There are 4 official languages (English, Malay, Mandarin Chinese and Tamil) plus a 5th….Singlish.

Singaporeans are the fastest walkers in the world @7+ kms/hour. 

A system called MRT, is a road tax that is automatically charged to a card that is attached to a “card”in the vehicle…..to pay for transit maintenance and improvements. In 1987, it opened 5 now 140 rapid transit stations … 6 lines, all electric driverless trains. 

Marina Bay is built on reclaimed land. This trip we found the way to the Observation deck on the 56th floor…. Breathtaking and expensive. 

From there we walked over to take in the Flower Dome and Cloud Florest at the Gardens by the Bay. Unfortunately, the Flower Dome was closed for the 2 days we are here but again the Cloud forest was spectacular. I did not take a lot of pictures but if you want to see how magnificent it all is, check my posts from March/25. There are so many. 

Financial centres ….

The Merlion, the symbol of Singapore, is facing east because it is thought to be the best direction for financial success. 

Singapore River was once polluted with household waste, etc. until a year long cleanup in 1977 at a cost of $170 M. 

The old building with multi coloured window frames used to be the old Hill Street police station … now is government offices. 

In the 14th century the hill was called Fort Canning had been trading centre but became administrative and military & royal centre.  It was used as an underground military base during WW2. 

Clarke Quay -exciting night life. 

Most (80%) people are living in subsidized housing (1 million units) making it the city with probably the highest percentage of people having home ownership in the world. 

There are 15 M visitors here every year.  Tipping is not expected in restaurants or hotels cuz 10 % is already added but other service people appreciate 5-10% tip. 

Tipping not allowed at all at airport.

47% of land is green space

Hospital patients of which 60% are foreign …..for medical treatment and cosmetic surgery. 

There is a “Centre for Cyber Security”… centre for prevention here 

Singapore Botanical Garden in  2015 became a UNESCO gardens with over 200 acres. National orchid garden. 

On the way around on the yellow line, there was a terrific electrical storm…. Thunder and lightning and torrential downpour. Oh my did I ever get soaked even though we were under the canopy on the bus. Even though we were soaked we decided to bite the bullet and stop for one of the world famous Singapore Slings at the Long Bar at Raffles Hotel….. at 54CAD each. Now we can say we had “been there, done that”.