Singapore...hotter than a snake's butt in a wagon rut

(Hindu Temple where I stayed for several hours. While there I was invited to celebrate a girls first birthday and tried several foods that they had brought to the gods)

The weather out there today is hot and lousy with continued hot and lousy in the afternoon. Tomorrow a chance of continued crappy with a sub-par weather front coming down from the north. Basically, it's hotter than a snake's butt in a wagon rut. Although Singapore is the melting-pot of Asia, with more diversity and assortment of cultures than any city or country that I have been in--with amazing buildings, interesting neighborhoods and great food, nothing makes-up for that fact that it is HOT….I mean really HOT. It reminds me of the Mississippi heat that envelopes your entire being, which makes you wonder why the business men and women walking around in suits are not thrashing off all their clothing and asking to be doused with ice-water.

There were aspects of my stay in Singapore that made the experience maybe a little rougher than for most visiting. First, I selected a hostel that was located in the Little India District. This particular hostel was run by a very friendly family that had recently moved from Delhi…which is rumored to be one of the hottest cities in India. This meant that their idea of hot was much different from this northern girl. This impassive attitude towards the heat meant that the air-conditioning was NEVER turned on and the fan was rarely spinning. Also, there was a very different idea of what a suitable bathroom was. I mean I have been in some rather disarrayed places (most notably in China), but this by far took the prize. I am unclear if it was the toilet that directly drained into the grated sewer that then ran into the shower room or the random lizards that welcomed you as you washed your sweaty body. However much my housing experience played toward the negative…the actual city made-up for it.(please note that if you are willing to shell out more money you will have an urban experience much more like New York)

(If you look closely you will see a wood door in the bottom right hand side of the peach colored building....that is my hostel. There was no sign for the place, only a piece of cardboard with the house number writen in pencil.)

(A random cemetery I stummbled upon on my 7 hour walk. )

(Marina Bay...the towers are a hotel with a pool/garden ontop. The onion looking thing is a museum with a very very expencive shopping mall behind.)

One my favorite experiences was walking the city (basically for 7 hours) and then hitting an outdoor viewing of Viva Las Vegas as well as catching a drink at Raffles Hotel (I actually spent several hours there….they have great air-conditioning :). Many know Singapore as the capital of rules, but I have to say that with such a clash of cultures, it seems that these rules are needed to maintain order and cleanliness. Interestingly enough, I only saw police officers once (and never once heard sirens…which is rare for such a large city) and so the fact that these rules are followed (with most of the population being immigrants) is pretty amazing! Now on to Cambodia to begin my research.