My impression of Singapore is that it's nice. I don't know if I'd be my first choice place in the world to live, I mean, it had some nice qualities to it, but there were some other things that I don't know if I could get used to. I'll probably talk a little bit about them in this post.
The best thing about this trip was having the chance to see friends that I hadn't seen in a long time, catching up and seeing where their life has taken them.
So without further adieu, here's Singapore...
The Raffles Hotel. Seeing architecture like this was really nice, but I wasn't expecting seeing this in Asia. Stuff like this confused me a bit, until I thought about the history of the area. I wanted to walk around the inside of the hotel and even see some of the rooms, but I was good and didn't go where I wasn't supposed to. I took a picture with the doorman, just like any good tourist should.Here's the first example of what I don't like about the city. When I first saw this building, I thought that it looked cool and that it would probably be a convention centre or something. Nope, it's a shopping
mall. I should have known, seeing as how it's located on Orchard Road. And the mall doesn't stand out from the rest, they're all huge and contain so many different shops. You know how there's a Tim Hortons at every corner? Well, in Singapore, there's a Gucci or Prada at every corner. It was really bizarre. You'd think I would have been in heaven, but I actually found it overwhelming. This mall looked crazy - there was a super huge escalator that led from street level (outdoors) into the mall. I can't describe how strange this street was with their uber-commercialisation. I think I just made up a word. 
I did like having a chance to visit different types of religious centres. This is a small Buddhist temple that I'd actually spent an afternoon in. It's a small world, and going to Asia for the first time means that there are many things that I had to do. I'm probably going to talk more about the feeling of belonging, going home and understanding myself better in a future post, but spending the afternoon in this temple was really an experience that I will not forget any time soon.The temple is located in the Joo Chiat area which I wanted to see to hopefully get a butter feeling of the culture of Singapore. Part of why
I didn't fall in love with the city is that I could figure the place out. It was a mix of different cultures just like Toronto, but didn't really have that same 'we love multiculturalism and that's why our city is amazing' feel that Toronto has, and I also got the sense that it was very ex-pat business person-centric. I don't work in the financial district for a reason. So Joo Chiat houses a lot of Peranakan culture and you can see what their architectural style is in this picture. I like the colours of the buildings.
One regret of the trip is that I never got a chance to eat laksa. For the first part of the trip, my body was trying to adjust to the sweltering heat (+30 degrees for sure, and with the humidity, I don't even want to think about how hot it was). I'm sure that my body was overheating and it didn't really know how to regulate my body temperature. I was prepared with the right attire, but nothing can prepare your body for a shock to the system like that. I was lucky not to get heat stroke, but I was getting some crazy symptoms of the significant shock to my body. I was so intrigued with how my body was reacting. I'm such a nerd. Anyway, so for the first little while I was too hot to eat much at all, let alone laksa. Add to the fact that I'm not really good at eating spicy foods (I'm told that my face changes to quite interesting colours) and there was so much other food that I wanted to try as well. Next time. I HAVE to go 
back. There was also a shop that sold rice paste goods (I guess that's what you'd call it). I bought a couple sweets to try (had fun trying to understand what it was that I bought - I really was proud of my ability to communicate, but I know that I could be better) including a plastic cup of that snot green stuff you see in the picture. It's a spread that you put on bread although I would be happy to eat it like pudding. It tasted like the custardy part of an egg tart. I also found out that people call those banana leaf wrapped things 'dumplings'. I guess that's fine, I mean, I don't know what else I'd call them, but I'd never had to call them anything in English before and I'd always though of dumplings as being those things similar to wontons, but I suppose you need an English name for everything at some point. 
A nice panoramic shot taken from somewhere I could see myself hanging out. At the bottom, you can see water...that's actually a pool and we're on the top of a building. So cool. Anyway, here, you can see Singapore's version of the London Eye, the durian shaped Esplanade buildings and the colourful seating for the F1 race.Now a smattering of pictures from the Singapore Zoo. P.S. I love animals and zoos.
I tried to get in as many feeding sessions as I could. It's a nice way to see the animals close up and how they interact with the keepers. This zoo is pretty special because a lot of the animals' habitat overlaps with that of the visitors, so you really do have a chance to get a lot closer to the animals (which you can see in a couple pictures that I really did - my camera doesn't have an amazing zoom lense or anything).
I think they'd just had a row.
Double fisting. Nice.
I enjoy watching primates. I think a lot of us do, because we're closely related so we want to better understand ourselves or see some of our characteristics in them. It was the first time that I saw a lot of these species, obviously as this is a different part of the world with a different climate than at the zoos that I'd already visited. 
This little one looked so comfy.
Not the most flattering position, but when you've got food going into your belly, who cares? Why do we need to be so prim and proper anyway?
I see bum bums!
Is it mean that I wanted to grab their tails and pull?
I was chatting with one of the orangutan keepers about how at the Toronto Zoo the keepers give nursing female lowland gorillas Guinness. They thought I was crazy. He even called over one of his colleagues to tell him what I'd said and they laughed at me. Boo. I swear I wasn't making up the fact that they did it and I don't like being made fun of. At all.
Someone's grumpy bears.
They had a huge netted tent set up where all of the animals living within it could roam free and roam free they did. I don't think that I'd been that close to a sloth before and at one point, I almost stepped on a lizard. And the lemurs were bopping around. I wanted to play with them, but I really didn't think I was supposed to interact with the animals. Anyway - here's more pictures.
This picture makes me laugh.
Why do so many of the animals look like they're ignoring each other? Some sort of marital dispute I'm sure.
