When the Lone Ranger travels...: Hello Singapore! Long time no see...

singapore 15 - 17 january 2009

i have only been to singapore for 3 times.

the first was a graduation trip in my 6th grade in primary school, year 1987. i hardly hold any memory about it, what i remember is i took a lot of ridiculous pictures with my schoolmates in the hotel room. we dressed up like the hong kong superstar in that era - anita mui. anyone who's familiar with hong kong 80's music scene, could have imagined how ridiculous a bunch of 12-yr old would look like when mimicking anita mui.

year 1999, i went to singapore for my company annual dinner because the head office was set up there. it was a very rushy trip. we took the night train right after finishing work in the office, and arrived next morning around 8am. i remember my breakfast was 'nasi lemak', with a dry piece of salted fish and few sticks of french fries (hmm...). and again, i didn't collect much memory from this trip as well. every time i recall this trip, i can only remember that 'nasi lemak' with french fries. and i saw a gigantic woman fell down in front of me in china town, from the moment she fell and stood up, it took about 5 mins.

so when i decided to visit singapore for the 3rd time, i have no idea how to roam around in this city as it was the most spontaneous act i ever done for traveling, it only took me 10 minutes from making decision to buying flight tickets. i only contacted a friend there and arranged where to stay, that's all.

holding the instructions my friend gave me, i stood in front of the mrt ticket machine in changi airport for minutes, my mind went blank. it's not that everything is unfriendly there, i just got nervous the moment i stepped into this city. everything is so systematic, so clean, so organized. the blocks of flats are like lego, very neat. even the traffic jam on the road looks like a car park because all cars line up almost symmetrically. i feel that if i make any mistake there would be an alarm bell ringing and policemen would arrest me from 4 corners.

singaporeans are all disciplined. they just follow the rules government sets. i have no reason to say that is not good. from this short stay i see no vandalism, people willing to walk minutes away to smoke in the designated area, people don't jaywalk, cars REALLY STOP in front of zebra crossing, no littering especially no one will just trash the cigarette buds on the floor...etc. Malaysian like me will take some time to get used to it, but it's not a bad thing to adapt to.

i didn't went to many tourist spots but thanks to my dear friend for showing me around the city. i walked a lot. i believe you'll see more when you are willing to walk, because of the pace, your sight naturally lands on more things. we talked a lot. paused a lot. laughed a lot. ate a lot. and i don't mind to get nervous in this city again.

singapore in my eyes..