Singapore - April 7, 2004
I´m out of Korea!! Not only that, but everything went well! I finished my contract, received my bonus pay of roughly US$2000 plus my last month of work another $2000 plus a free airline ticket to Spain!! What a shock to be out of Korea as well!
First off I´ve been to Singapore before but it was in 1996. My previous impression was somewhat indifferent towards. I recall thinking it was too sterile, too clean and too boring. I have since changed my mind. Its actually very refreshing, very dynamic, and very interesting. I love the mix of cultures and the huge variety of food available. The housing and such is also beautiful. I like everything about it.
First off its a very multicultural environment. Chinese, Indian, Malay, Arabic and Caucasian. I had 8 hours total between in transit in Singapore to wander. I went to Chinatown, Little India, and the Arabic quarters. The wide variety of people were simply amazing. Particularly compared to just having been in South Korea for the last year. I ate a great lunch as well called Vegetarian Seekh Kabab. WOW! I´ve had Indian food before, but nothing quite like that. Delicious! I´m craving that again!
During my time here, I also had a haircut. That was probably my only frustrating part being here. Everywhere I went I heard, saw, and read English everywhere, but when I got my haircut, it must have been from a mainland Chinese woman. She just didn´t understand. Actually I got a weird Chinese haircut.. and Chinese aren´t well-known for their haircuts.. so it wasn´t that great.
Everything else was great though. I didn´t eat there, but they also had a Taco Bell which I haven´t seen in awhile - they don´t have them in Korea. Looks like they now have lasagna and pizza on the Taco Bell menu? That was surprising. Most of the day I just walked around Clark Quay and all of the various ethnic neighboods. Clark Quay looked like a great place to spend an evening. Thats where I had my Indian lunch. But the options were enormous in that area, and looked great for nightlife as well. Everything was placed along the river in that area.
Between the people and food, I really had a good full of Singapore. I was very hot however. But being that there is so much air-conditioning everywhere, it wasn´t really that much of a problem. Quite a shock though as everything was either much too cold or much too hot. Would have preferred one of the air-conditioned places not to have blasted it too much. That also refers to the airlines as well. I was freezing throughout my flight and put on two blankets.
Well, tomorrow its onward to Madrid!!
Next Journal Entry in Spain:
April 8, 2004
You can email me at:
Wintermoon2@yahoo.com