SINGAPORE

The best trips are the ones that bring a positive surprise your way. Not before I visited Singapore, have I had much knowledge on it. I was rather just aware of its existence. This changed around Christmas time 2007, when I had the pleasure of visiting the city-state – the Lion City.

I stayed at Marriott, on the Orchard Road, a central-enough place for discovering a lot. Beyond that, I had the unlimited hospitality of locals by my side, as my first name means something highly respected there.

One thing that was absolutely unusual is the proximity of nature in an otherwise metropolitan setting. I’m not talking about Singapore Zoo, or Sentosa but the average street setting. That itself comes with a very dense presence of nature – animals, plants, sounds and smells despite all that otherwise sophisticated infrastructure.