Singapore and a Happy New Year

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Now, my friend and I weren't done with KL, but it was time to move on and find a rocking place to ring in the new year. Singapore pretty much fits the bill in our humble opinion, we just needed to find a good way to get there. Enter the Aero Line. Now be forewarned, Aero Line is one of the more expensive buses and comes complete with bus attendant, subway sandwich (one of the first ones I had eaten since moving to Japan), and seriously comfortable seats. The bus is the perfect way to get to Singapre and enjoy watching all the palm trees the pass you by on the highway.

A funny side enjoyment of taking buses is seeing rest stops in other countries. In Japan, there are always a bunch of vending machines that can have french fries in them or even ramen if your in the right stop. Malaysia has whole food courts. The one we stopped at on the way to Singapore had almost a whole hawker center in it. Since we weren't sure how long we would have at each stop Amy and I didn't get anything, but it was really obvious that they had many noodle shops, some steam bun shops, and a couple random ones that, I'm not even sure what was there, but they smelled REALLY good.

My first impressions of Singapore was sun, heat, town houses and people. Lots and lots of people. We made our way to the subway and found our hostel, the beehive, and walked up to do some shopping and find Little India. A mere 4-6 blocks in size, but it was just amazing to be to see such a densely populated area that was teeming with sari stores. The ladies that run those sari stores must get in foreigners all the time, cause the one that Amy and I ended up in seemed to know just what to do with us. Switching between languages like everybody can in Singapore, she pulled shot out sari fabric and bracelets with accuracy of an Olympic archer.

After hours of walking around the harbor area, we decided to splurge and ride the giant observation wheel in Singapore harbor. At night, the whole country is bright with night lights and unfinished construction on the water. While we were there, the city was still building the mammoth of a hotel and business area that sprouts out of the front of the harbor. Rather looks like a gray tree platform out of Super Mario with it's flat top that connects 3 bean stalk buildings. I've seen pictures of the finished product and it looks beautiful and futuristic, but it still looks like a Super Mario tree platform.

Mornings in Singapore seem to be very unhurried affairs. People going to work, but they head to work in a rather meandering kinda way. Amy and I joined them as we headed out to something that I had been dying to do and will strive to do again. Eat chicken and rice in a hawker center. Now we all know what a hawker center is, just under a different name. In America we call them food courts that are stuffed to the brim with chain stores that wish to stuff you with starch. In Singapore, the hawker centers are outdoor happy places for foodies and Singaporeans. You sit outside, find the stall with the longest line, and squat on a table. Amy and I followed this plan to a T and I ended up waiting in line for almost 20-30 minutes to eat the best of the best Singaporean food, chicken and rice.

Now you might start scratching your head here in confusion. What's so wonderful about chicken and rice? It's just chicken and rice. Rice is rice and chicken is chicken, what would make it special? Oh my friend, you have absolutely no idea. I'm talking the perfectly boiled and then put in a icy water bath chicken and rice with the perfect side sauces you will ever eat. To me and many others, it represents perfection on a plate and I will forever strive to find it again. I would eat chicken and rice everyday for lunch for the rest of my life if I could.

Exploration. It is what travelers do. We explore, learn, and then share. The 15th European explorers turned this concept into a money making empire that encompassed shipping, trade, and travel. Influences of them are all over South East Asia and Singapore and Malaysia have more than enough. The biggest icon of this time is the Raffles Hotel in Singapore. A stark white against the tropical and modern, the Raffles Hotel, to me, is more of a architectural wonder then a historical. All the angles and open spaces, it really isn't any wonder that it was so popular with the European elite. With foreigners and locals alike throwing back Singapore Slings, you can't really feel out of place there. It's an opulent oasis, and really beautiful.

Ringing in the New Year in Singapore was like any public event in Asia, slightly restrained yet squeeing through the whole firework display. And as we were herded to the closest subway station like herd of cattle, the pushing and moving for the next train reminds you that this place is one of the smallest countries. That the people here move, play and live on a land mass 3.5 times the size of DC. Culturally enriched and home of the best food on the planet, nothing compared.

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