December 05, 2002 Singapore
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I've heard alot of bad things about Singapore: it's boring, overly clean, lacks character, and has a repressive government. I've found these things to be true , but by coming here with that knowledge I wasn't too disappointed. Yes, the city's unaturaly clean. There's no litter or graffiti and there's always somebody cleaning. It also has no character. The CBD could be any city in the US. The fact that everything is in English and everybody speaks English adds to the illusion. However the heat and humidity (S'pore is 60 miles from the Equator), and the fact that most people are Chinese, Malay, or Indian remind you that you're not in Kansas anymore. There are quite a few Westerners about, though, and I certainly don't turn any heads.
My #1 priority upon arrival in a new place is always shelter, so I went to the address of the Lee Traveler's Club, which turned out to be an anonymous building labelled Fu Yuen Building. A quick check in my guidebook told me reception was on the sixth floor, so I took the elevator and found "reception," which was an empty room with a guy watching TV. He showed me a dorm room which was pretty grimy, but only S$12, about US$6, so I paid for four nights.
Then I went out to do some exploring. I quickly noticed that even though it was 8pm, most stores were open, unlike Sydney where everything closes at 6. The first Australian to realize that people may want to shop after work will become a very rich man. Even the food courts are open late. What a concept.
Another reminder that I was in Asia where the trishaws. There weren't too many, mind you, since this is modern Singapore, but every so often I would see one. Some even have stereos. One was pimped out with flashing neon light and booming bass.
I eventually wandered in to Little India, which was pretty wild. It was 10 at night and the sidewalks were crammed with stalls selling saris, CDs, electronics, you name it. There were so many people it was hard to walk. I continued to Arab Street, the Muslim part of town, which was also interesting. Even so late at night the Hindu temple and Mosque were very busy.