Ahh Singapore – a city of shopping, efficiency, strict rules against chewing gum and … frogs?!
We arrived in Singapore at 6am and headed straight for our friend Barb’s place, she had convinced us that we needed to see the frog farm in Singapore – they don’t write about it in the travel brochures, nor was there any information on it at the airport.
But, on next to no sleep we took a cab and headed for farming country. Even the taxi driver laughed at us as we told him where we wanted to go.
The farm itself is a little disturbing, thousands of frogs trapped in small concrete pens – all ready to be sold off to become someone’s meal – and I thought they only ate frogs in France! The frogs themselves are huge; no sign of the cute green tree frog here.
But the region was beautiful – full of unusual farms accessed by a shuttle bus that drives from farm to farm.
After the Jurong frog farm we visited Bollywood Veggies – a large edible garden that you could take hours to meander through.
The greenery in this part of the country, close to the border with Malaysia, was quite unexpected and quite beautiful, and seemingly a world away from the hustle and bustle of the Singapore most visitors experience.
Of course, in the three days we were in Singapore we had to do the obligatory tourist sites – Little India, yep it’s authentic, as soon as we stepped into this precinct people were trying to get us to buy their wares; Arab Street; Orchard Road and Raffles Place.
We also caught the train out to Sentosa Island to witness all the kitsch of the various “worlds”. I loved it, but was very surprised to learn it’s not a man-made island! The island itself formed naturally, but has now been turned into a giant “theme park” complete with fake beaches and rocks, as well as a Universal Studios theme park.
Singapore is a beautiful country, it is incredibly clean, easy to navigate and friendly but in some ways it is a little too perfect, almost soulless. Still, I’m definitely heading back for the shopping!
Fast Facts
We stayed at the Rendezvous Hotel.
We were here for three nights.
Was it long enough? It was definitely long enough to see everything we wanted to see, and more.
Highlights: The surprising natural beauty of the farming region, Sentosa Island, the shopping!
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