I'm melting, I'm melting
It’s the little things that tell me how a place is - that give me glimpses of how people might actually live. Singapore is full of small things that make it unique and fascinating.
People don’t have drinks with their meals, nor do they use napkins. However, they use forks and spoons (occasionally chopsticks, but no knives).
Christmas decorations and songs are EVERYWHERE.
Singapore is a melting pot of Southeast Asia cultures. There are huge Chinese and Indian populations. There are Malaysians, Filipinos, and Indonesians. There is a boatload of British ex-pats. But these aren’t separate populations that share space. They mix and mingle, which is unlike other parts of Asian. School kids come in packs of straight and curly hair, and a variety of skin colors.
Flip flops are the shoe of choice. Fat people don’t exist. My American ass is apparently a big ass here. I barely fit into a medium.
There are no beggars. Everyone is friendly, but not overly pushy.
Riding the subway requires you pay extra, which is refunded when you stick your card back in the machine – to force reuse of the plastic cards.
People don’t have drinks with their meals, nor do they use napkins. However, they use forks and spoons (occasionally chopsticks, but no knives).
Christmas decorations and songs are EVERYWHERE.
Singapore is a melting pot of Southeast Asia cultures. There are huge Chinese and Indian populations. There are Malaysians, Filipinos, and Indonesians. There is a boatload of British ex-pats. But these aren’t separate populations that share space. They mix and mingle, which is unlike other parts of Asian. School kids come in packs of straight and curly hair, and a variety of skin colors.
Flip flops are the shoe of choice. Fat people don’t exist. My American ass is apparently a big ass here. I barely fit into a medium.
There are no beggars. Everyone is friendly, but not overly pushy.
Riding the subway requires you pay extra, which is refunded when you stick your card back in the machine – to force reuse of the plastic cards.
******
My time in Singapore is coming to an end. A cab picks me up at the hotel at 4:30 tomorrow morning (Tuesday) to bring me to the airport. I like my Singapore Airport in the middle of the night.
This morning I wandered around Little India, arriving earlier than many shopkeepers. The streets were mostly quiet at 9:30 am. But as the morning went on, music and incense wafted from the stalls along the streets, and garlic and curry smells made me consider lunch at 10 am.
By 11:30, I was exhausted from walking around in the heat, which was making me decidedly not hungry. Regretfully, I headed out of Little India before lunch time. I came back to the hotel, decadently ordered room service, and then went to lie at the pool to let the afternoon heat pass by.
Late afternoon, I headed out to Chinatown, where I wandered through more stalls, though these were hawking cheap Chinese instead of Indian wares. Afterward, I headed back to the cool comfort of air-conditioning at one of the many multi-story malls for some unsuccessful shopping, and good dinner.
Last night, I wandered around the river area, Boat Quay, and had the famous Chili Crabs for dinner. I didn’t like them. They were ridiculously messy and hard to eat. I needed a bib and a roll of paper towels. I got one wet nap. I am glad I tried them, but I like my meals to be less like a sporting even that requires a post-eating hose down, and more like a relaxing sit down with some food.
I’ll post some pictures when I get home.
My time in Singapore is coming to an end. A cab picks me up at the hotel at 4:30 tomorrow morning (Tuesday) to bring me to the airport. I like my Singapore Airport in the middle of the night.
This morning I wandered around Little India, arriving earlier than many shopkeepers. The streets were mostly quiet at 9:30 am. But as the morning went on, music and incense wafted from the stalls along the streets, and garlic and curry smells made me consider lunch at 10 am.
By 11:30, I was exhausted from walking around in the heat, which was making me decidedly not hungry. Regretfully, I headed out of Little India before lunch time. I came back to the hotel, decadently ordered room service, and then went to lie at the pool to let the afternoon heat pass by.
Late afternoon, I headed out to Chinatown, where I wandered through more stalls, though these were hawking cheap Chinese instead of Indian wares. Afterward, I headed back to the cool comfort of air-conditioning at one of the many multi-story malls for some unsuccessful shopping, and good dinner.
Last night, I wandered around the river area, Boat Quay, and had the famous Chili Crabs for dinner. I didn’t like them. They were ridiculously messy and hard to eat. I needed a bib and a roll of paper towels. I got one wet nap. I am glad I tried them, but I like my meals to be less like a sporting even that requires a post-eating hose down, and more like a relaxing sit down with some food.
I’ll post some pictures when I get home.
posted by Kristine at
3:46 AM
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