Uniquely Singapore! (March 6-9, 2008)

After 12 years of waiting, I got to travel out of the country again! I love touring a new place, it gives you a new perspective on things. And it's quite different from sitting on your couch and watching "Travel & Living" or reading a book about how things there are. It's one thing to know about it, and another to experience it. It's such a fun and relaxing break from my routine.^^

Singapore is practically heaven if you're used to the traffic-busy streets, smoke, and all the pollution in Manila. As Marien would say, "the water from the pipes here is potable"! Imagine drinking water directly from the faucet! Haha.. isn't that just too weird?!? LOL.

And when I mean heaven, I do mean heaven. Prices of commodities in Singapore are sky-high. My sister lives in an HDB apartment room and pays $300++ while my brother pays $500++ a month also for a single room. That's around Php 15,000 a room, excluding the electricity bills et al. An average McDonald's meal would cost around $6.00, around 2 to 3 times higher than what they charge here in Manila. You literally have to suffer from the high demands in education and work as much as this rich society dictates its citizens to be. For me, it lost that "country vibe" I like in a place like Baguio because of its rapid technology advancement.

But the good thing in Singapore is that everybody seems to be middle class. Well at least the Singaporeans I think all are. For someone who is accustomed to seeing beggars on the streets everyday, and like those public servants, is just as clueless on how to eradicate poverty in the country, this ignorance can certainly be a bliss.

After 4 days of touring Singapore, I got a pretty good taste of what it's like not to worry about going home late, accumulating dirt on my shoes after a long day of travel, having to see actual pigeons around not caged in a zoo, and not having people mention about my height (because they won't bother you at all unless you're buying something from a store or asking for directions). Yeah, life is pretty clean and organized in Singapore. GAH! Couldn't be more inappropriate for me to live there (though I get to be mistaken for a Singaporean most of the time)!