I can breath again!

So I'm back "home" now from singapore and I have to say I loved it there. I know this might sound a little shallow but after living in trivandrum this last month it was great to go to a modern city. It was like nowhere else I had been before in terms of the climate, the people, the cleanliness and the sheer safety of the place.

First off the climate - pretty much unbearable humidity. I've been told that this time of the year are the cooler months so I dread to think what it would have been like in the hot times. I was expecting it to be similar to here....Nope. Here I can breath. In singapore there isnt much air to actually breath during the day especially. This resulted in me feeling pretty sick throughout the days. I just dont think I'm designed for it, if I go to the sauna at the gym I get the same feeling and generally cant stand them so I guess the same applies here. I was ok in a air conditioned environment though and at night when it cooled a little and we had drank a lot, I felt fine!

The shopping malls there are rediculous. Massive, massive shopping "cities" all placed in a line next to eachother. You really could spend days after days looking round the shops, a ladies paradise. (Talking of ladies fellas, most of them were bloody gorgeous). As I mentioned before prices were not as cheap as I expected, and I didnt see an awful lot of stuff that you couldnt get back home but the sheer quanitity of it all was great and the customer service was a refreshing change. All the staff I spoke to (particularly the camera people) were very friendly, knowledgable and helpful - it was great.

We didnt experience any bad feeling in singapore. Most people walk round with their families or girlfriends/boyfriends. We saw no gangs of little bastards causing trouble and not one "unsavoury" character the whole time we were there. People were allowed to go out, enjoy themselves and have a good time, regardless of where they go, what they wear and what they do. That was the main difference I noticed from england. Back home I find I cant go anywhere without before long seeing some trouble being caused or someone getting picked on, overhearing people arguing or just general bad feeling. I really didnt get anything at all like that in singapore and you dont even get that here in trivandrum. Maybe i've become too cynical of people back home, who knows. But I would say that the singapore people have toppled the dutch for me for "the nicest people on the planet" award, with the indians coming in at a close third.

So as a quick summary - The hotel we stayed in was great, superb location and had all that we wanted. I could eat meat and drink tap water again (luxury) and ate the best burger in the world and drank the gold winning beer from the 2004 beer awards at the brewerkz bar. English is virtually the first language so communication was not a problem at any time with anyone. Our days were spent walking round the shops and attempting to breath, and our nights were spent around clarke quay eating, listening to music and generally getting
"sozzled". The last night was probably best when we met a few locals and others who lived or worked in singapore - we all ended up at a german kndergarten teachers house which was very random but had a great time none the less! Just about made it back in time the next morning to check out of the hotel. Plenty of aussies about, met a nice guy one night who built oil rigs off the coast who filled us in on where to go and things like that. It turns out that I think we would have been slightly better off going over a weekend, as thats when it all really kicks in but had a perfectly good time none the less.

We went to harrys bar one night for a spot of jazz and was very pleased to see people dancing proper jazz styleee...Most places had live bands playing, mostly covers and stuff but it was good none the less. John Chee (brilliant) was probably the best guy we saw during our stay. Closely followed in terms of hilariousness by Vincent Ting, the man who loved serving us coffee and talking to us about betting on the football. I bought loads of stuff - Lovely new lens for my camera (Canon EF-S 17 - 85 mm) , a new mobile phone , some trainers, a camera bag, a new iTrip and some surfing shorts. There was a dissapointing lack of robots though I'm afraid so I guess I'll have to go to tokyo next time for those. Which reminds me - this recent jaunt to the east has made me want to see more of it and has got me in the mood for a three month trip starting in Japan and working my way down at some point in the future, maybe after next year. If singapore is anything to go by then I'm sure I'll love it. I'll need plenty of cash though.

There is lots more to talk about but I've only got so much time and I guess reading this you lot only have so much patience! I've got plenty of other photos as well, and will perhpas submit them for sale upon my return through work, who knows.