Thoughts about Singapore

[Notes written en route from Singapore to Tokyo]

My trip to Singapore was very busy and tiring. Once I left the hotel yesterday morning (the Pan Pacific, in Marina Square), I was busy until 9PM local time. Since I woke up at 4AM, it was a very long day. There was a lot of new information, and a lot to think about.

Over the South China Sea

It became painfully clear during my visit to Singapore how oddly I am regarded there. I am unmarried, childless, and very far from my family. What the Singaporeans miss is how lonely I am and how very self-sufficient I need to be just to get from day to day.

As was said in "The Departed:" - to paraphrase - "getting married is the way to get ahead, to advance in your career. People know you're not queer, and it's proof you're not so bad. At least one person will put up with you." The conformists over here will always make assumptions. Never mind that I'm not a stereotype - I'm not a screaming queen nor a limp-wristed poofter, nor the family hater, nor the psychotic, drug-addled, jail-bound black sheep. I'm just trying to get by in my life as best I can.

Guess I should have been a monk - I'm much more suited to that. Interesting how I knew I was monkish when I was seventeen, and most of the rest of my life has just confirmed my leanings in that direction. I'm just not religious enough to really qualify as a monk.

Over the East China Sea

I'm tired. I hope to sleep well tonight. I did not sleep well last night. And I've been very hungry. Food this trip was very hit or miss...I've been too busy to really eat well.

Singapore troubles me in some ways. I did get to see much more of the island this time, especially Marina Bay and the Western part of the island. It surprised me (again) how large the island is. It took a solid 20 minutes averaging 90kph to get from Changi airport to my hotel. It took a solid 25 minutes using surface streets to get from the hotel to the offices. It took 10 minutes of what felt like driving through parking lots to get from the offices to a restaurant where we had lunch.

Next to the offices, there were two three story buildings that were empty. It was surprising to see any building in Sinagpore that was empty. I asked around the office and was told it was a former school; it was closed some years ago and is waiting to be razed to the ground. Everyone in the office is waiting to find out who buys the property and what they will build.

The Sinaporean fondness for Western food is odd to me. Perhaps Western food is exotic to them. To me, it's absurd to travel to the other side of the earth and be offered Western food. I've spent a lifetime eating Western food; why would I go to another country to eat more of it? Perhaps the locals think they are doing me a favor and providing me with a more comfortable environment. It's all weird and stressful and unexpected. Eating Western food in Singapore just made the experience all the more surreal. Maybe I'm extraordinary in being a Westerner comfortable eating local cuisine. Perhaps the average Westerner visiting Singapore hates the local cuisine, so they've simply learned to compensate, and assume all Westerners hate the local cuisine and want to eat burgers and fries and huge portions. Anyway, when I'm in Singapore, I like Hainanese roasted chicken rice. One of the best dishes I had was deep fried whole prawns. Very tasty. Odd moments in eating Western food: they ate a single course, but had dessert. The mains were eaten Western style, i.e. one serving per person. But, the desserts were all served family style, i.e. in the center and it was assumed everyone would get a portion. The portions served to me were 2-3 times larger than the portions served to the Sinaporeans at the table. I was offended.

There also seems to be a class distinction in the foods chosen and served. I noticed this the last time. I was largely in an industrial manufacturing complex on the my last visit, and the food courts served Chinese, Malay, and Indonesian cuisines, with one booth serving burgers and fries, another serving drinks, and another serving fruit. It was great. This visit, my choices were either Chinese or Western. It seems the folks I visited this were perhaps more middle or upper class. My impression is that Malay and Indonesian food were looked down on. I think the natives also dislike spicy food, in favor of a more bland southern Chinese cuisine.

[Thoughts added after the fact]

One of the interesting things about Marina Square is just how 21st Century the entire area looks. All chrome, bespoke architecutre, constantly shifting colors, little to no neon in favor of electroluminescent displays, and ultra-convenient vehicle access. Pedestrians exist only on the shopping plazas and interior spaces. Such a contrast to the rest of Singapore, with its emphasis on exterior spaces, flow-through architecture, low slung buildings, and covered walkways.

I saw the embassies for the US and Australia. Australia's was rather non-descript and boring. The US embassy had the Great Seal of the US in an archway over the entrance, and was otherwise and imposing, granite structure that felt like it was shipped in one piece from some quarry in Vermont. Nobody builds granite buildings like that in Asia (that I've seen). Very imposing, and vaguely threatening.

I had lunch at a restaurant on a bluff overlooking the harbor. How can such a place exist? The value of the real estate must be phenomenal! Half of the grounds were devoted to a pool, with a dining room situated in the center of the pool. Amazing display of wealth.