Singapore Trip part 1

We started our trip to India with a couple layover days in Singapore. When we left the airport the first impression I had was that Singapore is cross between Hawaii and Tokyo. Its really hot and humid here (about 90 degrees and what feels like 200% humidity), making me thankful for air conditioning.

Almost everything here is in English, making it easy for us to get around. They have very strict laws here in Singapore, which seem to pay off as it is so clean here. Walking around you find no traces of graffiti or litter. The fine for littering is $500 and $1000 for smoking where you aren't supposed to. It also feels very safe, much like it did in Tokyo. You can wander around the subways in the middle of the night and not feel like someone is going to mug you. Singapore also feels very culturally diverse, being between China, India, and the rest of Southeast asia, you can definitely feel the mixing of cultures.

Our first stop was Orchard Rd., which is the main shopping road here. It has to be the most shopping crazy area I've ever seen, with mall after mall, and tons of really high end stores like Gucci and Prada.


Then we headed up to Little India, which, according to Shveta, is very 'authentic'. It was full of small food stands blaring bollywood music, Indian men standing on street corners chatting, and a few temples. From there we visited Chinatown, a large area with souvenir shops and chinese food all around. There were some street performers doing some amazing acrobatics, and lots of colorful lamps overhead. Although I haven't yet been to China, it seemed like a pretty good taste of what China would actually be like.