christep

It wasn't intended as an insult - Disneyland and Singapore are very successful brands; they are both very good at what they do.

kitsura

Unfortunately there will be no Disneyland in Singapore because the developers and the government can't come to terms on funding.

christep

Er, I think you missed the point of my analogy.

kitsura

Which is? Singapore is as safe and sterilised as Disneyland? Or Singapore is run like a corporation?

Either way I don't think it's fair to compare a country to a corporation.

uk1

quite so - they are - but what you said was ....

... which was clearly intended to be and was therefore taken as insulting.

I'm not a timid traveller and l like Singapore. Perhaps if you have suggestions about where people should go instead it would be helpful to make suggestions and give reasons why?

T8191

Stepping in with trepidation ... It's not a question of timidity, christep, which was perhaps an unfortunate adjective to use. I think I can see the point you're trying to make, but different people have different preferences. At my age, I don't think I want an all-night beach party in Phuket, nor do I wish to battle with the crowds and chaos in some other locations.

When I lived in Singapore, one of the great attractions was that I could do insulated air-conditioned Orchard Road, or Chinatown, or eat late in Bugis Street, or experience all the other different aspects of that incredible island state, all within a conveniently small radius and according to my mood/needs at the time.

@ dsgtc0408 ... great responses. But not everyone wants "excitement", and one thing I remember from my years there [oh, so long ago] was that it was "safe". That's a good thing to have on holiday - along with a reasonably low-level language barrier!

christep

OK, "timid" was the wrong word. There's a niche for travellers who want a safe, easy, predictable, convenient, well-organised and English-speaking place, with some Asian characteristics.

To be honest if it had a winter and any decent countryside I'd be living there myself rather than in Hong Kong.

kitsura

There is clearly a niche for timid travellers who want the Disney on ice version of winter.
Do you know how mild the winters in Hong Kong are. Hardly fall below 10 degrees celsius. I think some hotels don't even provide heating for that reason.

christep

Having lived through winters in Moscow, the UK, Belgium, Taipei, and Hong Kong (and having travelled during them in Iceland, various bits of the US, and most of western Europe) I think I do undersstand that.

My point is that it's nice not to have aircon on for 6 months of the year. Yes it would be nicer still to have a nice crisp few inches of snow that appeared overnight and disappeared overnight a couple of months later (without all the slushy bits), but I don't know anywhere like that.

kitsura

Personally I only like the Hong Kong and Taipei winters because the women dress up more stylishly. The common excuse i hear for women wearing t-shirt and jeans in Singapore is that it's too hot to wear anything else.

christep

I like the HK winter because I can walk around outside without being soaked in sweat within minutes, and go hiking without worrying about heatstroke!

uk1

Well ...... back here in rain soaked UK, I have just sprung Razor TV into action on my very new and very fast PC and mrs uk1 has just watched an item on Chicken Rice. I don't understand her and chicken rice. But it's easy to cook and I've produced it several times for her and it keeps her happy. I love char siu pork. So it's going to be both. In fact to be absolutely honest I like anything that's sticky and garish coloured and spicey and sweet. So my verions is all of those things. It's unauthentic.

I'm feeling very hungry.

christep

Singapore would be good without the mrs then

uk1

It wouldn't.

The problem is that it's led us into all sorts of discussion about places we need to go to .....

I want to explore Cambodia (food) and we have an strong affinity with a charity in Vietnam (not Mary's Meals) and so we have a real dilemna as too where Singapore is going to take us to next .

Mash potato isn't the same as stir fry.

T8191

Huzzah ... back on track again!!

Singapore is/was a great place. Otherwise you'll beat me with a big stick for taking vacations in Virginia!!


[sorry, Mods ... thread creep, please delete if appropriate]