Singapore

(I wrote this while in Hanoi but waited to post due to lack of pictures, which I'm just uploading now, a week after returning to the US)

We flew into Singapore last Sunday morning and out again Monday morning.

During the flight in, I saw numerous islands as well as shipping traffic. The water around many islands was mud-colored due to rain and runoff, with deep blue water further our. At one point shortly before landing I saw roughly 25 cargo ships lined up along the shipping lanes into and out of Singapore.

We took a subway from the airport, and checked into a backpacker's hostel in the Chinatown area. We took out money in the airport (ATMs on this trip have worked fine for getting money in the local currency). Singapore dollar bills (like Vietnamese Dong) have a transparent part as a security feature.

Despite being located on the third floor of a dingy-looking building, the hostel was excellent and had won awards. It was good staying somewhere with drinkable water (though bottled water was consequently more expensive). This hostel was much like the others we stayed at: bunk beds with sheets in a large room, lockers for valuables, Internet access, laundry facilities, and mostly European backpackers.

It was a relief to walk around a city with sidewalks mostly free of hawkers, crowds, backpackers, and motorcycles. It also was less hot and humid than I expected-- the weather seemed a bit better than Bangkok's.

We saw the Chinese, Arab and Indian neighborhoods, and walked around Clarke Quay, Esplanade Mall and Fort Canning park (if you zoom in on "Singapore" on Google Maps, that's about where we were). We saw a bit of the National Museum of Singapore as well. I was surprised at the combination of extensive English use and very few white people. Signs were often in four languages, and the English was British-sounding and very polite-- an "under construction" sign would also say "we apologize for the inconvenience" or "thank you for your patience =)". The various neighborhoods were also surprisingly homogeneous. Much of the Indian neighborhood seemed to be entirely populated with Indian men (standing around talking in the evening-- it was crowded). The Buddhist temple we visited in Chinatown (housed in a fun pagoda structure, with 10,000 little Buddha statues throughout), food court in Chinatown, and Arab neighborhood were similarly non-diverse. Also, everywhere else we have gone so far (Bangkok, Ko Phi Phi, Phuket) there were many more white tourists. It was good to be away from the eagerness for my tourist dollars that I felt in Thailand.

The Buddhist temple. Large numbers of Buddha statues seems to be a theme for these.

The temple had a rooftop garden.

We ate in a food court in the Chinatown area. I had a beef broth dish with noodles that wasn't what I expected.

Kipp tried and didn't like sugarcane juice and an Asian-style snowcone with beans, corn, and jello. I also tried and liked an ice cream sandwich (a slice of ice cream wrapped in white bread) from a street vendor.

Singapore is larger and more spacious-feeling than I expected. It seemed comfortable to walk around and had plenty of open space. I had expected Bangkok crowds with New York buildings. Walking around an area with plenty of parks may have helped with this. One interesting building looked like a boat on top of several smaller buildings.

On a tip from the receptionist at the hostel, we went to a bar (Equinox) on the ~60th floor of a hotel (Swissotel The Stamford). The view was excellent-- higher than the Singapore Flyer (world's largest Ferris wheel, located on waterfront) as well as marginally cheaper (we tried Singapore Slings-- they're a decent mixed drink and cost a bit less than a Flyer ticket). I would have stayed longer if I had showered more recently or had more money to spend. The view from the bar (below):

We walked around the waterfront/river area and saw a performance (part of the River Festival) over the water, with puppetry, dancing, and fireworks. It was impressive, and the colored lights made everything look better than during the day. We also walked by the merlion statue (mermaid-lion, Singapore's mascot).

In the morning Monday we took a taxi to the airport and flew back to Bangkok (for another suit fitting and cheaper airfare to Hanoi).

I hear the US is out of the World Cup. Ah well.