Steamboats and Xenophobes

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Does chewing gum earn the death sentence?
It's said that in Singapore you don't live in fear of crime, but live in fear of committing a crime and this reverberated through my mind as I came in through customs and immigration. Would I be executed for the one stick of gum buried deep in my bag? Perhaps the small amount of soil on my shoes would land me a hefty fine and jail sentence? Would I be deported before I even arrived? Actually Singapore airport was clean and efficient, and it was a breeze to get from there to the city using the MRT (tube). All this efficiency was a real culture shock after the beureaucratic bullshit that was Bali's Denpasar airport!

Crossed Paths
The New 7th Storey Hotel was my hay for the night. I stayed in a fairly cramped 3 bed dorm. My two dorm companions were Andrea, a German girl who within seconds of meeting me asked if I wanted a travel companion, and Tom Peck, a guy from the year above me at Coopers'. It's a small world after all!

Travel Buddies?
Not really wanting a travel buddy but wanted to be open minded nonetheless I decided to go out for dinner with Andrea to see if I got on with her. I soon realised that she was not the perfect buddy for me. "Why does all of the food here have to be chinese" she asked as we went through Chinatown "I think maybe we can find a German restaurant here?". I let that slur pass, but it just carried on. "I don't eat at markets, and I only eat at western restaurants normally. I dont eat asian food, or fish." Great. Xenophobic too, against all the asian peoples. I think we are away for very different reasons, and so I think travelling together would be a big mistake.


Food, Glourious Food
Singapore has an obsession with food. Hawker centres (huge food courts) are everywhere and sell large, tasty and cheap food with massive variety. Some even serve beer, and most it seems are not air conditioned.
This adds to the atmosphere - but not to the comfort! I eventually persuaded Andrea to be a little adventurous and we had a steamboat - a kind of fish and meat fondue - very tasty!

Karaoke, OK?
Passing a karaoke bar with comical noises coming out of the door seemed like too much of an opportunity to miss out on, so we went in to have a look. The clientelle were actually pretty talented singers when singing in their native languages, but where most did not have english as a first language the results of western songs was pretty hilarious.

My first impressions of Singapore is that its a place with a lot to offer. Perhaps in London theres not enough hours in the day to do everything. In Singapore theres not enough meals.

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Photos

Chinatown
Needs cropping