Singapore

Singapore is a very strange city, especially arriving directly from Cambodia. The city has a lot of old colonial influences mixed with different Asian cultures and then topped off with intense tourist appeal. Everything is extremely clean and orderly in the city, and it all feels like it was planned deliberately. At times I felt like I was in an amusement park walking down the streets modeled after a country instead of really in a new place. They are very big on keeping the streets clean, and there are big campaigns throughout the city about being polite to one another. They have a special set of adds directed at public transport where three woman sing about proper etiquette. Right before the trains pull into the station you can hear them sing 'Train is coming, train is coming, please start to queue!'. You can see one of the videos here:

Video for trains

Here is another example of adds on being polite:

There are also lots of signs about not littering, and all the trash cans are painted in creative ways.

Here are some of the old colonial buildings. The first is the cathedral and the second is the old city hall. All of these buildings are grouped together in one area.

Right near the colonial district is an area geared more towards the average tourist. In the 60s Singapore came up with the Merlion as it's tourist symbol. It is half lion and half fish and sits on the river with a fountain shooting out from it's mouth. Singapore means 'lion city', and the old Javanese name was Tamasek which means sea town, so the Merlion I guess joins old and new.

Across from the Merlion is the new concert hall. It has a strange spiked dome the some people think looks like a durian (the smelly giant fruit of southeast Asia).

Also in this area is a new hotel/casino that has a giant growth connecting the roofs. It is in the shape of a boat and apparently has a big swimming pool across the top.

You can't go to Singapore without drinking a Singapore Sling, so we made a trip to the Raffles hotel where the delicious treat was invented. As soon as we walked into the bar we saw a crowd of other tourists also enjoying their pink fruity beverage, and it was obvious to the bartender what we wanted. We ordered 2 and joined in with the crowds eating peanuts and chucking the shells on the ground. Each drink cost $25US making it the most expensive drink I have ever had in my life. Just out of curiosity we asked to see the drink menu, but with 15 dollar beers we decided to stop after the first round. The bartender took pity on us a gave us a free drink.

We stayed in Chinatown and visited Little India, so along the way we also had some good food. This first picture is fried frog, and the second one is a shrimp and banana dumpling wrapped in dragon hair (which I think was fried noodles).

There were tons of cool temples all over as well. I got to see my first Hindu temple!

The river at night is really pretty and lit up with lots of restaurants along the side.

Most people only think of the city when they think of Singapore, but there is also a bit of area outside including a few islands and a small rain forest. One day we left the city and went to a monastery and a WWII graveyard.