From The Jetsons to The Flintstones
This past winter, I had the pleasure of spending a month in Singapore, made possible by a house sitting website of which I’m a member. I’d visited Singapore a few times before, but only for about 48 hours at a time, so this experience was quite different and an opportunity to really get a lay of the land.
What an amazing variance I experienced there compared to life in the U.S. If I may be blunt, shit there just works. I was blown away again and again by how advanced their technologies and systems were. I knew coming home to the U.S. would feel like going from The Jetsons to The Flintstones.
The house for which I was responsible was located in the west coast area with a 5-minute walk from a MRT (train) stop. This allowed me to become a master subway user during my stay with minimal need for taxis or car shares. Although Singapore is a small island, it has a population of more than 5 million people and the train system boasts daily ridership of more than 3 million trips. The system is truly impressive.
The stations and trains were safe, efficient, and clean. As in immaculate. There is no eating or drinking permitted on the trains or in the stations. One day, while heading to an appointment, I ate a granola bar on my walk to the station, and that’s when I noticed there were no trash cans inside. If you bring it in, you have to pack it out. Sort of an urban version of “Leave No Trace.” In my one month of daily riding, I only saw one piece of trash left behind on a station bench - a single take-out coffee cup.
Only once did I experience an escalator out of service in a station, and it was actively being repaired by a team of workers. Every ticket machine worked. Every platform had a digital display announcing when the next two trains were arriving and they were never late. Inside every train car was a digital display announcing the next stop. All these details made travel unintimidating, simple to use, and (for a transportation nerd like me) kinda fun!
Their Changi Airport is the nicest airport I’ve ever visited. It’s clean (a common theme in Singapore!), modern, and with plenty of attractions. In fact, locals visit the airport (via the awesome MRT system) on days off to gather as families and relax. There is every possible option in dining, extensive luxury and souvenir shopping (shopping is another common theme in Singapore), and even two free movie theaters. One terminal I visited had such nice bathrooms that I took photos. Yes, at an airport.
The new Jewel installation is the highlight of Changi. Opened in 2019, this shopping and dining entertainment center features the Rain Vortex, the world’s tallest indoor waterfall by architect Moshe Safdie, who also designed Singapore’s now iconic Marina Bay Sands resort. It is a modern marvel and not to be missed. It’s hard to imagine such a venue in a U.S. airport.
Another outing I really enjoyed was to, wait for it, a grocery store. I rode my bike over to a store the homeowner had mentioned. Upon arrival, you had to download the store’s app (free WiFi provided, of course) to scan and gain entry via unmanned turnstiles. Once inside, you gathered your food from immaculate displays and self-scanned your own items for checkout via the app. The store also featured an oyster bar, cocktail bar, coffee shop, and bakery. You ordered bread or coffee via the app and got a ping when it was ready for pick-up. All so civilized! You could also do a full grocery order via the app and select either a pick up (with the food gathered via conveyor belts above the displays) or home delivery.
There were so many advanced technologies you’d come across every day. In a shopping mall I visited, there were (working) electronic maps where you could look up the store you wanted to visit, select either elevator or escalator, and it would create a walking map. At crosswalks of major roads with many lanes of traffic, there was a card scanner that seniors could activate to increase the amount of walk time allotted. Umbrella-share kiosks were at MRT stations for when a frequent shower hit, easily returned once the skies cleared. There were little things like this I’d come across every day. I’d shake my head thinking about the “we’re number 1” chants so prevalent in the U.S. We’re not really #1 at anything, aside from maybe obesity rates. I wish more people would experience other places and cultures more often so that we could learn from them and continue to evolve and prosper as a nation. There are so many ways we could aim higher.
The day I flew home, I savored my final visit to Singapore’s airport and enjoyed sushi during my layover in Narita, Tokyo’s international airport. After traveling for 20+ hours, I arrived at Denver International Airport and walked outside in the cold to catch my bus to Boulder. The bus only runs once an hour, which obviously isn’t convenient. The line for the bus was long enough that I knew I wouldn’t get a spot. The driver shouted something out that most of us couldn’t hear and then took off. The message was passed along the line from passenger to passenger that another bus was going to be sent around for those of us remaining. It took almost 40 minutes for the second bus to arrive. By the time we loaded our luggage, boarded and pulled out, it was five minutes before the hour, when the next bus was due to arrive. It was immediately obvious that I was back in the U.S. again!
