Singapore: Living at 2 Degrees (Lattitude)

Singapore: A city of clean side walks, hawker stalls and tons of durian fruit. I wasn't sure how I'd feel about this city. Like Kuala Lumpur I knew a lot of people that didn't really like it (backpacker-circuit) and found it expensive (at least for our budget). But the more time we spent in Singapore, the more I enjoyed myself, and I found something incredibly familiar in this city in which I'd never been.

Singapore has a model of the entire country (well city... it's one of the few remaining city states). If I could have had a matchbox car from my childhood...

read and see the rest...

I'm still not exactly sure what it was but once we entered the city and started walking around, there was a strong sense of familiarity. I knew nothing about it aside from its obsession with Durian (a rather pungent fruit that people love or hate... and westerners tend more towards the latter), its fame for hawker stalls, and that you can't chew gum there. Before we arrived I thought of it as a watered-down totalaritian state (if such a thing can exist). There was such a sense of conformity, of following the rules, and obeying the many signs that I thought I'd find the place rather stuffy and boring, something that happened to be surprisingly not true. I had a lot more fun than I thought I was going to have.
They like Durian so much in Singapore they built a theatre to look like it (well, not really, but there's certainly a similarity. Here is a picture of the real thing.)Singapore was a weird city from the moment we landed. First of all, it was clean, something most cities are not, and second, it just felt comfortable. After having spent the last chunk of my life in NYC I had grown used to city life, the anonymity of a crowd, walking through traffic, and paying more than you think you should for everything. And I think when we entered Singapore I felt those emotions and thoughts return in ways that they haven't since we left New York. It felt like trying on someone else's old pair of shoes to find that they fit... almost. It felt incredibly comfortable, despite the minor differences of what you're used to.

Megan liked that most of the building has just a touch of color, unlike most cities in the US, so we have a number of pictures showing it (that's what happens when you marry an architect I guess). This one is chosen from amongst the 20 others we have.

We also had some great encounters with people during our time in Singapore. First, we were able to meet up with Jon Kher Kaw, an old classmate of Megan's from Columbia. It was just so nice to see a familiar face (at least familiar to her) and to not feel quite as alone in a city. In addition to being able to spend time with Jon, we also met some great people through random encounters. One of the best, though, was during our first night in Singapore, we decided to go for a walk after dinner (if there is a clean safe city to do that on during this trip, this would be it) and during our stroll we had a man randomly approach us. He asked us where we were from, what we did, and then as we were talking began telling us a little bit about the history and geography of Singapore. Normally, this is an obvious cue that you've picked up a defacto tour guide who will ask for money at the end of the tour. However while he was walking around with us he kept telling us how Singapore lacked the touts and scams of other places, how so many things were free and how much he liked it. He walked with us for about an hour and a half in the end and when we finally parted we shook hands, and he wished us well on the rest of our trip. No asking for a tip, no hassle, just a sincere thanks from us and a handshake, and we were off.China town.
I think I also enjoyed Singapore because it served as a final moment of rest before we were "back on the road." We didn't have a real agenda in Singapore, so we did lots of reading, wandered around the city and just felt quite lazy during our stay. On the flight out we both commented on how it felt almost like going back to work, just in the sense that you left something peaceful and relaxed and were entering something that takes more... well, work. Which is true after being in a convenient modern city, it does take more work to get around, say, Bangkok, with dirty buses and crowded streets. I never felt I was being treated as a foreigner, charged a higher price, tried to be scammed... I was just another face in the crowd and that mental state was relieving.The "Merlion". Still not sure what the thing is, kind of a lion's head on a fishes body but for some reason this is the mascot of Singapore.

Oh and the food, how can I not mention the food? Singapore is full of what are called "Hawker stalls" places where a bunch of vendors set up shop under the same roof, giving any individual location anywhere from 15-50 choices for a meal. And because Singapore was a massive trade port its food reflects that and draws from all the individual communities that make up its population (Chinese, Indian, and Malaysia). It also allows for some great food combinations... Chinese rice with an Indian curry, with a side of satay... all for about $2.50. The food has been amazing throughout most of this trip but Singapore managed to put most of the things I like under one roof and then allowed me to afford it. I still miss those Hawker Stalls.

Mmm..... here is the scene at a Hawker Center. I get hungry just thinking about it.

P.S. Remember how I said I thought of Singapore as a mildly totalitarian state, well that's partially true. However, most of its more interesting policies are enforced by a rigorous advertising campaign. And to their own credit the people of Singapore do support their rather quirky officials.