Tall Matt's Travels

After my Hong Kong experience, I made my way out to the spectacular new airport, and hopped on a flight to Singapore. As is par for the course, my route planning for Southeast Asia was less than rock-solid. However, being this close, it seemed wrong not to make a quick stop through the fabled port city. For me, Singapore is conjures up the most exotic of images.

To be honest though, it was a bit boring. In many ways, it's like a very hot version of San Diego (minus the wildfires). The infrastructure, facilities and transportation systems are all absolutely amazing. It's clean, calm, and thoroughly modern. Everyone speaks English, and seemed to be really pleasant and acommodating.

There really isn't a lot to see though. Even the area around my hostel was relatively benign. Outside of the dozen requisite full-body and foot massage houses, there were a handful of local restaurants serving boiled bull frog legs, and various assortments of seafood which defied description. Interestingly, most of the tables had large built-in burners in their centers, allowing patrons to cook their tentacles and appendages to their liking.

A moderate-sized downtown home to several tall sky scrapers, a pretty lame city "icon" called the "Mer-Lion" spewing a stream into the harbor, and some old British architecture which has been transformed into posh hotels constitutes the bulk of the sights.

There was one pretty cool feature - "The Esplanade - The Theaters on the Bay." Like a pair of spiny beetles, two massive oval shells covered with a skin of triangular sun shades, sit on some prime land right next to the water. They form the country's performing arts center, with a concert hall and a theater. From every angle they are impressive.

Singapore was fine - I'm not complaining at all. In 95-degree heat and 99% humidity, I truly enjoy walking through a few air-conditioned shopping malls and riding on an ultra-smooth metro system. It was just a bit removed from the "Southeast Asia" one would expect.