Singapore - The Lion City - Part 1

my first trip to Singapore.  Norina saw i was in HK and said, why don't you come to Singapore?  It's close and i saw tickets for $200 so I jumped on it because I don't know the next time i'll be back that way or have friends in Singapore cuz they're leaving.  Norina and Mike used to live in Tokyo but moved to Singapore a year ago.  Norina is something like half Singaporean, which could mean a number of things because singapore is a new country made up mostly of Malay, Indian, and Chinese peeps.  It gained independence in 1963 so has only been around for 49 years.  It has 4 official languages, Englsh, Tamil, Malay, and Chinese.  Being so diverse means there is no one set of culturally acceptable behaviors.  I can imagine it would be hard to get singaporeans to feel pride for their newly founded country and get a set Singaporean culture.

sorry about this obligatory out the airplane window shot.  Singapore is the furthest south I've ever been on the globe.  and it's pretty hot and humid yes.  I think it's comparable with tokyo in the summer.

Holy!  remember singapore was the place where that american kid got canned and the US was so mad about it?  it might have been for spitting gum on the sidewalk.  WARNING DEATH FOR DRUG TRAFFICKERS UNDER SINGAPORE LAW

Went to this Dosa place.  First time seeing dosa, it's from southern india.  

its like a huuuuge crepe and you eat it with that stuff

i think this might also be a dosa but another variety.  it was all super delish and might have been my favorite food in singapore.

Little India

these flower things serve some kind of religious purpose that i forgot about.

there's all these shophouses where the shop is downstairs and they live upstairs.

Sri Mariamman Temple is the oldest Hindu temple in Singapore.

we went inside, it's pretty elaborate with tons of figures inside doing crazy freaky things.  the norm if you're hindu, but crazy looking to me

the 4 official languages in the 3 official scripts, latin english, chinese, tamil

smart phone dressed in indian attire

i didn't know there is something called horny goat weed for real.

we had some ultra sweet indian deserts

Marina Bay Sands hotel

Singapore skyline.  that's it.  you know i thought it would be bigger.  Singapore has 5 million people.

"the durian" don't know what it real name is but that's what they call it here cuz it resembles a durian, that big spiky fruit that smells very bad.  Norina told me its illegal to bring a durian onto the buses here.

japanese on these signs.

Singapore is nicknamed the lion city.  i guess there used to be lions here.  they symbol of singapore is the merlion (mermaid and lion combined) because it's the lion city and its on the ocean which means it is involved in a lot of maritime activities.

me and the merlion

it's really gotta suck to move in norina's building.