Clean, Classy, Cosmopolitan Singapore

Singapore was everything that everyone thinks it will be: supremely clean, extremely organized and orderly, every one follows all the rules, and no one would even think of breaking one. Singapore has the best public transportation of any city I've visited yet, the cleanest streets with rubbish bins on every corner, plenty of pedestrian crossings (in which no one would ever dare cross unless it was a green walking man), and, most importantly, the best food markets yet. Singapore was also the only city that I have visited so far in which I could imagine myself living. It has a perfect blend of the exotic about it (being smack in the middle of Southeast Asia) yet with enough theaters, museums, restaurants, and cultural events in it to make it feel livable. I spent a total of 4 nights and 5 days in Singapore eating, going to the opera and museums, and strolling around window shopping (which was admittedly very difficult) in the many malls which grace Singapore's sidewalks.

My very posh hostel was located in Little India and so I ate Indian breakfast - an egg and onion prata (like a roti) and a Masala tea (think Chai) - at the Tekka food market down the street from me every morning. After the 2nd morning, I was a regular and no longer needed to place my order since they remembered me already: so nice for such a big city. The food markets in Singapore are singularly special throughout Asia due to the fact that they are enforced to follow health codes, are all regularly checked by the Health Police, and the food hawkers all have their own permanent stands within a specific market, rather than (like in most of Asia) being able to move about as they please. The only exception to this rule are the ice cream hawkers who roam the streets on rickshaws. These hawkers sell Singaporean ice cream sandwiches, using actual white bread, and consistently selling out of the Durian flavored one. Naturally, I tried one and thought it was lovely, though perhaps brown bread would have been a healthier choice! Singapore is so food obsessed that there is even a website rating the various food markets around the city, http://www.makansutra.com/. "Makan" means food and this website was most helpful in planning out my daily food jaunts throughout the city. In the end, I always meandered back to Little India where I found the food to be consistently the best and the spiciest.

Since I had just gotten my tattoos before coming to Singapore, this was a perfect city in which to heal them. Everywhere in Singapore is heavily air-conditioned, including all buses and stations. One could literally never go outside in Singapore if one wasn't inclined to, but instead walk from one attached mall to another on endless days of shopping. But, alas, Singapore is expensive. With the pithy exchange rate of $1,5 Singapore dollars to $1 US and with prices to match those of America I really had to watch my budget. The one thing that I did splash out on was seeing an opera at the world famous "Esplanade" Theatre. Architecturally controversial, it is shaped like a giant silver Durian, it has first rate theatres and sound quality, and made for a perfect night at the opera. I saw "Le Figaro", a modern version of the classic, "The Barber of Seville". I am a traditionalist though, and as good as the opera was, I still prefer the old-fashioned costumes and subtitles.

I spent the rest of my days eating, wandering through the Orchid and Botanical Gardens, spotting friendly orangutans at the world-class Singapore Zoo, and eating some more.

Singapore is filled with ex-pats living and working and one could really see how easy the transition to life in that city would be. Singapore is on par with every other modern city I have been to, including those in America and Europe. It is positioned perfectly to make short holidays throughout Asia feasible and it is a perfect holiday destination in its own right. If my budget hadn't already been deteriorating at an alarming rate I would have stayed longer, but instead I was forced to move on to another large and cosmopolitan city: Kuala Lumpur.

Arriving in a downpour to Kuala Lumpur via a night train from Singapore was quite a cultural shock. It was impossible to reach my hostel via public transport without multiple changes nor was it possible to make the taxi drivers use their meters. Since my options were walking without a map in the pouring rain or hiring a taxi, I went with the latter and hoped that I wouldn't have to pay too much. I spent 3 days in KL which was enough. The streets were not quite littered in trash, but there was plenty of it to be a surprise after Singapore. Also, the people didn't speak nearly as much English as the Singaporeans and I got so lost on my first day that I was crying out of frustration and no one could readily tell me where I needed to go. So in the end I got a cab back to my hostel where I was forced to pay an exorbitant rate for my so-called "luxury" taxi. Yeah, right! The one fantastic thing in KL worth visiting is the remarkably beautiful Islamic Museum housing a range of Islamic artifacts from Korans to textiles to architectural pieces. Each exhibit featured English and Bahasa Malay information plates as well as copious historical and background information on each piece. Very informative and a lovely respite from the terrible heat and humidity of the city.

Needless to say I was looking forward to the day in which I departed for Indonesia, where I am now. I have been here for three weeks now and I do apologize for the lack blogging in the recent past, but Internet in Indonesia is truly terrible and it's taken me this whole time just to find a place reasonably fast enough to download this page! I promise to blog my heart the rest of this trip. Also, I will update my Picasa photo site when I return to Thailand in the beginning of September.

Another side note, I'm going home mid-September due to lack of funds and the fact that I think 6 months has been more than enough time for the places I have seen and the things that I have accomplished. I now know where I would like to come back to and where I have seen enough, which places have particularly struck my fancy and which places I was itching to leave, and where the best dive sites, food markets, and shopping is.