Singapore

Singapore is: hot, trendy, expensive, cheap, Western, Chinese, touristy, over-protective, safe, clean, fun, quaint, modern, a late-night party city, full of foreigners, pretty darn cool.

I've been trying for days to think of a good way to describe Singapore, and that is the best I could do. The string of adjectives that could be applied to the city is endless. My one friend, Charlie Augustus, always says _______ (fill in the blank with any place name) is a land of contrast. So, Singapore is a land of contrast. But not in the Indonesian sense, where you go to the next city over and the inhabitants speak a different language, have different fashion tastes, and new cuisine. Singaporean contrast is much more subtle. I've talked to a lot of people, and the common consensus seems to be that when you first get here, you're not that impressed. But the longer you stay, the more you love it.

There's so much to do in Singapore. Every day can be packed with adventure catered to your individual interests. There are world-class museums, parks, jungles, a zoo, beaches, walk-in classes on every imaginable subject, Chinese opera, independent film festivals, dancing, bars, temples of every sort, you name it and more. It's a city-country where everyone speaks either Mandarin or English although the official-est of the four languages is actually Malay. It is a Western-style oasis in the midst of Southeast Asia, with a shopping mall on every street corner. I've taken to thinking of it as: The West for the East, and the East for the West.