Pools, Food and Shopping...

...not necessarily in that order.

Singapore is located on the southern tip of malaysia. An island, a city, a state and country in it's own right. 1 degree 17 minutes north of the equator it's safe to say that it's the furthest away from home I've ever been... and certainly the southest... Often sunny and often rainy the hot, humid environment making it perfect for the lush, green tropical scenery, from palm trees to banyan trees... the rainforest flora and fauna.

Simply put, it's a beautiful city - the antithesis of Delhi, Mumbai and India generally and relatively speaking quite a shock to the system. Everything here seems to shine, the apartment blocks, the skyscrapers, the cars, the people, even the containers in the perfectly neat container port as you enter the city from the airport seems to be like uber clean... it's really quite strange.

I'd heard stuff about singapore before - you know, how strict they are - the mosquito police, the chewing gum police, the M&S Poppyseed crackers police and such like... it's known as 'fine city' apparently... $50 for jaywalking, $500 for eating or drinking on a train, $1000 smoking in public places, and so on... oh... and death for drug trafficking... they're pretty tough on crime here. I expected to see cops on every street corner - a kind of militant utopia something akin to 1984 or probably closer to Brave New World only with palm trees and bermuda shorts... but it doesn't seem to be like that, at least not on the surface anyway and regardless of my preconceptions the crime rate is super low... so it seems to work.

Our experience here so far has been comfortable and strangely familiar, despite the heat and humidity. You're not stared at like you've got two heads (a common trait displayed by those in India and something you just get used to there) they drive on the left, the traffic lights are the same, as are the little green/red men at pedestrian crossings - these subtle things remind me of home, an obvious colonial legacy perhaps? Couple that with the strange feeling that you're also in a US city - the bright sun and the palm trees have a familiar LA feel, the roadsigns are very definately US influenced, and apart from the odd London Black Cab - the taxis here have a distinct american aroma to them, not to mention the skyline with it's loomin skyscrapers... very downtown LA. So, it's really odd in that respect a kind of clash of cultures - it doesn't feel at all how I'd expected SE asia to feel... that is until you look at the details.

The most obvious details being the people. As with most major cities in the world there's quite a diverse ethnic mix, the largest of which in this part of the world being from various oriental countries, starting with China, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Japan and so on... there's a lot of Indians here too... then there's the westerners... the ex-pats the brits, the french, the spanish.. you name it - they're all here in their droves. And finally there's the tourists... all heading down to Raffles for the obligatory Sling...

We've been staying with Matt and Beatrice, freinds from London who moved out here 4 months ago. They're having a whale of a time from all accounts... and why not? (see great uncles matts travel diary for more details from singapore) We've been made very welcome and it's a lifestyle one could get used to given enough disposable income. Like I said, low crime rate, high standard of living, it's hot, it's sunny, it rains for sure but it's warm rain, plus you've got the rest of SE asia to explore right on your doorstep... it's really quite ideal in that sense.

My hang up is that there's a certain superficiality about it all. Don't get me wrong it is lovely - but there does seem to be an obsession with shopping... and not just shopping but shopping for all those branded items for branded items sake... the Dolce & Gabannas, the Chanels, and so on... you name it... it's here... and it's expensive... and people seem to be buying... it's a shoppers paradise. Mall after Mall after Mall after Mall... all seemingly linked via underground A/C cooled walkways. All well and good if you're into that kind of thing... give me TK Maxx and Ebay any day... :)

We arrived Friday. Spent the morning with sarah's parents as they were on the same flight as us heading out to New Zealand for a 2 week break. They had a few hours to kill so they escorted us to Matt and Beatrices, freshened up and headed out... we joined them for Slings at Raffles - followed by a large crab lunch down the road at some place I can't remember the name of... open air, by the river, down to earth, lovely food... The folks left us around 5pm and we settled in for the evening at Matt and Bea's apartment. This basically involved sitting around the pool, eating french cheese and bread (from the Carre Four here) followed by a dip in the aforementioned pool and then a warming jacuzzi. It's a hard life.


Saturday we went shopping and eating in the day. We went out 'clubbing' at the night to 'Cafe del mar' where Pete Tong was performing. (He's a famous radio 1 DJ specialising in club tunes, been around for ever and is respected for his show "the essentail mix" which is generally on saturday nights when most clubbers are getting ready to go out) So he was here in Singapore - 'Cafe del mar' beach party... literally on the beach (some around here in fact - but it's not been built on this image) all very swish and trendy... complete with pool and jacuzzi. Naturally we all took our swimming gear and ended up in the dance floor (the swimming pool)... and so it was that at 1.30am I found myself lying on my back, staring up at the stars with palms silohetted against the half moonlit sky peppered with vague clouds - with pete tong striking up his set less than 10 meters away, surrounded by the beautiful people dancing, drinking and generally having a good time... quite a surreal moment.



Not long after that drying out on a lounger by the pool, Matt turns to me and asks "You know all those stories about ex-pats living abroad, working hard, playing hard and having the time of their lives?"... I nodded... "It's all true!"

So it seems.