20100711 - Singapore

Short version: I find Singapore to be a wierd combination of Las Vegas, Los Angeles... and a maximum security prison.

Longer version: Having only visited Singapore once (in 2003), I had found the city to be a bit distant, as if I was missing something, or the entire population was away during my time spent there. 7 years on, there was a little more development, but the same sameness still blanketed the City-state.

To be fair, I wasn't there to be a tourist. There is NOTHING that Singapore has (that I'm interested in) that is more appealing that Thailand. I was there to see my cousin Marcus. Freshly graduated, and taking his first tour of Asia, I really wanted to catch up, hear about his studies, his plans for the future, and his impressions of Singapore and Hong Kong.

A little rewind: I had the pleasure of watching Marcus grow up, I helped coach him in soccer, skied with him (he's since switched to boarding), and I very much liked spending time with the Dufort family during my studies at Santa Clara University. I'd frequently just show up on my bicycle and check in.

At any rate, Marcus is now an adult, an engineering grad who is looking forward to more studies and changing the world. A fresh perspective is always wonderful to hear, and catching up with Marcus was great.

We explored Sentosa Island (an all-inclusive resort, a mini-Singapore within Singapore), complete with Universal Studios, Golf Courses, a fake 5-foot wave machine, street luge, and every possible other attraction to extract money from you. We took this extremely cheesy photo in front of an imported sand beach. Marcus wasn't looking at the camera because he was focused on a few co-eds who were in a bubble bath hot tub (on the beach, of course).

Besides catching up, Corina and I hit all the food places to eat (Little India, Chinatown, Orchard Road, Clarke Quay, etc., etc.). We also spent a lot of time at the Botanical gardens, and that was hands-down the best site we went to. Corina took about 400 pictures of Orchids, and we're not normally Botanical Garden fans. I also got in a great run through here on Sunday morning! Regardless of what type of travel you are into, I would recommend the gardens to just about anyone.

I get the impression that Singapore would be a great place to raise a family-in-bubble, or to press your luck with your Diplomatic immunity (I would be a gum chewer), or even better - a journalist. There would be nothing more challenging that trying to be a journalist in a city that even edits Hollywood DVDs for content.

All said, I think that I will be back to Singapore, because it would be the PERFECT place to recover from a hardship post (like Dili, East Timor, or Jakarta, Indonesia - both places I wouldn't mind being posted).