Overall Impression  

We have been traveling to Bangkok, Thailand for many years and have been their dozens of times, hence upon arriving in Singapore we mentally compared many things we saw and experienced with this other great city of southeast Asia. Most notable for us were the following things: 

The streets of Singapore are actually very clean. The whole city is actually clean. No trash on the streets, in the under paths, side streets or even in the outlying areas we visited. As a pedestrian, you can really walk in the city. No street vendors. No restaurant stalls set up on the sidewalks. No motorcycle drivers on the sidewalks either. One nice side effect for us pale Europeans was that you can actually walk inside the galleries of most shop houses, thus in a shaded area. 

People stick to their lanes when driving - a total WOW effect after Bangkok. Drivers stop for pedestrians - another WOW! Motorcycle drivers wear helmets! Almost no police on the streets. Well, at least not visible. Thus, no roadblocks by corrupt police officers asking for bribes. OK, there were lots of cameras. Almost everywhere. And from what we read there are driving zones with fines if you go there without paying or having a proper license. 

I don't recall seeing any dogs. Actually something I loved, after being chased by dogs in Thailand all the time. No real hassles from shop owners, except some Indian guys in Chinatown. To my surprise Little India, where I expected lots of hassles from shop owners, was very good. I got cheated only once. Well, he tried. In Arabstreet in a camera shop a salesman tried to cheat me out of an original camera lens when packing a cheaper model. I caught him and he lost his face. 

Taxis: They actually drive you where YOU want to go. I cannot remember how many taxis in Bangkok will not take you if your way is not their way. And NO trouble from Taxi drivers. You get in, tell them where you want to go to. They repeat it (in English!!!!) and start driving. Normally not a lot of tipping but when you do...oh my god...my taxi driver even ran to get me one of those baggage carts at the airport. Something I have not seen ANYWHERE in the world. One of the drivers said, that all Taxi drivers had to be native Singaporeans and that "the government will find them if they caused trouble". 

The people: I met some of the nicest people I have ever met. Some invited me back to a temple for Kwan In's birthday and a lunch with the abbot of the temple. Some showed me other temples, Buddhist societies, invited me for a coffee and turned out to be really interesting people. I met some special people from South Korea and Shanghai and the security manager of the Fullerton Hotel (top address) was really helpful and friendly. 

The service: Wasn't as bad as I had read. Since there was generally no tip involved in hawker centers, I didn't expect good service yet still got it. My daily breakfast restaurant actually invited me to coffee and cake on my last day - amazing! But my hotel topped everything I had seen in decades of traveling around the world. Higher prices than in Bangkok though, but very clean, very centrally located. No trouble with any security processes. I even forgot to lock my in-room safe one day and everything was still there after the room was cleaned. They called me the night before checkout to make sure I don't have to wait for that stupid "check minibar" upon checkout. My bell boy got the taxi while I signed my bill. Fastest and most efficient checkout I had so far. AND with a smile!

The subway: WOOOOOOWWWWW! Compare it with Munich, Germany, where I wouldn't be able to buy a ticket and/or pay the right amount if I was a foreigner. It took me 10 seconds to know how to buy a ticket, how much to pay, how to redeem the deposit for the ticket, how to get in and out and what train to take and where to change trains. Everything is written in English, Chinese, Malay (I think) and Indonesian (I think). And it is very in-expensive. 

The airport: Changi Airport is probably the most efficient airport I have ever been to. I had no line at immigration when coming in and it was almost a friendly, private-feeling process when leaving the country. The immigration officials even offer you sweets!!! No camera or fingerprints, which I loved. And no "what-do-you-want-in-this-country" unfriendly, non-smiling, intimidating immigration officer like in a country to the West of us (you know what I mean). One of the fastest check-in counters (ok it was first class) and one of the best airline lounges I had been to so far. 

Pricing: In Singapore I found that I as a western person pay the same prices as locals. That is far from normal in Bangkok, where entrance fees for non-Thais can be 10 times higher in Museums, Temples, National Parks etc. Being able to read Thai language, I sometimes point to the price written in Thai language, which is far lower than the stated price in western numbers and I am sometimes met with an angry attitude if they have to hand it to me for a cheaper price. I feel much more fairly treated as a customer in Singapore. And YES - I love to bargain!

All in all I had a GREAT impression about Singapore and I really would have to think hard if I had to come up with something negative. I'll keep on thinking when I continue to post other content and if I do come up with something, you will know. 

So, in November 2009 we went back to Singapore for the second time. Thinking that we had have just a "too good" dream, we wanted to see if we still liked the city as much as on our first trip. Well...YES WE DID (could be another Obama slogan :-) )  In fact we liked it so much that we booked another two trips for Q1, 2010. Singapore - here we come many times!