you living in? > Easy for you to say “take Uber” but Uber left SG last year, it’s now Grab https://www.uber.com/en-AU/airports/sin/ https://www.uber.com/en-AU/airports/sin/ Used Uber in Singapore a few weeks ago. No idea what you're talking about.
      - pthomas551 8y ago
        Uh, I’m not Singaporean and don’t live in Singapore any longer but good guess. You must have taken Uber more than a few weeks ago because it’s been shut down since late 2018. If you don’t believe me open up the app on your phone and try to book a ride between two points in Singapore. Not really surprised that they haven’t completely removed all the marketing from their site, it’s not like Uber is renowned for attention to detail.
    - ValentineC 8y ago
      I think the (metro) transport situation has improved a lot in the last 3-4 years since the Downtown Line opened, and things will only continue to get better when the various other lines launch in around 5 to 10 years [1]. Go-Jek (from Indonesia) has also very recently launched their private hire service here, but they've done very little to hire new drivers. Fares are slightly better as compared to when Grab had a virtual monopoly here though. I can't disagree about the weather. :) [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Singapore_MRT_stations_by_planning_area https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Singapore_MRT_stations...
contingencies 8y ago
Aussie but not a fan of Singapore here, I live in China and prefer Bangkok for food. A couple of years I did an alphabet foodie tour there and had no problems starting with Afghanistan, Burmese, Chinese, Danish, Ethiopian ... right through to Yemeni and Zhajiangmian. :) If anyone wants to join the next one, hit me up. I believe the unique feature of Bangkok is intact communities supporting real food from a range of regions, not just show cuisine.
- movedx 8y ago
  > Afghanistan, Burmese, Chinese, Danish, Ethiopian ... right through to Yemeni and Zhajiangmian I could get all of these in Wales, UK lmao
  - contingencies 8y ago
    Don't doubt it! However, in my experience ingredients in the UK are generally not up to snuff versus what you can get in Bangkok, especially tropical produce. If you go the full Waitrose, it's cheaper to fly to the country and eat the cuisine there.
    - movedx 8y ago
      Sadly, most people in Thailand also don't use toilet paper and wipe with their hands, wash them, miss a bit, and give you the s--ts. Enjoy.
- pthomas551 8y ago
  Where is there Ethiopian in Singapore? When I lived there I had to go up to Bangkok for my fix.

by movedx 8y ago

as-j 8y ago

Errr, I think that over states things just a tad. I really love Singapore, but: 1. Public transit: it’s good if you go where public transit goes. Try to get out to East Coast park, and you have a 45 minute transit ride vs a 15 minute Uber. 2. It’s clean for an Asian city and depends where you go. Try Little India on a Friday night (and then Saturday morning) but it does clean up amazingly well. The food centers are amazing. I haven’t visited in a few years and miss it. Maybe you’re right, for a year it would be super fun.

movedx 8y ago
> 1. Public transit: it’s good if you go where public transit goes. Try to get out to East Coast park, and you have a 45 minute transit ride vs a 15 minute Uber Thanks, captain obvious. I'm aware train lines are fixed in place. Just take the Uber. What do you want, public transport that goes to every door step? > 2. It’s clean for an Asian city and depends where you go ... Of course it depends where you go. I'm sure some parts of New York are clean and others are grotty. That tends to be the cycle of how things go, sadly.
- pthomas551 8y ago
  Yeah, it’s clear you’ve never lived in Singapore. Lots of important places are inadequately served by transit including major universities, many major embassies, important employers, the best food centers, and many of the popular Western expat neighborhoods. Want a bit of nature? Hope you like a 30 minute cab ride to the Pulau Ubin ferry terminal, which is also not served by transit. Want to go out for drinks? MRT and most buses stop at midnight. Maybe it’s only a 10 minute inexpensive cab ride home for you but your Singaporean friend probably lives in an HDB in a more remote area and is going to have to go a lot farther and pay a lot more. Oh yeah and even if transit seems like it’s in close proximity, many of these areas are seemingly designed in the most pedestrian hostile way possible. What looks like a 10 minute walk can easily be 20 minutes once you factor in absurdly long pedestrian signal times and having to go over overpasses etc. And the average temperature is 30-32 degrees, it feels like 35 when humidity is factored in. Easy for you to say “take Uber” but Uber left SG last year, it’s now Grab which is a much worse experience. And good luck getting a Grab or a taxi during anything approaching peak hours, or when it’s raining. Do you commute by cab every day where you live?
  - movedx 8y ago
    > Yeah, it’s clear you’ve never lived in Singapore. And you've never left Singapore. Mate, everything you've just outlined applies to every other nation in the world. What bubble are you living in? > Easy for you to say “take Uber” but Uber left SG last year, it’s now Grab https://www.uber.com/en-AU/airports/sin/ https://www.uber.com/en-AU/airports/sin/ Used Uber in Singapore a few weeks ago. No idea what you're talking about.
    - pthomas551 8y ago
      Uh, I’m not Singaporean and don’t live in Singapore any longer but good guess. You must have taken Uber more than a few weeks ago because it’s been shut down since late 2018. If you don’t believe me open up the app on your phone and try to book a ride between two points in Singapore. Not really surprised that they haven’t completely removed all the marketing from their site, it’s not like Uber is renowned for attention to detail.
  - ValentineC 8y ago
    I think the (metro) transport situation has improved a lot in the last 3-4 years since the Downtown Line opened, and things will only continue to get better when the various other lines launch in around 5 to 10 years [1]. Go-Jek (from Indonesia) has also very recently launched their private hire service here, but they've done very little to hire new drivers. Fares are slightly better as compared to when Grab had a virtual monopoly here though. I can't disagree about the weather. :) [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Singapore_MRT_stations_by_planning_area https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Singapore_MRT_stations...

contingencies 8y ago

Aussie but not a fan of Singapore here, I live in China and prefer Bangkok for food. A couple of years I did an alphabet foodie tour there and had no problems starting with Afghanistan, Burmese, Chinese, Danish, Ethiopian ... right through to Yemeni and Zhajiangmian. :) If anyone wants to join the next one, hit me up. I believe the unique feature of Bangkok is intact communities supporting real food from a range of regions, not just show cuisine.

movedx 8y ago
> Afghanistan, Burmese, Chinese, Danish, Ethiopian ... right through to Yemeni and Zhajiangmian I could get all of these in Wales, UK lmao
- contingencies 8y ago
  Don't doubt it! However, in my experience ingredients in the UK are generally not up to snuff versus what you can get in Bangkok, especially tropical produce. If you go the full Waitrose, it's cheaper to fly to the country and eat the cuisine there.
  - movedx 8y ago
    Sadly, most people in Thailand also don't use toilet paper and wipe with their hands, wash them, miss a bit, and give you the s--ts. Enjoy.
pthomas551 8y ago
Where is there Ethiopian in Singapore? When I lived there I had to go up to Bangkok for my fix.