Singapore
As I write sitting in a bus leaving Singapore, I’m drying off from the rainstorm that accompanied me on my walk to the bus terminal. I’d be slightly more comfortable if I were dry, but to be honest it’s a welcome relief from the heat and humidity of the past few days. Less than a week ago I was being snowed on in London, so the 30+ degree days here have taken some getting used to. Luckily there’s plenty of water around the island of Singapore, which often provides a breeze to take the edge off the heat.
As we drive past buildings influenced by Chinese and Indian architecture (and probably other cultures that I’m less familiar with) and glass skyscrapers, I’m reminded of what it felt like to be in Singapore. A hyper modern city in many ways, but build on a variety of ancient traditions which still hold much respect today.
The Gardens by the Bay and their light show, with the Marina Bay Sands complex in the background provided a look at modern day Singapore, with seemingly no shortage of money to spend. Visiting Little India, and the Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple showed the chaotic bustle away from the centre - even the temple, beautiful as it was, had people moving past each other in all directions to take moments with representations of various deities. The Sultan Mosque and the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple showed a very peaceful side to the city, and the nature trails around the MacRitchie reservoir, including a treetop walk and many macaques and some very sweet turtles showed the serenity you can find outside of the city.
Singapore is truly a mash of cultural influences, and this is also evident in the food. There were so many options in the local hawker centres - relatively cheap food courts filled with independent street food stands - that I struggled to choose almost every meal. Some highlights included nasi goreng (a plate of coconut rice, fried egg, chicken, fried anchovies, sambal and something else I couldn’t identify), kaya toast (coconut jam on toast for breakfast) and sambal BBQ stingray (so spicy I struggled to finish it, but delicious). There was some food I didn’t try - I couldn’t bring myself to order turtle soup, crocodile soup, pig organ soup or chicken feet. My usual attitude of trying everything once appears to have reached its limit here. With no disrespect to cultures where it is the norm, I don’t think I can bring myself to eat a turtle in the same trip I hope to dive amongst them.
A mention too for Mariana, Nicola and Emma who I loved exploring with and I hope.I run in to again on my travels. They also take much better photos than I do, some of which were used here.
The bus continues, and as I type this final sentence, I see my first glimpse of Malaysia.