More animals hanging around. Also, I admit that I youtubed the video of the zoo worker getting mauled. I only watched about 5 seconds, before needing to stop.
Back in the city, I did a LOT of walking. I think I underestimated how much my feet would hate me for wearing flip flops for the first time this year and walking crazy distances. Oops.
I didn't go into this mosque. As much as I wanted to, I just didn't feel right about it. It looked very nice from the outside, though.
My feet were so tired that I needed to sit down somewhere. I guess that's one thing that those crazy malls are good for. Yes, this is the interior of a mall.
Heading into the core of the city. By the water is a ton of restaurants which tourists love, but the ex-pat men in suits love to go after work to
have a couple drinks. I have to admit, it's a nice atmosphere, but it just seemed weird. I think I'm just not used to boozing culture. I used to love going out after work to sit by the lake and stare at the mountains and have a drink at the same time, but I can't really describe why...this atmosphere just seemed different. That building in the middle of the picture with the block cut out of it - that's where that panoramic shot with the pool was taken. Right where that cut-out area plant filled area is.
Look at all the air conditioners. My friend told me that the reason they have so many malls is that people need somewhere to go to get out of the heat. Okay, I admit I did it too. At the end of my stay in the city, I'd actually caught a cold from the overly air-conditioned zones. 
Wandering around the esplanade. And at the time, wondering when I would have the courage to eat a durian.Some shots from the Singapore Flyer:
You know, if I had never lived in Europe, I probably wouldn't be so mesmerized by water. Growing up in the the suburbs, I probably would have transitioned into any old high-rise int he city and been happy with a city view. I don't think I'd ever seen so many ocean liners in a harbour before. I liked it. I also like seeing Indonesia in the distance. 
I can't believe how much construction there is going on in this city. I suppose there's constructing here in this city too, but I found this view to be shocking. It's all part of a grand plan that the city has to fix up the waterfront. I guess Singapore is really growing, but with that over-commercialization thing that bothers me. I feel like if I go bad in a couple of years, it'll be so much more Westernized than it already is and that I won't be able to feel any sort of culture to the city.
The merlion in the harbour and a shot of the architecture of a bridge that I thought looked pretty nifty.
This was the first Hindu temple that I'd ever visited and unfortunately my strongest memory of the place is that of pain. Silly me, didn't think of the fact that the stone floor of the temple would be scalding hot in the sun. As we had to take our shoes off by the door, I had to scamper from shaded area to shaded area while everyone else seemed perfectly fine walking around the area. I liked looking at the sculptures on the building.
Inside the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum, I was in complete awe. I couldn't believe how different temples could look. Visiting all of these different centres of worship made me wish I knew about each religion. It also reminded me how lucky I am to have experienced all of this.
Both of the temples are located in Chinatown, which was swarming with tourists. This is where I found the market that I finally found some interesting fruit to sample. I liked the tables set up for Chinese chess. Every city seems to have something similar. As the only female lingering in the area, I felt a little out of place. I wonder why it was all men?Another favorite memory of this area is just chatting with the locals. It was clear that I was a tourist (in so many ways), but I liked being able to comminicate with them even if I wasn't as eloquent as I wanted to be. Every time I travel, I always try to learn a little bit of the language I think it makes a big difference in how I'm received as well as my own experience of the area.
At the National Museum of Singapore, they were having a special exhibit on the costumes of Christian Lacroix. It was an exquisite exhibition. The drawings were incredible (I would like to one day have an original sketch of anything framed in my place) and not having the 
costumes behind glass made for such a better experience. I don't think that I've ever seen a display using netting. I wonder why more places don't? Security, perhaps. I also want a beautiful gown. Or at least I want to touch one to feel the material that was used and the intricate detailing. Gorgeous.
More tourist photos. I can't help it. I love being a tourist.
One last shot of the interior of a mall. I can't beleive that I didn't buy anything from Singapore. Maybe it was because I was turned off by the crazy malls. I was seriously considering purchasing a bag that I regret
not getting while in Europe, but they didn't have the one I wanted (I don't know if they ever will again - apparently they're changing the style a little bit in upcoming seasons). I'm seriously pining for this particular bag. Nothing else really stood out to me - I mean, I can get Prada, LV or Gucci almost anywhere around the world, so why would I be more tempted to get it from Singapore? I do have to admit that it was nice to walk into a Massimo Dutti store again. This is one of the many hawker food markets in the city. I guess like a food court of sorts. I couldn't believe how cheap the food was, and how good at tasted as well. I couldn't get enough of the fresh fruit juices and noodles. I tried a lot of different types of food from different cultures
and of flavours that I wouldn't necessarily have tried here in the city. There were some dishes that reminded me of home, and others that looked too interesting to pass up. I think this night, I had hoped for a basic noodle and roast duck plate, but the vendor had already sold out (it wasn't even that late) and was cleaning up to go home. I ended up getting a noodle soup just like what I'd grown up with and something called murtabak. There were too many onions in it for my liking and they'd mixed up the order and given me one with mutton which I'm not terribly fond of. Oh well, it was still neat to try. I think I tried two different fruit juices that night as well. I should rally invest in a mini=blender and go fruit juice crazy. 
How sad for the durian. Can't take it anywhere. This is part of the reason why I never had the chance to eat it in Singapore - I didn't know how to transport it home effectively. I didn't want to walk the streets of the city for a whole afternoon with the stench coming from my bag and as you can see, you're not allowed to take it on public transport buses nor on taxis.
