THE MIRACLE CALLED SINGAPORE

Singapore split from Malaysia in 1965.  However, a current issue is that the national anthem is sung in Malay, and 80% of the citizens neither speak nor understand this language.  

The country is not an island, but 63 of them.  At 274 square miles, total, it is only slightly larger than Molokai (260 sq mi).  How, then, in these few years, did Singapore become so successful and wealthy?  There are more millionaire households here than anywhere in the world:  one of six.  Unlike Hawaii, it is the easiest place in the world to do business.

I've always thought that a benevolent dictatorship was best, and this largely explains the miracle under Lee Kuan Yew.  Mind you, the opposition party (if there really is one) might have an opposing point of view.  It is quite possible that LKY first learned how to run a country from Mauritius, of all the places.

There are slightly more than 5 million living here, with 11 million transient visitors.  The population density is #3 to Macau and Monaco.  Eighty percent live in subsidized public housing, there are 1.4 mobile phone subscribers per person (imagine that) but only 10% own cars, partly because the duty alone brings the price up to 2.5 the standard cost.  But the Singapore Mass Rapid Transit (SMRT) is about the best in the world.  Unemployment was 1.9% last year.

Remember the concern in Korea (1.28) and Japan (1.37) about fertility rate?  Singapore is 0.78!

Forty percent of citizens are foreigners and 74% of residents are of Chinese extraction.  As a former British colony, English is widely spoken.

While only #26 on the UN Human Development Index list, the United Kingdom is #28.  Norway is #1, Australia #2, the Netherlands #3 and the USA #4.  However, it is in education that Singapore excels.  My SIMPLE SOLUTION for Humanity touched on this country.

I took a quick personal tour of the new Gardens By the Bay (above), which only opened on June 29.  Note those super trees, which use photovoltaic cells with batteries to light the place at night, rain collection system for irrigation, serves a cooling function (it is humid and hot here), and is the base home to ferns and orchids.  Almost everything is free, except for a walkway for $5 and Flower Dome for $24.  The park is expansive, covering 250 acres (University of Hawaii Manoa sits on 320 acres), just across the freeway from the Marina Bay Sands:

Not sure if you get the drift, but this development is to transition Singapore from a "City in a Garden" to "Garden City."  This is just an early phase.  It will grow.  I had all of an hour so did not see much.  I did, though, take a photo of myself in their SMRT station leading to the garden:

Singapore has four restaurants in the Pellegrino top 100.  Note that San Francisco only has one and Los Angeles none.  I went to three of them in the day and a half I spent here.  They were all spectacular and almost surely the best three meals I've had in a row in my life (as I skipped breakfast today):

I arrived at the St Regis early in the evening, and asked the concierge to see if I could get a reservation at their top 100 restaurants.  He succeeded in all three of my highest priority.  First, for dinner, was Waku Ghin at #39, located at the Marina Bay Sands Hotel (I stayed here last year) just above the casino, the world's most expensive stand-alone gambling center at nearly $6 billion.  This is a scene from just outside the door of Waku Ghin.  Those are people gambling.

I've been to Tetsuya in Sydney, Australia.  This is Tetsuya's second restaurant, essentially, the most expensive teppan yaki meal I will ever have.  Kazu showing what we would be getting.

First course of bonito with ginger soy caramel:

I'm having their red and white wine, plus a junmai daiginjo from Aichi.  Next, an excellent sea urchin with Oscietra cavier:

Satoshi grilling the abalone in front of us:

John Dory with eggplant

Then a charcoal grilled Tasmanian grass-fed beef with Tetsuya's wasabi mustard:

But that was not the end of meat, for we then were served a Japanese Oohmi Wagyu roll from Shiga Prefecture with wasabi and citrus soy:

Finally, a kind of chazuke:  consommé with rice and snapper:

Ending with dessert, petit fours and expresso:

A truly outstanding meal...if it did not cost so much.  Embarrassment prevents me from mentioning the price.

2.  Andre (#68) was just what I needed for lunch the next day, as portions were small, and I have a large dinner planned tonight.  Andre has only been open for 21 months, and how it can go from nothing to #68 in that time period is another miracle.  The chef is Andre Chiang, who was born in Taiwan.  I ordered their artisan sauvignon blanc and grenache shiraz, both from France.  The first amusement:

Then an imperial tsar smoked salmon, tomato/persimmon salad and basil flower sorbet:

The artistry reminded me of #4 on the Pellegrino list, D.O.M. in Sao Paulo.  A seafood combination of consommé, ravioli and carpaccio followed:

The best appetizer I've ever had in my life was Andre's perigord black truffle with hot foie gras jelly.  So fabulous that I show two views:

Slow roast short rib beef with potato and onion praline, plus wild mushroom and polenta bianca (cornmeal):

There were two desserts:

The food was superb and the total price was less than half that of Waku Ghin.  Stepon and Pamela were excellent hosts:

Mind you, this is my third exorbitant meal in a row, and Iggy's is the #26 best Pellegrino restaurant in the world.  I invited Elizabeth and Al Yee (above) to join me, and not only did they come, but they paid for it.  I fear what it cost them.  We are having our first course:

The second was a salad with no dressing.  The taste was extraordinary and simple:

I'm having a merlot.  Next one of those foie gras and truffles melanges:

It was good, but not as exceptional as Andre's.  Then a sea urchin dish with abalone:

Beef:

I did not take notes.  Dessert:

Petit fours finished our fabulous dinner.

All things considered, I would rate Andre as #1, Waku Ghin as #2 and Iggy's as #3.  Just the reverse of the Pellegrino list.  Now, on to Sydney.

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