I Was Wrong.

Funny thing about growing up in Singapore — you don’t really see it.

I spent most of my formative years convinced that Singapore was the most uneventful place on earth to grow up in. No countryside to escape to on weekends. No mountains, no road trips.

I spent my time at HDB void decks playing with neighbours or heading to Orchard Road just to window-shop or visit a bookstore. But our most unlikely spot was Changi Airport. Yes, you read that right. With nowhere else to go, the fast food and air-conditioning were enough to draw me and my friends there. It was the definition of a Singaporean childhood back then, at least for me.

Over the years, as I studied overseas and travelled to different countries, I began to miss Singapore. Not just the food — though yes, absolutely the food (the cravings were real). I missed something I couldn’t quite name.

It took being away to finally see what I’d been living in all along.

The hawker uncle who’s been perfecting the same bowl of noodles for forty years. How a $5 plate of chicken rice can taste like a five-star meal. The way people “chope” seats at hawker centres. The old Peranakan shophouse that somehow survived every wave of modernisation. The fact that I can hear a mix of languages in a single conversation with a smattering of Singlish makes me feel instantly at home.

Now I see Singapore through a different lens. Its landscape and skyline have evolved but it isn’t boring. Unlike before, I now see culture and heritage alive in our places, buildings, food and language — that makes it uniquely Singapore.

This blog is my way of sharing that perspective. I’ll share the places, the history that gives them meaning, the local insights, the unwritten rules or spots in our neighbourhoods that don’t make it into the brochures or travel websites.

I hope you get to experience Singapore in a more meaningful way — so your time here feels well spent. 

Welcome. I’m glad you found this.