Singapura (2) - Road trip to Malaysia, and other adventures (Written in Singapore 27 May 2007)

Nei how,
It's my last day in Singapore. It is currently about 13:10 local time, on Sunday. My stay has been delightful, but I'm ready to move on.
On Thursday, Jon showed me some of the touristy areas of Singapore, including Chinatown,

Arab Street,

the shopping district (Orchard Road),

the Singapore river (and its ritzy restaraunts and hotels),

and Sentosa island - basically an island full of tourist-geared attractions.

Singapore has been quite fun, and its a very interesting city. It is fascinating to see the interaction of the different cultural groups (particularly the Chinese, Malay, Indians, andexpats). I am particularly fascinated by the prevelance of English, at stores, restaraunts, on street signs, on tv/radio stations, and even on street vernacular. The city is extraordinarily clean, and super modern. Carparks have electronic signs showing how many parking lots are available (parking lot = parking space). All cars are equiped with this electronic card reader which automiatically pays for parking, for highway tolls, and several other things. Effieciency is maximised in Singapore.

While that makes for a pleasant stay, it seems to be to be slightly sterile. Singapore is a great destination for a family vacation, or just to see a comfortable city. Yet, its slightly dull. To me, too much is geared towards tourism and excessive shopping, and there lacks a true character of its own. My conclusion: Singapore is a great place for a low-impact, relaxing vacation, where you can have some fantastic food. It's a pretty good value, as prices are well below European and north american standards. Yet I don't feel like I'll be rushed to come back.... and if i don't come to visit friends, i probably won't return. It lacks a truly exotic feel that I've traveled so far to find.

Malaysia, on the other hand, is entirely different. On Friday we took a road trip to Malaysia. We first stopped by a small, touristy town on the Southwest coast called Melaka, which showcases Portuguese, Dutch, English, Malayan, and Chinese influences, yet is surprisngly uninteresting. Then we went to Kuala Lumpur..... which wowed me.
Kuala Lumpur has the beauty for which Islamic cities are known for- as it is an entirely Islamic city, and much of its archeticture pays homage to this faith. It is also a very economically prosperous city. This shows itself through spectacular sky scrapers.

All over the sprawling city you see these high rises. Nestled between these glitzy and far-from-monotonous high rise buildings, is acres of green jungle space, and vibrant street life. Some of the streets are rather grungy, while some are extraordinarily glitzy. While KL does have its share of tourist traps, the city to me seemed to have much more a character of its own. Chinatown is not as superficial as in Singapore, and serves mostly as a vibrant flea market (where you can get dirt cheap and illegal DVDs).

The city is somewhat ineffiecent, which to me adds a bit to its charm. It's just a whole lot happening, and its a whole lot of craziness, yet is just barely manageable. Perhaps my image is a bit unfair, considering that I was only there for a few hours. But, I definetely promise to myself to return there. From my very short visit, KL to me is a good compromise between the utter grunginess of some third world cities, and the uber efficiency of Singapore. It has a really fascinating vibe, and I would love to see it again.

Alas, my time in KL was quite short. And I have just a few hours left in Singapore. Jon and I leave tomorrow morning for Rangoon. I hope to update in Rangoon, but in case I can't: see you in Thailand. I wish you all blessings and health. If you want to get a hold of me, send me an email at ROCO148@msn.com. Thanks for reading, and take care!