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Published: June 23rd 2008
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Singapore
Busy street life What an adventure Singapore has been so far!! After many debates of whether or not to come this way (since many people find it "too modern" and "clean"), I decided to go anyways. I took a night bus from KL, Malaysia @ midnight and was at the border around 4:30 or so in the morning....immigration made me get off the phone with my mom (mjah, daarna konder we gewoon verder kletsten!). I was surprised to see how many people were there so early in the morning! Anyways, long story short, it was quite a hassle trying to figure out where to go after immigration, since after that part you were on your own....welcome to Singapore!
At 8(!!!), I finally arrived at the hostel, The Hive, and I definitely crashed on their sofa since the room wasn't going to be ready until 14:00. What a night!!
I love Singapore! This city is alive! There are so many different people here, so many different cultures, it's fabulous! I'm staying in a hostel right in Little India, this part of town is really interesting. One aspect that I have noticed is the abundance of men and lack of women on the streets.
Could this be because of the culture eventhough Singapore is mainly Buddhist? Throughout Southeast Asia, I've also seen many people of the same sex holding hands; I find it especially noticeable here in Singapore. Two grown men holding hands is a very normal thing to do. Are they homosexuals? No. It's a perfectly normal way to show others that these two people are friends. It's actually kind of adorable - I see men walking down busy streets arm-in-arm or holding hands. They sit close to each other, drape their arms and even legs over each other and chit chat about whatever comes to mind.
Tonight I ate at an excellent place called 3D Harmony (on Mayo Str for those who are in or are coming to Singapore). They serve all kinds of food, however specialize in West African dishes: A-MAZING! I'm really attracted to Western Africa, especially Sierra Leone, so as soon as I saw "West African Kitchen", I knew I had to eat there. Their menu is A-la-Carte, so I gave them my "restrictions" and price range and waited for my food to come out. The place is small and has random nature pictures on the walls. Along
Singapore
Beautiful buildings with some locals, there were many people in there who also seemed to be from Africa. I asked several of the men where they are from and all of them said "Nigeria". You'd expect to hear African tribal music, but not in this restaurant: I had a history run-down of the R&B/hip-hop music....Biggie Smalls, 50 Cent and Akon! So my order finally came and it looked like scammbled eggs with a bunch of delicious steamed veggies. Then, on the side, came a little bowl with this dark reddish-brown paste in it. What on earth was this?? It looked like shreaded meat and smelled a bit like BBQ sauce. I asked what it was supposed to be and the answer I got: "I'll tell you later!" Are you serious?? haha ohhh geez!! Is there meat in this? My African brother replied "I don't know"....hmmm I don't know about this??! Should I eat it? He went and asked the chef and there was absolutely no meat in it. Considering the fact that I asked for my meal to be as "african" as possible, I decided to give it a try. It was definitely fish because the bones were still in the sauce.
Singapore
Laundry hanging outside...drying Afterwards I found out that it's catfish, imported from West Africa. Over there it's called Obe Eja Tutu...google it if you want!!
Goed, nu even iets in 't nederlands..wat mis ik dat zeg!! De hele tijd engels schrijven en praten, wordt er niet goed van. Ik heb 't hier helemaal naar m'n zin, maar mis thuis ook heel erg. Ik tref veel nederlanders en duitsers hier; bij de Batu Caves een leuk koppeltje ontmoet en even gesproken. Heerlijk om dan weer even nederlands te kunnen praten. De 15e ben ik weer terug in Amerika; even wat was doen en misschien, hopelijk, waarschijnlijk kom ik dan met Stevie naar Nederland...mamma komt iets later geloof ik met Josh. Wat een leven man....heerlijk - mag echt niet klagen en dat probeer ik echt zo min mogelijk te doen. Ik heb 't ontzettend goed en ben daar erg dankbaar voor!
Alright, back to Malaysia now...I have a bus and train to catch!
Paz
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foreign workers
Hello.. Great that you had a good time. After reading your story, I was surprised u said Singaporean men were quite close to the same sex until I saw your pictures.. hehee.. Just to correct you, the place you were in, Little India, is 90% filled with foreign workers from India. They usually gather there on weeknights and weekends to get their groceries and all. And they are very open on skinship and holding each other hands. It is very hard to find Singaporean men very 'close' to each other on the streets =) to get a glimpse of singapore men, drop by orchard rd k~