Monty Marshall on his Singapore hiatus.

Where did you go and when?

My partner and I stopped over in Singapore for two days to meet up with friends, before travelling on to Indonesia.

Where did you stay?

We stayed with friends who have an amazing apartment that overlooks the Singapore skyline, and is within walking distance of Raffles and shopping on Orchard Road.

What did you eat and drink?

Being a major Asian city, Singapore has a large choice of bars and restaurants to choose from. Our main reason for stopping over in Singapore was to have Sunday brunch for my birthday with a group of friends. Most large hotels offer a Sunday brunch buffet. We chose Raffles partly because of the name, partly for the location, but mostly for the free-flowing Veuve Clicquot (and the four hours they give you to drink it). As you would expect, there was a huge, exquisite selection of both Asian and western food that was constantly refreshed throughout the day. Even our champagne glasses were happily topped up by smiling staff whenever they were half-full – which was often.
The most unusual bar we found was the Angel Bar. Located in the foyer of a modern Art Deco building, it is like stepping back into 1930’s New York. With soft lighting and gentle music, it’s the perfect venue for that pre-dinner cocktail. It boasts a wall of wine soaring two levels behind the bar, and when you order a bottle, a girl with angel wings is winched up to find your selection.

What did you do?

As we were with friends that had never been to Singapore, we took a local ferry to Palu Ubin, a small traditional fishing island between Singapore and Malaysia. There isn’t a lot to do, apart from hiring a bike and riding around the island, but the scenery is stunning as the island hasn’t been touched by developers, and there are some great restaurants to have real Singaporean street food and drink cold Tiger beer while waiting for the ferry back to the mainland. Although it is possible to take public transport to the ferry from Singapore, it is easier and quicker to take an air-conditioned taxi.

What was the best part of your trip?

Singapore was the start of a two-week holiday  that gave us a chance to relax and get into the holiday mood, catch up with friends and discover places we wouldn’t normally go to. Our trip to Palu Ubin was fun and really worth doing if you have a day spare and want to escape the humidity of the city.

What was the worst part of your trip?

The martinis at the Angel Bar – it seems a strong gin martini is too complicated for the bar staff to make (don’t even think of ordering a Legroni). Next time we will stick to gin and tonic.

Sum up your trip in a nutshell.

If you have the time, it is worth stopping over for a couple of days on your next trip to Europe. AXN

SINGAPORE GAY SURVIVAL GUIDE (courtesy of utopia-asia.com)

Singapore is politically conflicted about the natural desires of its citizens, straight and gay. While sporting one of Asia’s most vibrant and fun gay scenes, homosexual activity remains illegal along with oral sex, meaning that most sexually active Singaporeans, gay or not, are urban outlaws. Vestiges of antique British sodomy laws remain in force despite sloganeering for ‘Asian values’, a weak disguise for conservative religion-based discrimination against sexual minorities (although Christians and fundamentalists are a minority in Singapore society, they hold half of the civil service jobs). Hotel rooms and private men’s saunas are considered public places under law.

Singapore's first public GLBT pride festival, ‘Indignation’, took place during the month of Aug in 2005. The arts, especially theatre, have been openly exploring the subject of homosexuality since the 1990s. Police harassment and entrapment of gays has nearly vanished following Lee Kuan Yew's unexpected 1998 CNN statement that “what we are doing as a government is to leave people to live their own lives so long as they don't impinge on other people. I mean, we don't harass anybody.” Most gay business owners have taken these words to heart and the gay scene has quickly become more open, diverse, and world-class.

FOR FURTHER INFO:

utopia-asia.com
asiaforvisitors.com
gayguide.net
globalgayz.com