At the end of a couple of days in Singapore.
Weather very hot and muggy, but you dive from air-conditoned shop to air-conditioned taxi or bus to air-conditioned hotel. Most people have heard of Singapore’s severe laws on litter etc, but that doesn’t prepare you for the beauty and cleanliness of everything (except the river but they seem to have a blind spot about that). The architecture is fantastic – steel and glass, but also stone, in amazing shapes, and all inhabited. Most of the people live in high-rise apartments of high quality and seem happy with the strict imposition of ”social order’ legislation in return for good state benefits and technology – for example, broadband just about everywhere. Ethnically too there seems to be a harmonious multicultural feel. We went to Little India, admittedly scruffier than the rest but Pestilence bought a beautiful sari to use as a covering in her room. Everything is much cheaper than in the UK, and people everywhere are extremely helpful and polite.
We went on a night safari, a little train with a sugary live commentary (‘Oh, Captain Koo seems to be taking us into the Brazilian rainforest!’) during which there was a flash thunderstorm which cleared just as we got off. I then had the chance, about midnight, to follow a walking trail which brought me face to face with three wolves, let me watch otters pulling their prey apart (and I thought they ate leaves!) and watch flying foxes swooping for their food which had been conveniently hung near a lamp.
As we got back to the hotel the thunderstorm returned and lasted the night.
I loved Singapore and would happily return for a longer visit.