Back from Singapore

My mistaken impression of Singapore was that of a modern and vibrant city, but perhaps a bit sterile...oh how wrong I was.

Singapore is indeed modern and vibrant, but it is such a melting pot of cultures and people, it's far from sterile. Highly recommended...for such a small place, it has a vast array of options in dining, cultural experiences, accomodations, and entertainment. And shoppping, it was astonishing how many malls and markets they managed to fit onto the island. But before I sound like a marketing brochure...

The "English" most Singaporeans' speak is horrendous. Total inconsistent pronunciations and annunciations. I simply could not understand it most of the time, especially when there were no context clues. Baffling...and I had thought due to its English-influenced (as in the UK) history, the Singaporeans' "Singlish" (as they call it) would be more inline with the "Queen's English." Oh how wrong I was...again. You'd think I'd know better by now.

For pure entertainment value...here's a conversation I had while dining at a hawker food court:

man: "You wanta finished not eating." (note the absence of a question mark)
me: "Huh?" (as I was standing up to get more chili sauce from a stall 10ft away)
me: "I'm not done eating yet. Please do not clear my dishes away." (walking away)
man: "You donna." (starting clearing away my not even 25% completed dinner)
me: "Whoa partner! I'm just getting some chili sauce" (my Texan friends would be proud)
man: (continues loading my plates onto his tray without pause)

Thankfully at this point someone nearby translated for the gentleman what I said (I think), and he left my food alone. So despite English being the lingua franca of Singapore, I was usually better off pointing and grunting, or speaking Chinese. Good times.

Tropical jungle in the middle of Singapore - MacRitchie Reservoir. You can see skyscrapers in the background. Pretty dense foliage...you can almost imagine not being in the middle of 4 millions people in 270 square miles. Almost...


Pulau (or Pilau) Ubin, a small (3.9 sq mi) island on the NE end of Singapore. Just across the narrow straits is Malaysia. This pic was taken from a tiny, deserted beach on the north end of the island.

And 2 action pics from fights at the Lumpini Muay Thai Stadium in Bangkok, prior to going to Singapore. I miss training Muay Thai.


I had these two seafood "items" in Pattaya, also prior to going to Singapore...can someone identify them? I think the top one is called "slipper lobster", but I have no idea on the second one. Whatever they were...they were delicious.