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British Mensa Travel Special Interest Group |
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Singapore:
no chewing gum by David and Jeanette Whiting Singapore has very strict laws; drug trafficking is punishable by hanging, and - get this - the import and export of chewing gum is prohibited! (It's not banned, but leaving it as litter can incur a huge fine.) Petrol is not expensive in Singapore, about 50p/75cts a litre, but driving is very costly: before buying a car, government permission has to be obtained, costing £15,000/$23,000. Then there is a 175% tax on cars, which pushes the total average cost to over £35000/$54000; and to discourage drivers from owning old cars (and to boost government income), there is a higher tax on vehicles over 10 years old. This income is spent on new projects and modernization; the underground system (MRT = Mass Rapid Transit) is being expanded considerably. MRT tickets start at about 20p/30cts, trains are comfortable and it's a short walk across a platform to change lines. We accepted an offer of a ride to Chinatown on a bicycle with sidecar. It was hard work for the elderly cyclist, and we felt very vulnerable with traffic passing at high speed, but the cyclist picked some pretty flowers for us (a taxi driver couldn't do that while driving!), then dropped us off in Chinatown. We drove to the top of Mount Faber where the breeze was stronger and fresher, before making a final stop at a factory where gems are fashioned into all kinds of ornaments, many extremely valuable. They produce beautiful pictures incorporating lights and, at the clap of a hand, birdsong can be heard. With all the children in the factory, the clapping becomes rather annoying! Around 6pm we left on a "Night Safari". The Night Safari park, adjacent to the zoo, is the world's first such park created for nocturnal animals, opened in 1994, covering 40 hectares and containing 1200 animals, some of which are to be found in the zoo in the daytime. This park is open only between 7.30pm and midnight, and has 2,000 visitors on an average night, probably all arriving at the same time, judging from the queues! A 40 minute tram ride passes most of the creatures, which include lions, tigers, bearded pigs, rhinoceros, elephants, deer, cranes, kinkajou, etc. The surroundings are much like a jungle and in subdued lighting; even the trains are dimly lit. We proceeded
to Raffles Hotel, originally built in the 19th century as a private residence,
converted into a hotel in 1882. The cost of a room varies between S$600-S$6000
per night (up to £2500). We were treated to a "Singapore Sling",
a cocktail devised in 1936 by a Chinese barman here. Ingredients include
gin, cherry brandy, cointreau and Benedictine; its pink colour shows it
was originally a woman's drink, but it is not to our taste. As expected,
the hotel was very luxurious and the colour white prevailed almost everywhere. |