Singapore Sling

Jonathan (friend from Ha Noi) and I left on our epic Tet getaway the night of Feb 11th. First stop was Singapore for a few days. After being in Ha Noi for 6 months, it was a pleasant shock to the system. It was the first time I’d seen a Starbucks in a looong time. Weird, right? Singapore is a cool place- a clean, sunny city with efficient public transport and permeable parking spaces. We ended up staying with Jonathan’s friend, which was a really fun way to see the city- and cost effective. Apparently with modernity comes expense, I’d forgotten.

Eating durian and corn flavored icecream wrapped in funfetti wonderbread

Singapore is interesting because it is the confluence of many different Asian cultures, in one small but well-manicured city. There are many Indians, Chinese, Muslims, Malaysians and others. We spent our few days there eating our way around the city and various hawker centers (Singapore’s solution to street food- centers with lots of vendors selling nasi lemak, nasi campur and other tasty dishes). We were also there for the Chinese New Year and decided to spend it on the streets of Chinatown watching the hoards of people…and then joining them for some New Year’s fun.

As nice as it was, after a few days I was tired of the constant onslaught of shopping and consumerism and was ready to move on to Indonesia.

Playing dress up at the Museum of Asian Civilizations