Friday, February 09, 2007
Wandering Singapore
I arrived very late Thursday night in this Tiger of the Pacific. Singapore is a jewel of Asia. The first sight below plane was a traffic jam of ships in the port. Singapore is the busiest port in the world.
The city deserves its reputation as being very clean and safe. The people are courteous and hardworking, and this island country has achieved the highest standard of living in Asia. In many ways, it is like being in the USA, there are McDonald's everywhere and a lot of advertising for products from the US and Japan.
Last night I opened my adventures by walking away from the hotel and just taking in the neighborhood. I went past a Catholic Church named St. Michael's and many residential apartments. Eventually I found a subway station but didn't have small enough bills to chance the ticket machine. I took a cab to Chinatown; which was bustling with the upcoming Chinese New Year. I had some delicious noodles and mingled with the many people, Chinese and non Chinese alike enjoying the color of the holiday. Most memorable, an older Chinese woman who carried who dog around like a baby, taking in the sounds, smells and sights. The smell of garlic and onion and hope everhere. I hope to have pictures soon.
I plan to go to Little India today. Although in many ways Singapore is a fine model for how to create a good and properous society, it is not a utopia. Most of the people are Chinese, but, there are a large minority of Indian citizens as well. There is an undercurrent racism, most of the Indian people do the menial jobs such as cleaning up at the airport and street janitors, etc.
A lot of excitement and speculation has been created by the planned opening of two casinos in 2010, The population is expected to double from four million to eight million by then. There is a large amount of development in the harbor area, where a casino is going in financed by the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas. There is a huge shopping mall and after getting lost in Chinatown, I took a bus and just happened to end up at the waterfront. A huge queque of people were waiting for taxis, something I had just run away from in Chinatown. I negotiated a ride back to the hotel with a shuttle service for about $16 USD, which was a little less than the asking price for "express service." When I arrived back at the hotel, two talented jazz singers were performing at the piano bar. They asked where I was from-- but somehow interpeted Milwaukee as being Kansas. I was too tired to correct them. We'll see where I am from today!
The city deserves its reputation as being very clean and safe. The people are courteous and hardworking, and this island country has achieved the highest standard of living in Asia. In many ways, it is like being in the USA, there are McDonald's everywhere and a lot of advertising for products from the US and Japan.
Last night I opened my adventures by walking away from the hotel and just taking in the neighborhood. I went past a Catholic Church named St. Michael's and many residential apartments. Eventually I found a subway station but didn't have small enough bills to chance the ticket machine. I took a cab to Chinatown; which was bustling with the upcoming Chinese New Year. I had some delicious noodles and mingled with the many people, Chinese and non Chinese alike enjoying the color of the holiday. Most memorable, an older Chinese woman who carried who dog around like a baby, taking in the sounds, smells and sights. The smell of garlic and onion and hope everhere. I hope to have pictures soon.
I plan to go to Little India today. Although in many ways Singapore is a fine model for how to create a good and properous society, it is not a utopia. Most of the people are Chinese, but, there are a large minority of Indian citizens as well. There is an undercurrent racism, most of the Indian people do the menial jobs such as cleaning up at the airport and street janitors, etc.
A lot of excitement and speculation has been created by the planned opening of two casinos in 2010, The population is expected to double from four million to eight million by then. There is a large amount of development in the harbor area, where a casino is going in financed by the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas. There is a huge shopping mall and after getting lost in Chinatown, I took a bus and just happened to end up at the waterfront. A huge queque of people were waiting for taxis, something I had just run away from in Chinatown. I negotiated a ride back to the hotel with a shuttle service for about $16 USD, which was a little less than the asking price for "express service." When I arrived back at the hotel, two talented jazz singers were performing at the piano bar. They asked where I was from-- but somehow interpeted Milwaukee as being Kansas. I was too tired to correct them. We'll see where I am from today!
Labels: Chinese Culture, Chinese New Year, Singapore
