Living in Singapore: A Bird’s Eye View of Utopia

I experienced Utopia while living in Singapore for three months–but it took a while until I felt this way.

While living abroad, we rented service apartment on the 61st floor at The Sail at Marina Bay. During the first few days, I felt overwhelmed because of how high up in the sky we were. What would I do if there was a fire or some other disaster? In fact, one day when the staff was fixing the fire alarms, I stood in the hallway with my passport and my baby, contemplating how I would run down the 61 flights of stairs.

After adjusting to the pressure I felt during the elevator ride up, I settled down and started enjoying the view from my cozy apartment. I was able to see the ships docking at the Singapore port and the fast-paced city down below. Every four hours or so, a new ship docked and unloaded its containers on the waiting trucks. At night, the ships lit up and I could see the whole armada of merchant ships waiting their turn on the Strait of Singapore.

Singapore had everything I needed and was the most kid-friendly place I had ever traveled to.

Every morning, the Singaporean people emerged from the hole in the ground that was the subway and headed to their work places, always crossing the road in a perfect line. They reminded me of industrious ants heading towards their sweet destination. Cable cars traveled to and fro from Singapore’s destination of fun, Sentosa Island, like tiny bubbles on a string. The Merlion stood guard at the Marina Bay, spewing its never-ending stream of water. And further away, I could see the beautiful vertical gardens of the Gardens by the Bay.

From my perch on top, watching the thunder clouds rolling in from the sea was a sight to behold. The clouds circled my apartment, which was all windows and then lightening would strike. After the rain had spent its fury, the sky cleared up, the clouds parted and a ray of sun descended on the earth.

In the evenings, when it was not raining, my baby and I would go for a stroll along the bay and during the days when it rained, we would go underground like Singapore’s office-goers. The Singapore workforce would be going to the metro station, doing their shopping en route. Singapore had everything I needed and was the most kid-friendly place I had ever traveled to.

From my perch on top, watching the thunder clouds rolling in from the sea was a sight to behold.

The food in Singapore is the culmination of three great food-loving civilizations: Malay, Chinese and Tamil. The best noodles, satay, laksa, dumplings and idlis can be found here. I hardly cooked while in Singapore as there were new and amazing dishes just waiting to be tried. In fact, I used to stand in line everyday at the nearby Tuck Shop for my daily dose of chicken rice.

I fell in love with Singapore during my short stay there.  I realized that you can never truly understand a place until you live in it, and even then, it might surprise you.