It would be difficult for anyone not to be impressed with Singapore. It is a large city / small country (600 square miles, similar in that respect to Calgary) with a population of 5 million people. Yet it is well organized and planned, especially considering the constraint of being surrounded by water. They have an excellent underground rapid transit rail system (cheap and extensive routing), along with lots of taxis and buses. Cars are expensive to license and own, minimizing both traffic and polution. It is a very clean city with lots of green space. There are a multitude of assisted housing apartment complexes that cater to families, however, other housing is incredibly expensive. Food is cheap but alcohol is taxed heavily. They have financial reserves of $150B so planned improvement projects happen quickly and are done properly. They have tough laws, so crime is almost non-existent yet you rarely see any police officers. It should be mandatory for every city planner to spend time here to learn how to make a large city seem small and friendly.
We were fortunate to spend our last three days with a good Xerox friend from Vancouver (Cornell) who recently relocated to Singapore to work for Fuji Xerox. While his family is waiting for the end of the school year to move here, we were able to stay with him in his lovely 29th floor condo overlooking the Singapore River and the harbour area. Cornell was an excellent host and guide. We made trips to the Singapore Zoo (varied and active wildlife), Sentosa Island and Mount Faber (connected by cable car), and the Marina Bay Sands Hotel (incredible rooftop views), and had a delicious dinner in Little India.
Tomorrow (Monday), we are flying to Bali, Indonesia.....an unusual twist for us but flights here are reasonably priced and it will avoid backtracking over the same route on the islands of Java and Sumatra which are long and narrow. Off to the beach!
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