new Singapore Financial District from Marina Bay Sands Park
ALL ABOUT SINGAPORE: WHY SINGAPORE IS ‘BEST CITY IN THE WORLD’
When it comes to evaluating cities I have some long-held personal criterion for ‘Great City’ status. To achieve this status in my books a city must have the following:
1. Nature Outdoor spaces, greenery and quick, easy access to nature. A city void of nature, purely filled with streets, buildings and gray is too heavy. A Great City has lots of nature.
2. Architecture Interesting, beautiful and varied architecture. Cities filled with ugly, uninspired buildings are dull and depressing. I yearn for the great visual stimulation of exciting artistic architecture, preferably including skyscrapers. I love skyscrapers.
Marina Bay Sands Hotel
3. Food Delicious, varied, plentiful and easily-accessed food is critical for comfort and enjoyment.
Tandori Chicken on display in Little India
4. Arts and culture A Great City needs museums, art galleries, performances, music, and events. The more variety and frequency the better.
Singapore National Museum
5. Night life Dance clubs, a variety of music, parties and events are happening in Great Cities.
6. International flair: a diversity of people and their culture such as foods, arts, performances, and architecture.
Flower vendor in LIttle India
Examples of cities that cut my ‘Great Cities’ list include San Fransisco, Kyoto and Hong Kong.
Nevertheless, these three Great Cities do have one major fault in my book: COLD. I hate being cold. I’m eternally happy to stay toasty warm. Even hot is fine with me. Give me the tropics, thank you very much!
Enter Singapore.
In addition to meeting all criterion for ‘ Great City’ status, Singapore is tropical. In fact, it sits just 1 degree N of the equator, so it’s hot year round. Yeah!
In fact, being so close to the equator, the temperature is quite constant year round, with day time temps at 30C-32C/ 86F-90F and night time temps at 23C-25C/ 73F-75F. Just perfect. Tropical means first of all that I’ll never get cold and can always be assured of staying warm.
Singapore- Fullerton Hotel with Financial District skyscrapers
Secondly, tropical means Singapore is full of my favorite type of nature- trees like banyan, figs, palms, bananas, ginger plants and a variety of flowering bushes such as frangipani, jasmine and bougainvillea.
In fact, this city is so packed with trees, flowers and greenery that no matter where I go, I seem to be in the midst of lush gardens. This includes cycling along all major streets and highways, which are lined by tall magnificent trees.
In addition to its lush vegetation, Singapore, as an island nation, is surrounded by sea. The country’s shoreline includes the miles-long East Coast Park with beaches, magnificent trees, picnic and camping areas, and loads of outdoor activities.
restored Chinese warehouses backed by skyscrapers along Singapore River
The country supports one of the world’s largest shipping harbours. On the nation’s northern border, a narrow ocean channel separates Singapore from its neighbor, Malaysia.
But beautiful shorelines are not the only glimpses of water. The Singapore River runs right through the CBD (Central Business District) and is lined by restored colonial Chinese warehouses, skyscrapers, grand British colonial buildings and riverside restaurant & entertainment districts.
Marina Bay Sands Hotel towers over Singapore River and Asian Civilizations Museum
LaSalle College of Arts
Marina Bay Sands Hotel complex- under construction
Muslim mosque in Little India
Indian Hindu temple in Little India
ArtScience Museum
Indochine Restaurant- Clarke Quay
futuristic Ion shopping mall on Orchard Road
Chinese dim sum
Singaporeans love eating so the city is full of inexpensive food courts with small stalls selling every kind of food imaginable including Indian, Chinese, Malay, Indonesian and Western. Of course there are numerous upscale restaurants, too, with cuisine from nearly every country in the world. Eating is easy, convenient, quick, and varied. Perfect for someone like me who has to eat every 3-4 hours.
Singapore Art Museum
Museums include the grand Asian Civilization Museum, the even grander National Museum, The National Art Gallery, The Philatelic Museum (stamps) and others.
For performing arts there are Classical Symphonies, Plays and Musicals, Dance Performances, Theater Productions, Opera and free outdoor weekend rock concerts by regional bands. Paintings and other art are showcased at museums, galleries and the Esplanade.
my pal- Singaore’s famous dj Chris Ho
The city’s nightlife is just as varied as its food, entertainment and architecture. On offering is everything from cocktail bars, huge dance clubs, pubs and sports bars to local dives featuring every kind of music including pop, house, Indie, trance, rock, punk, Indian Hindi dance music, jazz, classical…you name it.
Surprisingly to me, many western travelers I meet say they don’t like the city because it’s ‘too clean.’ ‘too orderly.’ ‘too sterile.’
In my book clean is Great! Orderly and efficient is Wonderful! Safe is magnificent! After tromping around developing countries in SE Asia for months on end, clean and efficient are practically heaven.
