Another Helping In The Lion City

Days 24-30: Singapore

More noodles please. Another sambal prawn. Duck rice? Why not? Sugar cane tea? Hell yes! After 3 weeks of rough Indonesian buses, that same old Nasi Goreng, and the tried-and-true "give me more money or hit the curb" trick, well, Singapore--the "Lion City," of corporate towers, colonial arcades, NikeTowns, subways, and glorious, glorious hawker centers (like a mall food court, except with AMAZING food, from all around the world)--was a welcome dose of choice and modernity. First impressions were that this place is squeaky clean, and no one tries to rip you off (after all, they might lose a hand or arm if they do). But, as we spent more time in the city's various cultural centers, particularly Little India, which was bumping to a huge festival; sampling the variety of food ("sampling" is a polite term for the bona fide grazing we did); talking with various residents (who rave about the city); and then admiring the efficient transportation and the carefully planned balancing between historic districts, containing pink, purple, and green roof-tiled, turn-of-the-century Chinese shophouses preserved at the foot of high-value corporate towers, plus the British colonial legacy, now filled with interesting museums . . . well, soon we were thinking, maybe it would be fun to live here a bit? We'd certainly be well fed.

Of course, there were some odd moments. For one, we continuously found ourselves in a MASSIVE, air-conditioned shopping malls, with Chinese-style Abercrombie in our faces and Hoobastank blaring in the background. Wide-eyed from the simplicities of Indonesia, we succumbed to the temperature-controlled, mall culture (although not buying much, given our budget) . . . I knew it was out of control when I had a 4-foot, mohawked sales-kid telling me I looked hot in some over-priced, hip-hop urban safari shirt with way too many tears and stitches in it . . . his "good for clubs" pitch just wasn't gonna make me take the fashion plunge (although, admittedly, it almost did).

On a more real level, we met up with a friend of a friend who are now our friends: Justin and Jessica. They absolutely spoiled us by treating us to a glorious brunch--apparently brunch is a big thing in Singapore, and boy was it! The spread at the buffet-style brunch at the Fullerton Hotel overlooking the river was a sight to be seen (particularly after rice and vegetables in Indonesia): we had sushi, lobster tails, prime rib (well, Jacob had that), an assortment of nearly 30 amazing cheeses, dim sum, raw oysters, curries, omellettes, made-to-order pasta, and over 20 different kinds of cakes, tarts, and pastries for dessert! Not to mention the all-you-can-drink champagne! And yes, we definitely had about as much as we could drink! We had a great time meeting Justin and Jessica, and learning more about life in Singapore. Again we thought: could we live here?? I could definitely get used to brunching!

Later that day, we went to the Long Bar at the Raffles Hotel and had the singature Singapore Sling there, while eating peanuts (and throwing the shells on the floor), singing along to the Chuck Berry tunes, and picturing colonial bar brawls complete with elephant guns.

Our last few days in Singapore were spent taking in a few more sites (in particular, the Asian Civilizations Museum, which was awesome), having another wonderful meal with Justin and Jessica at their apartment, and getting ready for our next step: Myanmar!