Singapore (briefly)

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Singapore. Well I have to say that I am really excited to finally be in Asia. Although Singapore is still pretty easy to travel around, it still feels more exotic then the other countries I have been in for the past month or so. It is good to get back into this kind of travelling.

I have only been here for a few days, and to be honest I haven't really done that much, but I can already tell that I am going to love my time in Asia. Singapore is definitely a cosmopolitan city and just about everyone speaks English. But the markets are amazing, the food is great (and extremely cheap...but more on that later). And I am constantly surprised by one thing or another (good!!).

I will just talk about a few things and post a couple of pictures. The thing that actually has stuck out the most for me here are the food courts (there are malls everywhere....this is a shoppers paradise....and jen would be going crazy with all the t-shirt places around...but more on that later too). The food courts are extremely efficient! A lot different then here at home. I think that they are all run buy the same company and each one is very specialized. They have a food store for everything you could want. The restaurants would be called things like "Chicken and Rice", "Beef with sauce", "Vegetarian", "Noodle Soup", "Fried Food", "Fish Soup", "Drinks", "Dessert". So lets say I wanted to get some toast and a drink. Well I would find the stall the is labeled "Toast" (I am not exaggerating..I actually took pictures of the toast store...the menu was all like "toast with butter" "toast with jam", "toast with cinnamon", "french toast", "toast with an egg", etc.) So anyway, I would get my toast, and then if I wanted a drink, I would have to go to a separate stall (labeled drinks). So anyways...things like that have me constantly smiling. Food cost about $3 but beer is crazy expensive (like $8) but then again it is Singapore dollars (about 1.5 for 1 American).

I have seen a lot of things that confuse me....some t-shirts where the English is all messed up, and some advertisements that I just don't really understand (I will post a picture of one, and I would like your input).

Another interesting thing is that similar stores are all grouped in the same location...so if you want a guitar you basically go to the music mall where there are about 10 guitar stores next to each other. Which works out good for people like you and I, because we can just go from place to place and get the best price....playing stores against each other. But I dont see how that could be good for business?

And one last thing. For all the fuss everyone makes about Singapore being the cleanest city in the world....the fines for chewing gum, spitting, feeding birds, smoking, jaywalking, not flushing the toilet, and littering (there are fines for all of those things), I was really expecting to basically be able to eat off the ground...not the case. Its not dirty...it's just not noticeable..nothing special.

Today I went to be B-Boy Battle (break dancing), I splurged and went to a really nice hotel's chocolate brunch (including a chocolate fountain and all), I read and walked around. There are TONS of great suveniers here to be purchased..but I have been holding off because I dont really associate Singapore with anything in general, and all the stuff I see i feel like I can (and should) get it in the country in which it originated...hopefully I won't regret that decision.

I leave for Bali tomorrow.

(Singapore is south of Malaysia, and north of Indonesia, just 130km from the equator..and yes it is really hot here!)

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