One Degree North

Well I must admit that I was rather happy that we ended up stuck in Singapore for a little extra time. Once we arrived, we realized that there was a lot to do, contrary to what other people had told us, and I actually ended up really enjoying our time there!  

For starters, our hostel was awesome!  I have stayed in several hostels (both good and bad) but that one was pretty amazing for a “backpackers’ budget” hostel - great atmosphere, friendly people, and rather neat and clean.  We were supposed to leave our shoes near the front desk because shoes were not allowed up stairs – but my shoes were taken by accident (I am sure) the first night we were there. We stayed in a co-ed ten person dorm room of bunk beds. The bathrooms were also co-ed which was a little different than anything I have stayed in before, but interesting for sure. On the main level of the hostel there was a small kitchen area with tables, and then socials areas with couches, beanbags, TV and some computers. Often there were tons of people hanging out down stairs on their computers and whatnot. We met some great people, too… but we will get back to that!

(The Inn Crowd)

Secondly, our hostel was located in Little India. Again, it made me realize how very little I know about the Indian cultures, but it definitely made me what to learn more.

Anyway, the first day, unfortunately, we spent most of the afternoon searching around for buses and trains so we were not able to do much. After finally settling our plans off the island, we met up with Anna’s brother and sister in law and they treated us to some delicious Indian food and drinks. After dinner, we jumped on the metro and wandered around the expat bar scene… It would have been pretty awesome, but we were pretty beat, so we found ourselves at a ladies’ night spot for a drink before heading home to bed.

(the financial skyline of Singapore)

The second day was a bit more eventful. We had decided on a couple of things that we wanted to explore, so we headed out early to walk around the city. Did I mention that we were in Singapore during monsoon season? Let me tell you that when the weather says  that it may ran during monsoon season, it means that it will down pour for the entire afternoon, but I don’t mean down pour, I mean monsoon. We had walked at least a couple miles heading toward the botanical gardens when it started to sprinkle a bit – no big deal, so we headed into a store for a couple minutes to “wait it out”.  When we came out of the store, the skies were black, the streets were already flooded and it was literally a torrential monsoon down pour. Of course, we were less than prepared without umbrellas.

(all the smart people that brought along umbrellas during monsoon season)

We walked as far as we could under an overpass, but eventually it came to a stop, so we had to make a run for it. I, of course, was wearing flip flops that could have been ice skates as I skated across the marble sidewalk. Soaking wet, we ended up and TGIF for happy hour and waited out the rest of the storm for a couple of hours. After dinner that night, we ended up back in our hostel and decided that we were going to meet people. Anna made us put away all of our technology and hang out in the social area to meet people. We got some beers, put on some music and sat in the common area. Soon, we began attracting people. First, were three girls also on holiday, one, oddly enough, from Michigan. Although we invited all the other people to join us, the majority of people were nose deep in their laptops and ipads and chose not to. Honestly, we were being pretty loud and arguably, obnoxious, but we were having a good time. Eventually a French guy joined us and a really strange Indian guy. We befriended the French guy whose name we could not pronounce so we ended up call him Scat (but I will get to that story). He was traveling the world alone and had an interest in people and cultures.

(us with our Michigan friend Julie)

So here is what I think about Singapore… Singapore is so interesting because it is such a small island, but has such a complex dynamic. Not many people living in Singapore are actually from Singapore so the island is shaped by many different cultures (American, Chinese, Indian, Muslim, and Australian amongst others) and blended into one amazingly sustainable society micro managed by a rather extreme government. Walking around, one minute you are in China town, the next little India, then you are on the beach, and next, walking down the streets of New York with big fancy designers shops that I can’t afford to window shop.

I have already told you a little bit about the government and all of the rules and fees and regulations that they put in place. In a way, it is crazy to me and I felt like I was walking on glass a lot of times because the last thing that I wanted was to be thrown in jail for doing something stupid like drinking a pop on the metro (in contrast to doing whatever I want and getting away with it in China because I am a lawei and they don’t want to bother with me). However, in a way, whatever they are doing is working because people are friendly, and they all co-exist in such a small area peacefully and respectfully, and their system works... they are one of the cleanest places on Earth and they have the best economy – thought, like I said, it is simple to gain those statuses begin so small (it is much easier to control). 

By the way, did you know that Singapore is located just one degree north of the Equator? Well to be exact, the tiny island of Santosa, Singapore - located just south of the mainland - is exactly one degree north. The closest that I have been to the equator.