Singapore - My First Asian Adventure!!

With my time in Sydney coming to a close, I was excited to begin the next adventure and boarded my flight from Sydney to Singapore (or Singapura in the original Malay). Everyone seems to think of Singapore as this bustling huge Asian city filling all the space on a tiny little island. I was, and still am, completely surprised to see how much green there still is everywhere you look! Though it sits on the southern tip of mainland Asia, Singapore is a cacophony of cultures: the majority of the population consists of Chinese immigrants and expats from all corners of the globe - but mostly Germany and the United States! The government runs a tight, but very efficient society, that harshly punishes even seemingly benign offenses. The result, however, is an extremely clean, beautiful country where so far I haven't seen anything that resembles a slum. It has a higher literacy rate than the United States and has built up a savings account worth as much as the United States has in debt!

I was picked up from Changi International Airport, which is often found at the top of many World's Best Airport lists, by Matt, my friend Ruth's finacé. I'd never met him before, but thankfully he was wearing a Western Michigan University t-shirt. As soon as I got my checked suitcase, we were on our way to Bishan, a neighborhood right near the center of the island.

Ruth and I met through Camp Davis, our geology Field Camp at the University of Michigan. Ruth was one of four non-U of M students in our class and since then, we've become very good friends. She grew up in Singapore and moved back after getting her Masters from WMU, so I'm very excited to experience a side of the country that most tourists do not!

Me and Ruth downtown Singapore at the mouth of the Singapore River with the Marina Bay Sands Hotel and Casino behind us.

Bishan sports park, across the street from Ruth's family's house. Most Singaporeans live in these complex of government-owned buildings and are very nice.

Singapore Financial District downtown

That afternoon, Ruth and I were picked up from her house by her aunt, uncle, and cousins. We picked up Matt from work (he is a Reading Specialist at "I Can Read") and drove over to the Changi Village area which has a country club that rents out a number of villas, bungalows, and cottages to its members. Ruth's aunt is a member there and was helping Ruth and Matt find a place for a family get together after their wedding in June. So we drove around looking at the houses, some very secluded, others right near the beach, where across the water you could see some of Singapore's outer-lying islands and even some parts of Malaysia.

The food her is pretty amazing. Singapore definitely lives up to its reputation of being a foodie's heaven! I had an Indian breakfast, a Chinese lunch, and a traditional Malay dinner. Breakfast was called, Prata, and basically a smashed egg wrapped in pan fried dough and served with a curry. Lunch was a basic rice, chicken, and broccoli but a special serving of freshly squeezed sugar cane juice served in a mug (think of it as the Asian lemonade). Dinner was nasi lemak: rice cooked in coconut milk and served with a chili paste, fried anchovies, an egg, and fried chicken. On the side we had some mutton, beef, and chicken satay with peanut sauce. Everything was so delicious (but I think the anchovies were a bit too much)! I should have taken photos of the food. I'll have to do a better job of that from now on.

All of my meals so far have been in these massive food courts on the bottom floor of many of the government owned housing developments. Lots of tiny little kiosks each serving something a little different than the others. You just get your food and sit down like any food court, but then someone comes along to clean up after you. The place we got the nasi lemak in Changi Village is pretty well-known around all of Singapore and the line there never seemed to get shorter. Never a long wait, but just always a wait. Just down the arcade from the food court was an awesome little place where kids could hop into one of many kinds of Power Wheels (those mini cars that were big in the late 90s which you could actually ride in?) and just drive around in circles! Very cute and funny!

Food arcade in Changi Village. The nasi lemak stand is the one on the end.

Kids in their Power Wheels!

Today is going to be fun and interesting. Ruth's cousin is participating in a Hindu festival and one of her other Uncles turned 50 this week and having a big celebration later tonight. Should be a fun time!