Early Days in SE Asia

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Hey everyone....I'm finally here! Ahh a 15 hour plane flight made supremely easy by the magic little pill of Ambien. Thanks M you know who you are! Arye met me at the airport - really an uneventful and easy flight. Not sure what the big whoop is about Singapore Airlines...it was pretty ordinary except for lots of hot towels brought at various intervals.
Of course the noon-time humidity hit me like a warm, wet blanket of cotton candy. We took a taxi to the housing complex on the U of Sing. where I would be staying. They gave me a little apt with a/c (come to find out a/c is a treasured commodity to the students here). The apt is a 2 minute walk from Arye's room. He has ended up sleepiing on a futon on the floor of my place (the a/c) so we get to hang out in a normal way. He goes to the odd class and to work out doing Thai boxing session and then we get together again.

I've found my way around Singapore with bus and subway...did a bit of wandering in Little India and Chinatown. The day I did that there was a constant rain, but it was warm and I had an umbrella. Having fun with my little camera (thanks Arthur) and trying different "shooting on the fly" and then really trying to compose. No viewfinder, so that's a challenge.
There is food EVERYWHERE!! There is no lobby, mall, street corner, subway stop without 5 to 10 stalls of Chinese, Thai, Indian and Malaysian food. It's all good - it's all cheap....a nice bowl of noodles, vegs, meat, dumplings, coconut milk and chili paste is about $1. yummm. Great fresh juices made of melons or papayas yummm again: 50 cents or so.

As to the general vibe here: I was wondering about Arye's crappyattitude towards all things Singaporean; but I'm beginning to get it, now. He's coming from the freedom of CAlifornia and UCLA and coming to this very regimented society. It's one thing to hear those words, but to experience it first hand is another thing altogether. They do not let you make any decisions for yourself: water taps shut off automatically, toilets flush automatically, toilet paper is dispensed very frugally. The students have these "transponders" on their keys that allow them ONLY on their elevator and ONLY to their specific floor and then into their room. Everything beeps and gives you permission. No way can they be spontaneous and visit with friends.. Must be Vigilant!! Feels like a sci-fi film sometimes. Maybe it is the price to pay for a succesful society in this region of the world.
Picture Northridge Mall put up into a 5 story building with escalators running up and down the interiors. Then imagine about 100 of these bldgs / malls all over Singapore. Are there really that many shoppers? While food is cheap, other goods are not - or just as expensive as the states.

Tomorrow I'm off to Thailand to Chiang Mai! Not sure when I will get a chance to get on-line, but I'll do my best.

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Comments

[anonymous]

mmmmmm drugs and hot towels, what could be better?!?