Singapore was another surprise. We flew only 4 hours from Chennai (Madras), but we couldn't have found a country more opposite from India! To borrow a Konglish phrase, "Singapore is no": no garbage, no poo, no pollution, no noise, no chaos, no smell, no touts, no cows, no dogs, no beggars - in fact, no poverty, no untended plot, no unmanicured space, no unfinished corners. What Singapore is is orderly, clean, wealthy, organized, efficient, and sparkling. It gave us an idea of how a mother can love equally two children who are polar opposite: we loved the chaos of India, and we loved the control of Singapore. In fact, we suspect that we loved the orderliness of Singapore because we had just come from the overwhelmingness of India. We recommend visiting the two one after another (but India must be first!): they complement each other like sweet and sour. 
We were fascinated by the business-amusement-park feel of the clean and manicured streets of downtown Singapore. (Actually, Singapore reminded us a lot of Vancouver; we're curious now to visit Vancouver now to see if it too feels like an amusement park.) No messy life processes happening on these streets! All ugly scenes of life are effectively hidden from view - in fact, one might come to forget that sickness and death exist in Singapore. In India, this is impossible: homeless dogs with missing patches of fur, glazed eyes, and open sores roam the streets; small children and bent-backed elderly sell trinkets to make a living; unbelievable numbers of people have no shoes and no food; garbage and other unpleasants stay where they've been discharged. But in Singapore, everyone is well-dressed, well-fed, healthy, and of a moderate age; and there are no stray dogs at all. In India we felt like the prince Siddhartha viewing old age, sickness, and death on the streets and contemplating nirvana; in Singapore we drank sweet coffees at Starbucks and not once did death come into our thoughts. But as much as we were affected by these surroundings, the minds of local people are thoroughly shaped by them: in India the people moved slowly with a look of fatalistic resignation in their eyes; in Singapore they moved slowly with the confidence that they were not in the constant mortal peril of being hit by a moving object (car, motorcycle, cow, whatever) or stepping in anything unpleasant. The population of Singapore is made up of Chinese (about 70%), Indian (about 20%), and Malay (about 10%), but there is a difference in Singapore: the Chinese are plump, the Indians have shoes, and the Malays have to compete for jobs and university spots. Not generalizing, of course. Basing these sound opinions on two full days in Singapore - obviously you can disregard that grain of salt you've got. Isn't traveling great? You finally learn to let go of stereotypes and simplifications, and really see the intricacies of life in all their complexity.
We passed our one hundredth day of travel while in Singapore and, chance would have it, we stumbled upon this "fromagerie", with real cheese, baguette, and wine, so that afternoon we enjoyed these luxuries and played a little chess. (Geoff's still winning every game, but it's just a matter of time, I tell him.) International places such as these are commonplace here, which shouldn't surprise the student of history. This city's fortunes have been won and lost on it's power as a port, a middle-man between countries. Today, 70% of the country's GDP is made through 'services' given to other countries. Banking, shipping, docking, refining, all of these things lead to places like Le Fromagerie. Singapore has grown internally stronger by welcoming external dollars and business, and will continue to flourish because of this.
The next day we took the metro and a bus out to a nature reserve. It was our first time in mangroves, and the closest we've been to monitor lizards. And some great birds, of course: fantails, tailorbirds, kingfishers, whimbrels, sandpipers, and an eagle. Being such an organized and wealthy place, Singapore has allocated money to places like this nature reserve, and we were impressed with how tastefully this preservation project was done. With all the growth this country has undergone since it's birth in 1965, it is refreshing to see that some areas have been fully protected and that development doesn't have to mean outright takeover of all natural areas of land. That being said, it is definitely an urban country, void of wild, unmanaged natural spaces.
We stayed with Chithra (below) - a cousin of Santhi's (the family in Malaysia) - her husband Ashok and nine-year-old daughter Nikita. We really enjoyed our short stay with them, and we were especially impressed with Nikki's confidence and composure in welcoming us to her home (we arrived while her parents were at work) and showing us around. We also enjoyed peppering Chithra and Ashok about life in Singapore, and the changes that they have seen in this city, which only became independent 42 years ago, but which has grown into one of Asia's Little Dragons. Add that to the myriad of 'National Campaigns' the government dreams up, and you've got one happenin' place. It's Singapore's size that really gives it an advantage over other countries. Take this example - a few years ago, APEC descended on Singapore, and organizers thought it would be nice if they were welcomed by the Singaporeans. So, EVERY Singaporean, all 4 million of them, had to send in their smiling picture via email, which were then posted online, on walls and at the airport to welcome the delegates. At the same time, locals were encouraged to smile and be helpful on the streets through the 'smile campaign' and 'help a foreigner campaign' to help make the meeting successful and the delegates happy. Where else would this happen, or more importantly, where else could it happen? Nowhere. That's another reason Singapore is unique.
