Orderly Singapore - City of Buildings

10 Dec 2012 - Singapore Day Trip 

Driving to/in Singapore

On 10 Dec 2012,  we crossed over to Singapore via the Causeway. 

The Causeway-see the long crawl

We were stuck in a long traffic crawl which usually is the case at the Causeway. First we stopped at the Malaysian checkpoint for passport clearance. Then continued the crawl till we reached the Woodlands Singapore checkpoint. 

Woodlands check-point - make sure you have your documents ready!

We had to fill up the declaration form then head for the primary and secondary clearance. Primary being the document check and secondary  the vehicle check.

Expressways and Avenues

Finally we entered Singapore at about 1pm.  We made a mistake of not carrying a Singapore Roadmap or GPS. Soon we found out that navigating the streets of Singapore was not as easy as we thought it would be. So the rest of the journey was spent cruising the streets freely or should I say aimlessly . 

Nice clean roads lined up with trees on both sides

I must say that Singapore has top class roads. All signages are in English. They have the names of the main expressways abbreviated to AED, CVE, BTE, PIE etc although as first timers we didn’t have a clue what this meant. Surprisingly, there was an obvious lack of signages for places of interest. 

Some old colonial buildings and a mosque

If at all we saw one, it is usually near the place of interest, which defeats the purpose. We also went pass many Avenues which were actually colonies of residential apartments (called flats here). 

These are residential areas

The Singapore govt builds these flats for its people and every colony is self-sustainable meaning all kinds of facilities are provided for the people so that they need not come out of their colonies other than to work.

An old mosque

We stopped at one colony just to check out the place. Everything seemed so organized. People actually follow the systems and rules that are in place. At the ground level of these flats are sitting benches where people come out to get fresh air, chat and mingle.  We saw many old folks which means the children are all at work in town. 

Every flat is connected to its own food court, market (dry and wet) and sundry shops. Drivers give priority to pedestrians. Everyone parks their car in the same way and at allotted spaces. You can never see a haphazardly parked vehicle. Keeping colonies green is also the in thing. Parks for people and well trimmed lawns are a common sight. Every town has its own primary and secondary school.  Great town planning.

Chinese colonial shophouses

In Singapore it is all about maintaining a system and abiding by it. Even the paint of these flats have a colour-coded system and somehow the paint always seem fresh and new.

So orderly.

Skyscrapers and Kindliness Quotes

I remember seeing places such as Aljunied, Ang Mo Kio, Bedok, Geylang, Clementi, Jurong, Pasir Ris, Punggol, Serangoon, Tampines, Tuas, Woodlands, Seletar, Paya Lebar, Kallang, Choa Chu Kang, Chinatown and Bukit Timah. I think we just about covered all of Singapore except maybe Orchard Road.

The financial hub

Everywhere you go you see rows and rows of buildings and skyscrapers. And there seems to be development all over not just concentrated in one place. There was one area full of Chinese heritage houses. The traffic lights too move fast so I can never complain that we were stuck in traffic.

You can see the expatriate/ international community here

But soon we discovered that driving is all that we could do as we couldn’t park anywhere and get out for a walk or a drink. Public parkings are in designated areas usually placed in buildings and comes with parking fee. We really didn’t want to stop anywhere long enough to even park.

Dinner in Serangoon

The tribute to the early Indian migrants

We finished the day with a light Indian dinner in Serangoon Road. I was shocked to find this whole place so different from other areas we saw. 

A couple on an overhead bridge - just to add some human touch to the story

It was lacking in cleanliness and seemed chaotic. Then we learnt that this is the hangout area for the foreign workers from South Asia – all out for some fun time before resuming work the next day.

Exit from Singapore

At about 10pm, we started our drive back to the Causeway. We reached JB at 11.00am and were back in our room soon. I was actually relieved to be back in familiar soil. 

Malaysia, I love you!

We saw this scene every night at JB petrol stations - Singaporean cars accessing our subsidised fuel. Pour, shake the tank and  keep moving..at times we had to look for different pump stations because 'Minyak Habis' (no more petrol)

Some Tips :-

1. Go with a map or better still, GPS.
2. Zoom into a few places that you should not miss and just go there only.
3. If using the Causeway, be prepared for a long queue.
4. Know that you can get the Electronic Card (like our Touch-n-Go) at 7-11 outlets in Singapore.
5. Don't depend on the people for directions because (a) they are always in a hurry and (b) they are most likely not Singaporean
6. Don't be shocked that they actually run 'Kindliness Campaign' for their people; something that we assume that people naturally have 
7. Don't break any rules; just do what the locals do
8. Clean your car boot - as the Customs actually DO the vehicle check

All photos are copyrighted. Do tell if you need to use them. I can be reached at sivakay2009@gmail.com.