To be fair we were never in Kansas, but Ethiopia and Singapore are about as different as two places can get. This beautiful city was the perfect place to have started our Southeast Asian adventure. It's kind of a little "mini-Asia", blending all that is unique and amazing about this continent into one not so mini city. While the Chinese, Indians, and Malay people make up the majority of the population, we've seen people from Japan, Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, and just about every other country here as well.
Over the past few days we've visited various Buddhist and Hindu temples, every one of them unique. We stopped by the Asian Civilizations Museum to learn about this region's history, were slightly disappointed by the National Museum of Singapore, and were blown away by the futuristic technology of the Singapore City Gallery that showed what Singapore would look like over the next 30 years. We loved the Singapore Zoo and its Night Safari, where you have the unique opportunity of exploring a zoo at night when the animals are most active. The tram ride through the exhibits felt a bit like a real safari, and exploring the trails on foot afterwards was eerie even if you did know that all the animals were locked up. A lion's roar is awe-inspiring during the day, but it is absolutely spine tingling at night. Wonderful architecture, magnificent gardens, and mouth-watering, delicious Indian, Malay, and Chinese food (more on that later) have rounded out the experience nicely.
Singapore is one of the coolest cities I've been too. It is beautiful, clean, and even better organized than many American cities. Of course, we just got back from a country where the concept of "urban planning" rarely exists, so I might be a little biased. Even so, the MRT (subway) and the intracity bus system is cleaner and just as well run as New York City's public transportation system. All that beauty comes at a price though, something our pocket books have quickly learned. Singapore is expensive, and we've had to budget carefully to make it through.
Singapore is one of the coolest cities I've been too. It is beautiful, clean, and even better organized than many American cities. Of course, we just got back from a country where the concept of "urban planning" rarely exists, so I might be a little biased. Even so, the MRT (subway) and the intracity bus system is cleaner and just as well run as New York City's public transportation system. All that beauty comes at a price though, something our pocket books have quickly learned. Singapore is expensive, and we've had to budget carefully to make it through.
Overall, it's been a bit of a transition for Inge and I though. We're constantly being blown away by little things, and are getting used to all the "rules" again. We've really had to concentrate to make sure we're walking with the flow of traffic, crossing the streets at the crosswalks, standing in the correct lines, waiting in the right spots, opening the doors the correct direction, and overall not looking like we just came from Mars. We've ridden more escalators in the past few days than we have in years, visited several malls where we couldn't afford to shop in a single store, and touched just about every touch screen in the city that was socially acceptable to touch (plus some that weren't). It's almost like we're little kids again, and I can't wait to see what this wonderful region has in store for us next.
No comments:
Post a Comment