Singapore

-Climbing to the very top of Singapore
-Riverwalk and Morraccan food
-Singapore Flyer (playing with the new camera)

After a lovely train-ride in first class, we made it to the beautiful country/island/city of Singapore. Our hostel was clean as a whistle, with comfy beds, air conditioning and WiFi—is there anything more you can ask for? Again, we got there at an ungodly hour, so we got some Indian food at a joint that stays open into the wee hours of the night. We had no idea what we were ordering, so it was a surprise when we found what we got. Apparently, I ordered seafood…

Anyways… the next day, we made our way to a Nature Reserve with the tallest mountain in Singapore. So what, it was a paved hill that took about 15 minutes to reach the top. Ha! It was a nice little walk with some huge trees that are dwindling in numbers. We were greeted to this little reserve by a hungry troop of monkeys. One even almost sat on my feet because I was carrying a plastic bag (they associate plastic bags with food that humans give them). We also saw 2 types of squirrels who were oh-so-fun to watch. Though we didn’t’ see the lemur they said lives there (we personally don’t believe it), we did see this fantastic red and golden woodpecker. What a crest it had! While we were looking in the trees, a local man who had been working out (the reserve seems to be a popular place to get your sweat on) came over and asked me what I was looking at. He seemed pleased that foreigners were taking interest in the wildlife of Singapore. I like that.

We then went to get some errands done and see Green Zone. So there were a lot of things that were not right and totally Hollywood in Green Zone. I do have to say, though, that it really affected me. It brought back memories of when we were invading, being told that WMDs were there, wearing and using MOPP gear for a month or two straight, and then finding out that there weren’t any. Feeling betrayed and wondering why we really were there. And the movie touched on how we took the Iraqi military out—all their generals and infrastructure instead of trying to work with them. It’s just Hollywood, but it gave a “what-if” that would have made our situation in Iraq so much different. Better? Who knows? But different. It was quite emotional and personal to watch this movie. And yes, I know it was absolutely Hollywood and no one would just “quit their jobs” in the Army to work for the CIA without permission, by himself just going rogue…

The next day, we got to talk to Lewie and Liz for a long time planning our meet up in the Seychelles. I just can’t wait to see them, and it was so great to talk to them for so long! That night, after about a million wrong turns, we finally made it to the Riverwalk. Sights, sounds, lights, smells, tastes, this place was hoppin! We ended up having an expensive but DELICIOUS Moroccan meal in the center square. We then ran to the Singapore Flyer (a huge Ferris wheel that has viewing decks instead of seats) where we got some great views of the city. We were literally the last people on the Flyer for the night. I got to play with my new camera which was fun. Then we ran to the famous Singapore Merlion (a mythical figure unique to Singapore with a lion’s head and mermaid’s body). We got there just 10 minutes before they turned off the water fountain. It was the last thing we did before getting on the plane to India the next day.

Singapore is clean, beautiful, international, rich, and lively. Happily, it is also the only Asian country where English is the national language. 1 question, I pose- does such a mixing of cultures make it better by picking out the best of each culture, or does it water down diversity so much that in actuality there is nothing of culture left?