Singapore- Merlion night view
Reporting from the road, Lash
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You might also find the following posts useful:
5 Unique Adventures in Singapore
10 Free Things to do in Series:
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Hi! I'm Lash, an American nomadic world traveler who's been traveling solo since 1998. I’m passionate about traveling the world nomadically and then sharing it all with you. I hope to inspire you to travel the world, to entertain you with tales from the road, and to help you reach your travel dreams. Welcome! 
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2012/10/29 at 11:16 am (UTC 8) Link to this comment
[…] LashWorldTourTravel Blog offering Cultural Insights, Travel Tips, and Tales of Adventure from 14+ years of world travelsHOMEABOUTAbout LashWorldTourAbout LashContactWhat’s in a name?LashWorldTour Travel MapLash’s Travel Fast FactsMissionsWorld Travels Overview: 1991-2011PressCOUNTRIESASIABALI- INDONESIABalinese CultureDiving in BaliBicycling in BaliAmedSanurBali MiscBANGLADESHBRUNEICAMBODIASHANGHAI- CHINAHONG KONGJAPANLAOSMALAYSIAKuala LumpurPenangLangkawiBorneoDiving in MalaysiaMYANMARNEPALPHILIPPINESSINGAPORESRI LANKATHAILANDVIETNAMEUROPEENGLANDSPAINS AMERICABRAZILUSAADVENTURESBicycle TravelCycling Bali SeriesHikingScuba DivingSky DivingSurvivor TV CrewTravel DisastersWWOOFTRAVEL TALESCULTUREPHOTO GALLERIESTRAVEL TIPS10 Free Things to do in… SeriesAccommodation TipsFlight TipsTravel Safety TipsMisc Travel TipsBeyond GuidebooksTRAVEL RESOURCESTRAVEL INTERVIEWSREVIEWSLINKSTRAVEL STOREFREE eBookTRAVEL BOOKS STORELWT CYCLING AND HIKING GUIDEBOOKS TO BALI2012 CALENDARS wp_flash_img_show will display here (config: default)« BALI TRAVEL TIPS: 10 Tips and Cautions for Visiting BaliNEWS: LashWorldTour Named One of ’28 Travel Blogs that Rock’ on All Colores » Wanderlust Hotel in Singapore: A Boutique Hotel Review 2012/09/21 by Lash WorldTour Wanderlust Hotel – Singapore – photo care of WanderlustWanderlust Hotel in Singapore: A Boutique Hotel ReviewI recently had the pleasure of staying in an exceptionally unique boutique hotel in Singapore. Wanderlust Hotel in Little India, is part of a collection of artistic boutique hotels. The theme for Wanderlust reads:“a left-field and totally experimental boutique hotel set to draw madcap voyagers and curious travellers to its doorstep.”Now how’s that for a motto?!Sign me up please! And that’s exactly what they did.To create Wanderlust, the company employed several award-winning Singaporean design teams, giving them full creative freedom and encouraging them to push their limits, to come up with something new and exciting. The final themes employed were Industrial Glam, Eccentricity, Is It Just Black and White? and Creature Comforts.The result is a cool industrial lobby and three floors full of exceptionally creative, fun, wacky, way-out-there rooms. It’s a fun, fantastic place for anyone who loves color, design, high-tech, low-tech, futuristic design or just unique living spaces.It would also make a wonderful play space for city clubbers. I can just imagine returning from an exciting, high-energy night of dancing to these club-like minimalistic rooms to continue the party in private.pantone red room – Wanderlust HotelThe entire first floor of rooms, Eccentricity, is dedicated to vibrant colors, entitled Pantone. Each room is completely and entirely monochrome. There’s a entirely green room, a completely red room, fully pink, utterly blue. I’m talking floors, wall, ceiling, fixtures, towels.The next floor up, Is It Just Black and White?, is devoted to the concepts of origami and pop art. The walls are enhanced by cool pop out designs with back lighting. Charming!pop art room at Wanderlust HotelThe top floor, Creature Comforts, features high-tech and futuristic designs with themes like ‘space’ and ‘bling’. Perhaps their most famous room has a giant red metal spaceship sculpture. The room is entirely black, accented with a red spaceship, a red spacey chair, and red metal stairs. The room is slightly illuminated by a single dim bulb and delicate twinkly star lights.sundeck & jacuzzi – Wanderlust HotelAn outdoor patio on the second floor offers a wonderfully vibrant rainbow tiled jacuzzi pool edged with wood decking, modern lounge chairs and shrubbery. The patio/pool provides a great space to relax during early mornings or evenings. Midday, on the other hand, is perfect for sun-worshipers. The deck is completely exposed to Singapore’s bright blue tropical skies.my high-tech room at Wanderlust HotelOn my visit, I was escorted to a spacious, minimalist low-tech / high-tech room in a black, brown and stainless steel color-scheme. A huge industrial-type monster adorned one wall. My bed was located in a loft enclosed in metal fencing and overlooking the room below. Sitting in that loft was reminiscent of being inside a roomy cage! A very unique hotel experience indeed! The loft was accessed by an industrial-style metal staircase.Downstairs, right smack in