Singapore

The heat! My god, the heat!

Did you know that you had sweat glands on your earlobes? How about your eyelids? Did you also know that the simple act of climbing three stairs in the equatorial sun is enough exertion to cause sweat to seep from these obscure little glands? Not to mention the gushers of liquid coming from all the normal and well known areas. “I think I feel a sweat coming on” became our mantra as we explored the beautiful island country of Singapore.

This was my first trip to Asia and really punctuated for me the rise of this continent in the global economy. As an American, Asia was (and somewhat still is) a compilation of abstract concepts. It’s a big area. There are a lot of different countries with a lot of different cultures. There are a shitload of people, and they work very hard for a lot less money than we do. Oh yea, and we’ve heard that they are starting to gain wealth and momentum in the world. We believe that it’s real because we’ve been told by the business people that this is a huge market opportunity. We know that it’s real because we’ve seen images on TV, right? But until I saw a place like Singapore, with it’s wealth, innovation and newness of infrastructure; until I felt the crush of the masses on the subway; until I saw the melting pot that used to be the exclusive domain of America, it was hard for me to truely understand the somewhat shocking reality of this continent and it's vast potential. For those of you with kids, I'd recommend that you strap them in…I’m guessing that they are going to have a hell of a ride as this continent asserts itself more and more into the global economy.

The city itself is brand spanking new as far as that goes. There were plenty (PLENTY) of cool eating areas with great outdoor atmospheres and some of the best food that we've ever tasted. The shopping was also worldclass if you like that sort of thing and we quickly understood the need for the enclosed downtown malls after experiencing the intense heat and drenching rains. But somehow it all felt a bit sterile to us...kind of like Reston on steriods (sorry Sue). For us, it would easily rank in the top 5 cities if it were located in the States, because at least the downtown was intact and lively. But we've become somewhat spoiled over the past year by the dynamic, lively, and individually unique older cities of Europe.

I also wanted to comment on one last glaring contrast from here in Europe. From what I experienced, the rest of the world could learn a lot from the service in Singapore - America included. It was top notch across the board - from the cabbies to the jerky bars (don't ask). But even in the technological wonder that is modern Singapore, with it's outstanding service, I'd quickly introduce some good old fashioned German efficiency...maybe they just need a few hundred more years of practice.

While living on the equator holds no appeal for us cold blooded and gloomy Northern Europeans (can we call ourselves that yet?), it was a great trip and we loved Singapore, it's friendly people and the surrounding jungle island for a visit. We're going to continue our forays into Asia with plans for Korea, Japan, and Northern China starting to appear on the horizon.

I hope you enjoy the pics!