eNewsHound

Between the Western Indian Ocean and China, Singapore has served as a major world trading port for centuries.  Its past is certainly as complex and fascinating as its present, and there are multiple cultures and multiple influences running through the city state.  That’s true now, and has been true for a long time.  Lately, though, Singapore has had kind of a boom in the tourist trade, and suddenly a lot of fascinating new trends in design, fashion, and visual art are emerging in world culture that’s directly influenced by Singapore.  It might be a new trend, or it may just be that the world is waking up to how much influence this place has.  The influences are rather splendid, too.  The urban population is extremely sophisticated, with sensibilities that run from pop to high culture, and there is a definite love of the arts here.  It’s very apparent from even a surface look, and the deeper you look into entertainment in Singapore, the more you’ll find, and discover that it holds endless possibilities for exploration.

The sophistication runs in the area of cuisine, too, or perhaps this is one of the places where cultural sophistication in Singapore originated.  One of the fastest ways into a culture is through its food, and with the port’s long history of contact with other cultures and other cuisines, it’s very evident here that there has been a marvelous culinary dialogue going on for years.  Today, it expresses itself at dinnertime with a spectacular flair.  With the incredible array of Chinese, Indian, vegetarian, and seafood restaurants, Singapore has some dynamic things to offer a hungry guest.  Its fascination with the sea doesn’t end with food, either, but again, probably originates there.  If you look deeper, you’ll find plenty of things to explore.  The New Maritime Heritage Foundation has set up some wonderful attractions.

One can see the artifacts from one of the most famous shipwrecks in the region, the Belitung Wreck.  This was an Arab ship that went down in the Gaspar Strait in the 9th century, and was discovered by a German prospector named Tilman Waterfang, just a few years ago, and it is a magnificent piece of history.  Thousands and thousands of Chinese artifacts were found on board, and although there are still come contestations about origin and propriety, it is a fantastic thing to see, and you can only see it here.