the center of the room, sat a sturdy old-fashioned oval bathtub. Perfect for a bubble bath and long soak for sore muscles and travel-weary mind and body. As soon as I got settled in, I began filling the tub with steamy hot water. I added some of my own fragrant bath gel for foam.bathtub in my room – Wanderlust HotelThen I set about exploring the room’s facilities and gadgets to the soothing sound of gushing bath water. Most of the appliances and electronics were so state-of-the-art that I couldn’t even figure out how to use them. Lol. I had to call for assistance with the super cool espresso machine, the radio, and even the gorgeous HD TV suspended on the wall.By then my bath was ready. I slipped in for a relaxing soak and watched a fun movie on my big-screen TV. Soaking finished, I got online for a while (free wifi in the rooms, naturally) then headed up to sleep in ‘my cage’.part of Wanderlust ‘s fabulous vintage chair collectionI had arrived in Singapore in the late evening, so by the time I reached Wanderlust I didn’t have time to explore the rest of the hotel until morning. But I was so excited to look at all the interesting rooms and spaces, that I popped out of bed early and headed down to the lobby.Wanderlust has one more famous quirk to its name: a collection of famous vintage chairs situated throughout the lobby. There’s a bright blue dental chair, a vibrant purple salon chair and several other collectibles. I’m told people stop by Wanderlust just to visit their chairs!Most boutique hotels proudly present gourmet food of one sort or other in their restaurants. Wanderlust is no exception. Cocotte focuses on French country cooking. A display case full of rather unusual imported cheeses greets guests at the entrance. Most of those cheeses I’d never even heard of before, let alone sample! Cocotte also serves up homemade gourmet ice cream, espresso coffees and exquisite French desserts.Cocotte – French country cuisine – Wanderlust HotelThe buffet breakfast spread, included in the room charge, was one of the best I’ve come across in my many years of travel. The self-service buffet includes freshly squeezed o.j, an amazing selection of gourmet breads and condiments, and a staggering variety of ingredients for guests to create their own custom cereal/muesli concoctions.But the buffet was just there to provide appetizers for the main breakfast course!hearty breakfast at Wanderlust Hotel – Cocotte RestaurantAs soon as I sat down with a full plate of toast, yogurt, fruit and juice, the waitress arrived and handed me a menu. Say what? On offer were all sorts of hearty and healthy western breakfast options. I ordered a classic omelette, sausage, sauteed tomatoes and mushrooms then sat down to stuff myself silly. Best of all, espresso coffees were also included. :) I finished my meal off with a generous double espresso macchiato, expertly prepared and presented.Soon I had to dash off for a meeting with the Marketing Communications Manager, who was taking me on a hotel tour. Mae turned out to be a young, bubbly energetic Singaporean woman with obvious excitement and enthusiasm about Wanderlust and their collection of boutique hotels.‘red rocket room’ at Wanderlust HotelAfter a quick chat, we headed up the glass elevator surrounded by plants in a clear, open-to-the-sky shaft. Mae showed me around each floor- the bright monochrome rooms, the whimsical rooms and the high-tech/low-tech rooms.I noticed that Wanderlust is already well-patronized by European travelers. The majority looked like artists or designers of some sort. Clearly the hotel is making a name for itself among the trendy European crowd. I can certainly see why! A film crew, perhaps Japanese, also trouped through while I was there.The restaurant has a great lunch trade already in full swing too. After all, there probably aren’t too many places in Singapore to dine on authentic French country cuisine. In the afternoon, several tables filled up with Japanese guests. Perhaps expats living in Singapore?Wanderlust Hotel is located in Little India, a fantastic base from which to explore the city. I highly recommend a visit for anyone who likes art, design, hip places and delicious French cuisine.For more information, address, directions and reservations, check out their very quirky website: Wanderlust Hotel*note: A big thanks to Wanderlust Hotel, who sponsored my stay. Although my visit was sponsored, the views and opinions expressed here are my own candid perspectives. *———————————————————————————————————————-If you’re heading to Singapore, check out my numerous travel tips and suggestions on things to do in my Singapore Posts Category as well as why I think Singapore is the Best City in the World———————————————————————————————————————- var dd_offset_from_content = 40; var dd_top_offset_from_content = 0; /* /* Leave a Reply Cancel replyYour email address will not be published.Name:Email:Website:Message:You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong> […]
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