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How can this be? I am used to the vast open expanses of the U.S. West. The never ending painted landscape and endless skies were easily forgotten when I stepped out into the steamy, green, neon, fast-paced, deeply pheromonic air that greets you in Singapore. This quickly became one of (if not the most) favorite place on planet earth (I have much more to discover so this may seem naive to the world traveler/ me when I come back to read this!)

I arrived by ship, the steely gray of the pier butting up against the aggressive retaking of a dense dark green forest of various foliage. Above the treeline think miniature fog clouds. One could see them creeping slowly along the tops of the trees, blending together and being carried to the water. It was hot, and damp, much like entering a greenhouse during an overcast Summer day. If you’ve ever been to Florida, when it’s raining you can understand the feeling (but easier to breath there).

Okay what is it that you should know about this place?

For me, Singapore is Disneyland with the death penalty. A welcomingly safe, immaculately clean, cultural melting pot, half the size of Los Angeles. A place where you have influences on the food from China, Japan, India, Malaysia, and more are only steps away from one another. The thing to do in Singapore is eat, eat, and eat some more. If you don’t I am afraid that you may have wasted your time. For me, I knew it was my first, and maybe (hopefully not) my last time in Singapore and I accidentally wondered into a ravenously frenzied foodie city!

One thing to know about Singapore is that it’s the cleanest place you will ever see. I remember we joked that we had walked into the ghetto because we saw a single piece of crumpled up McDonalds trash. Many things are illegal there, well kinda. You’ll find that certain things that we take for granted in the United States, are allowed, with a huge fine, making it feel that it is almost illegal, however, even the wealthy usually don’t abuse this and follow the rules. For example, ‘wanna stick of gum?’ that may land you a mindboggling $100,000 fine and up to two years in prison, especially if you spit it out!

Do not connect to others Wi-Fi. While in the United States it may be commonly understood knowledge that if you enter an establishment, you are generally allowed on their wi-fi. This is not necessarily the case in Singapore. If you don’t have explicit permissions to connect to someone else’s Wi-Fi, you can wind up in the joint for 3 years and possibly a $10,000 fine.

Other fines and rules include things like do not feed the pigeons ($500), no smoking in public ($150-$1,000), no skateboarding, no e-cigarettes (huge fine and potential jail time), littering, and parties after 10:30 are all things that may land you with a hefty fine.

All this to say, crime isn’t really too big of an issue here. Once we were on a bus, and my friend left his wallet on it and deboarded. We got food, as one should when you’ve lost your wallet, gorged ourselves and waited for the bus to make an entire route through Singapore. The bus approached and we boarded again, we didn’t speak the same language as the bus driver. We gestured using our own wallets and hand gestures to explain he lost his wallet. The driver smiled and nodded and let us on without paying. Sure enough, his wallet sitting, unhidden, in the middle of a bench seat at the very back of the bus. He quickly scooped up his wallet and went through it. He discovered that nothing was missing, the thing literally hadn’t moved in over an hour! An elderly lady who was sitting next to the wallet, and seemed completely unphased that my friend found his wallet, simply smiling at us. A smile that said, ‘We don’t want your money, young man, you need that for food!’ Did I mention that the bus was clean?

This focus on cleanliness, led to the rise of old food stalls to be forced indoors and off the streets. Anyone who has traveled knows that this is where the soul is, where the goodness comes from, where the whatever broth or grilled meat wafts from the annals of street world into our olfactory factories. Singapore has done a pretty decent job of cooperating with these stalls, called Hawkers. The hawkers have been brought indoors en-mass to these large food court-esq buildings. These things called Hawker Centers make me feel like a kid in a candy store, some are small, some are gargantuan! One must be prepared to wait for extremely popular hawker stalls, and don’t be surprised if you show up to the center and your favorite hawker stall is closed, or out of food! Many people like to Tian Tian for Hainanese Chicken Rice, however, I went to the Hawker stall next to it, it had a much shorter line and was less known, but offered the same food. The person working there stated they used to work at Tien Tien, but the chef disagreed and they split, I believe the name was Ah Tai. This is fitting because it means ‘old lady’, which is usually who is running the show at these shops.

Another fascinating part of this culture is that limited tables means you have to share, this is well known in Singapore and I found it a very inviting and easy space to converse, exchange food ideas, and get recommendations on where to go next, you can also bring your own food, and stay at these tables after the hawker stalls are closed.

This is a very brief overview of my experience in Singapore, it’s difficult to unearth all the gems of such a magnificent place in a single article, as there is much more to be discussed about Singapore.