A lovely place to visit, Singapore is, if you look at it as what it is - a city. As far as cities in the world go, however, it would be tough to beat this one. Next stop, Malaysia:)
We were fascinated by the business-amusement-park feel of the clean and manicured streets of downtown Singapore. (Actually, Singapore reminded us a lot of Vancouver; we're curious now to visit Vancouver now to see if it too feels like an amusement park.) No messy life processes happening on these streets! All ugly scenes of life are effectively hidden from view - in fact, one might come to forget that sickness and death exist in Singapore. In India, this is impossible: homeless dogs with missing patches of fur, glazed eyes, and open sores roam the streets; small children and bent-backed elderly sell trinkets to make a living; unbelievable numbers of people have no shoes and no food; garbage and other unpleasants stay where they've been discharged. But in Singapore, everyone is well-dressed, well-fed, healthy, and of a moderate age; and there are no stray dogs at all. In India we felt like the prince Siddhartha viewing old age, sickness, and death on the streets and contemplating nirvana; in Singapore we drank sweet coffees at Starbucks and not once did death come into our thoughts. But as much as we were affected by these surroundings, the minds of local people are thoroughly shaped by them: in India the people moved slowly with a look of fatalistic resignation in their eyes; in Singapore they moved slowly with the confidence that they were not in the constant mortal peril of being hit by a moving object (car, motorcycle, cow, whatever) or stepping in anything unpleasant. The population of Singapore is made up of Chinese (about 70%), Indian (about 20%), and Malay (about 10%), but there is a difference in Singapore: the Chinese are plump, the Indians have shoes, and the Malays have to compete for jobs and university spots. Not generalizing, of course. Basing these sound opinions on two full days in Singapore - obviously you can disregard that grain of salt you've got. Isn't traveling great? You finally learn to let go of stereotypes and simplifications, and really see the intricacies of life in all their complexity. 
We passed our one hundredth day of travel while in Singapore and, chance would have it, we stumbled upon this "fromagerie", with real cheese, baguette, and wine, so that afternoon we enjoyed these luxuries and played a little chess. (Geoff's still winning every game, but it's just a matter of time, I tell him.) International places such as these are commonplace here, which shouldn't surprise the student of history. This city's fortunes have been won and lost on it's power as a port, a middle-man between countries. Today, 70% of the country's GDP is made through 'services' given to other countries. Banking, shipping, docking, refining, all of these things lead to places like Le Fromagerie. Singapore has grown internally stronger by welcoming external dollars and business, and will continue to flourish because of this.
The next day we took the metro and a bus out to a nature reserve. It was our first time in mangroves, and the closest we've been to monitor lizards. And some great birds, of course: fantails, tailorbirds, kingfishers, whimbrels, sandpipers, and an eagle. Being such an organized and wealthy place, Singapore has allocated money to places like this nature reserve, and we were impressed with how tastefully this preservation project was done. With all the growth this country has undergone since it's birth in 1965, it is refreshing to see that some areas have been fully protected and that development doesn't have to mean outright takeover of all natural areas of land. That being said, it is definitely an urban country, void of wild, unmanaged natural spaces.
We stayed with Chithra (below) - a cousin of Santhi's (the family in Malaysia) - her husband Ashok and nine-year-old daughter Nikita. We really enjoyed our short stay with them, and we were especially impressed with Nikki's confidence and composure in welcoming us to her home (we arrived while her parents were at work) and showing us around. We also enjoyed peppering Chithra and Ashok about life in Singapore, and the changes that they have seen in this city, which only became independent 42 years ago, but which has grown into one of Asia's Little Dragons. Add that to the myriad of 'National Campaigns' the government dreams up, and you've got one happenin' place. It's Singapore's size that really gives it an advantage over other countries. Take this example - a few years ago, APEC descended on Singapore, and organizers thought it would be nice if they were welcomed by the Singaporeans. So, EVERY Singaporean, all 4 million of them, had to send in their smiling picture via email, which were then posted online, on walls and at the airport to welcome the delegates. At the same time, locals were encouraged to smile and be helpful on the streets through the 'smile campaign' and 'help a foreigner campaign' to help make the meeting successful and the delegates happy. Where else would this happen, or more importantly, where else could it happen? Nowhere. That's another reason Singapore is unique.
A lovely place to visit, Singapore is, if you look at it as what it is - a city. As far as cities in the world go, however, it would be tough to beat this one. Next stop, Malaysia:)
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