Singapore

Well it is certainly something else. But because of it's very western nature there's only so much I can say about it.

The various attractions are, how shall I put this, more refined than what I've seen elsewhere. Kinda like the white bread they fed me at my guesthouse fopr breakfast every morning. Fills you up for a bit but in the end it plugs you up and gives you gas and the runs. How's that for weird, the most significant stomach troubles I've has on the trip so far start when I'm in the cleanest and health wise safest place I've been. Don't worry though aside from feeling blkoated after eating and teh occassional sitdown in the evenings (not even particularly urgent opf course) it wasn't much.

I think that's all you want to hear about me and the old bowels.

The food in Singapore, I didn't like it as much. Maybe the above had something to do with it but I think it's the fact when I ate in a food court I was eating massed produced foods, complete with chemical sauces and garnishes. Something I haven't seen in a long time. Just didn't taste right. There wqas some good stuff too, but the stuffed \Indian breads were too far for me to enjoy regularly.

Ya, the sights. I went to some very new, very high tech museums, but opted out of some toiurist attractions, because of the costs buit also just because they didn't appeal that much. Yes, I like history and military history in particular, but paying $8 to look at mannequines posed just as the soldiers would have been when the Japanese were invading just didn't seem right. Also, the city is set up with so many information boards on various sites and events that one can just walk around and find out everything they would if they went to one of these places. So I was able to keep costs fairly low.

As far as some walking tours, I believe gentrification is the word to use here. China town was row after row of lovely Chinese houses, refurbiushed and freshly painted and full of restaurants,boutiques and various professional offices. Still, lovely to look at. Apparently one of the streets I was on used to have a roaring prostitution trade, but they seemed to have cleaned that up. I can't beliueve this place used to be so rough around the edges, and only 30 years ago.

Perhaps the best example of gentrification is in the CHIJMES complex. This little beauty is an old Catholic orphanage and nunnery that was slated to be torn down but instead was redeveloped into expensive stores and restaurants. This place is FANCY! Now this kind oif thing used to make me go ape, but I suppose it's better to have the architecture preserved. Not everything can be kept "as it was" forever. Seemed like a nice plkace when I walked through.

That another thing I noted, there are many many restaurants and places to get a drink, here, there, along the waterfront. Whereever it is picturesque. At home I never went in fdor that kind of stuff, or at least very rarely. Due to lonerdom, but also cheapness, but seeing it in Singapore I could think of nothing nicer than to sit down with some friends. This might siimply be me looking towards Canada all the more excitedly????