Singapore, Days 1 and 2

Wow. That's about all I can say right now. To be honest, I wasn't expecting Singapore to be much. Heck, I don't even think I knew Singapore was a country before coming to Asia (thank you South Carolina public education!). But wow.

If there was a tangible and visible way for me to define 'Paradise', this would be close. The buildings, the arcitecture, the ease of navigating the city, the cultural attractions, the nightlife that is offered: Singapore has blown away all my expectations.

I got in late last night - around 9 PM. I was able to do a little exploring of the area that I am currently staying in (which is called Geylang, which I have renamed Gayland - I'll explain more later). Now this area is nice, it kind of reminds me of a little more ghetto version of Gatlinburg. My hotel doesn't have internet and there are whorehouses peppering the alleyways. This part of Singapore isn't the greatest, but to be honest, I think it's better than where I was staying in Hong Kong.

Now in Geylang, there is a hotel called Gay World Hotel. Now, I'm not sure if it's a Singlish (Sinapore's version of English) or what, but I definitly had a good laugh when I walked by it.

But once I get on the MRT and go down about 3 stops, I get into the heart of Singapore. I found myself on multiple occasions forgetting where I was and thinking I was in Charleston. The arcitecture in some areas rivals that of Rainbow Row in Charleston and similar (or even nicer) than some of the historic buildings there.

The Chinatown part of Singapore is amazing. There are many shops filled with what I've been wanting to find in Taiwan. Silk robes, fans, random trinkets. I have finally found where I can buy my touristy crap. There is even a really nice Buddahist museum/temple that I visited today.

But when you start walking towards to financial part of Singapore, it has the feel of what you see in Atlanta or Philadelphia. Singapore is more of a "Southern City" with a spread out lay to the way the city has been developed. There are many skyscrapers, including 3 buildings that are linked together by a huge pool that spans all 3 of them. There is a very VERY tall ferris wheel, a building designed after a very smelly fruit (that looks like a yellow turd when you get the meat off of the rind), and a lot of modern designed buildings.

There is also still the colonial feel from when the United Kingdom ran Singapore as a colony. A lot of "British" architectural buildings, defining the goverment as "Parliment" and spelling "Story" as "Storey". I'm waiting to see some "Shoppe's" soon.

Anyhow, I ramble. I'm actually in an internet cafe right now - must say that it's the first time I've been in one of these places. I'll be in Geylang through Tuesday morning but am hoping to find a hostel somewhere in Chinatown for the rest of the week.

But yeah, that's about all for now. Tomorrow I plan on visiting the "Asia History" museum and maybe an art museum or something.

So until next time...