In Asia, the two cities that come to mind are Singapore and Hong Kong. Singapore had always been on my ‘want-to-go-there-list’, but somehow I’d never shaped an image in my head of what this city would be like. And after visiting Hong Kong – from which I expected it to be a potential-city-to-live-in-candidate, and ending up having no connection what so ever with it – I kind of blew the few expectations I had of Singapore out of the window.
Last month we visited Singapore during our trip through Southeast Asia... and it was Love. At. First. Sight.
To make it easier, and to protect myself (and you, because you have to read it) from writing an endless love letter, I decided to break it down in a few key-points. So here are 11 reasons why I would love to live in Singapore:
1) The city is incredibly well maintained, which I find highly important. Cause who wants to constantly watch where they walk to prevent themselves from falling in some underground hole, or smell the sewer everywhere they go.
2) There is a large amount of parks to be found throughout the city, including a beach! Although I don’t know if I’d see myself swimming there, with all the freight ships moored not far from the coast… In weekends the parks are filled with students, family and groups of people just hanging out, enjoying their free time – loved that vibe!
3) The people are very nice, almost everywhere you go.
4) English is the number one language.
5) There are very few cars on the road, which has a positive effect on the level of pollution in this city, plus there’s barely any traffic.
6) There’s a lot of beautiful architecture, from the colonial period, but also hyper modern, which makes it even more interesting to wander through the city. That’s probably what I loved most about it.
7) People are really sportive. We took a stroll through Gardens by the Bay and back via Marina Bay, and we had individuals and groups of people running by almost every other second.
8) Food is a huge part of Singapore’s culture, almost a second nature. While I’m typing this I wonder why this point isn’t on number one, since yours truly is practically never not eating... but back to the point, there are countless great restaurants and there’s a lively local (street) food scene as well. In fact, we tried one restaurant each single day, which will all appear on the blog soon!
9) With over 110.000 expatriates and 7.000 multinational companies, Singapore is known for its local multicultural workforce, and its ability to bridge the Western and Asian cultures. So wherever you’re from, this should make it way easier to feel at home.
10) Though some might say this is better in Hong Kong, Singapore has a great public transport network. And not only that, due to the fact that we wanted to make a shortcut – because it was raining, and I don’t like rain – we discovered that there’s an entire underground world underneath the city! We bumped into a food court, some general stores and we found the best teeny-tiny electronics store, packed with many useful products and ‘wannahaves’ such as cables, laptop/tablet sleeves and mobile phone cases for the price of a chocolate bar!
11) With many tropical islands just a stone's throw away from the city, this is the perfect destination for a long weekend. Who doesn't want paradise as the next door solution for your need to get a break from the city!?
Even though it was love at first and I can find many reasons to elaborate this, there are some downsides as well: the port of Singapore is world’s second busiest port, resulting in thousand ships coming and going every single day, so the lack of cars on the island is highly compensated by the enormous traffic on the water. Though Singapore’s climate is tropical, with nice temperatures throughout the year, it also has an abundance of rain (paired with thunderstorms), leaving you nice and warm, but kind of wet. And then there’s the fact that it is world’s most expensive city to live in…
Let’s just agree to focus on the good points for now and all dream away to a life in one of Asia’s most vibrant and beautiful metropolises.
How do you feel about Singapore? Could you see yourself living there? Or maybe you’ve taking this step already!? Don’t hesitate to share in the comments below; I’d love to hear from you!
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