🇸🇬 Singapore

The City That Left a Mark

Singapore became the second country I visited, but in many ways, it became the destination that changed how I looked at cities forever. I first visited together with my parents and siblings, and I still remember the feeling of stepping into a place that felt so organized, modern, and efficient. For the first time, I realized that cities could function differently—that infrastructure, public spaces, and systems could shape everyday life. That first trip quietly changed something in me. I started comparing what I experienced abroad to what I knew back home and began questioning why my home country seemed unable to reach the same standards of development and quality of life.

Among all the places I had visited at that point, Singapore felt the most sophisticated and efficient. Everything seemed deliberate—from transportation and cleanliness to the way public spaces worked together. One thing that surprised me was the weather; despite being hotter, I never felt the same discomfort I usually experienced back home. I remember enjoying Universal Studios Singapore, riding attractions, waiting in long queues, eating theme park food, and realizing that somehow the waiting itself became part of the experience—just like what I felt years earlier in Hong Kong Disneyland. My first visit to Singapore remains one of the most memorable introductions to the world beyond home.

A few years later, I returned for a second trip—this time with my parents, siblings, my aunt, my mother's beloved twin, and my cousin. That journey became more meaningful because I was able to explore beyond first impressions and experience more of the city. It also became my first multi-country journey, continuing onward to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, which made the experience feel larger and more adventurous. Of course, another visit to Universal Studios happened—same rides, same excitement, same routines—but somehow every return felt different. It reminded me that places can stay the same while the traveler changes.

My third visit happened under very different circumstances. This time, my employer sent me to Singapore together with two colleagues to attend an A10 Networks training and bootcamp. We followed the familiar routine of exploring, eating, and discovering places after training hours, but this trip also included crossing into Malaysia again to visit Legoland. What made this journey unforgettable was that I later realized I had been sick during much of the trip due to complications affecting my lungs. I remember waking up one night with one of my colleagues and walking outside to find hot soup and warm food just to ease the chest pain caused by severe coughing.

Yet despite that difficult experience, this third trip became one of the most important journeys of my life. On the morning before our flight home, I bought my first Singapore-related book—A Man's View of the World by Lee Kuan Yew. That book unexpectedly opened a new interest in me: learning about Singapore’s history, understanding how a small country became one of the world’s most successful nations, and eventually developing my fascination with cities and urban development. Looking back now, I can trace my love for city-building games and even parts of Fitzland’s ideas to moments that began during that trip. I also remember feeling unexpectedly sad during our return flight—my colleagues were welcomed by their partners upon arrival while I quietly went home alone.

The fourth trip returned me to Singapore once again for work, this time for a Gigamon Bootcamp with another colleague. Unlike previous visits, I ended up exploring mostly on my own because my colleague preferred staying in the hotel playing mobile games after training sessions. Surprisingly, this solo exploration became one of my favorite experiences in Singapore. Walking alone allowed me to understand the city more deeply and become familiar with many of its famous places, routes, and hidden corners. This independence would later become extremely valuable.

That fourth journey also became my final overseas trip before the world changed. Soon after returning home, the COVID-19 pandemic began—a global event that created a six-year drought in my international travels. During those years, travel became something I looked back on instead of something I planned. It made me appreciate movement, experiences, and freedom more than before. I never expected it would take that long to leave the country again.

When I finally returned to Singapore for the fifth time, six years had passed. This time I traveled not as a son, employee, or colleague—but as a husband and father, together with my wife, children, and mother-in-law. I spent an entire year planning every detail of the journey—from itineraries and budgets to transportation and expenses. Like my father once did for our family, this time I became the decision-maker carrying the responsibility for the entire trip. It was challenging, exhausting, and rewarding all at once.

This fifth journey once again included Malaysia for a visit to Legoland, but Singapore remained the emotional center of the trip. One moment I will never forget was biking around Marina Bay and nearly fainting from exhaustion before pushing through and finishing the ride. During the flight home, I realized something that had quietly followed me through every visit: Singapore represented the kind of city life I wanted. A city that worked, moved efficiently, and offered a quality of life I deeply admired. It was during that return flight that I reflected on my future and finally made the decision to pursue migration to Australia.

Singapore will always remain my second favorite city—not simply because of the attractions, food, or skyline, but because it changed the way I think about cities, progress, and life itself. More than a destination, it became a benchmark, an inspiration, and a place that quietly influenced many of the dreams I continue to build today.