When I was in Singapore last year, I saw the world’s largest fountain. Several times a day the shopping center in which the fountain was located would host a laser light show, featuring a variety of images that were projected onto a curtain of falling water. The Japanese fountain in the video below bests the Singaporean version. It uses water to actually create the images. I can only marvel at the technology and precision that must have been required to create this display. The Japanese company that manufactured the fountain calls it a “Space Writer.” I call it a water writer. Take a look:

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It seems a simple thing, crossing a street. But my idea of how to get across a busy street in the U.S., whether on foot or in a vehicle, is significantly different from methods employed to cross streets in other places in the world. For example, take a look at this video showing a busy street in India:

As I traveled around the world I was intrigued by the various means employed to cross a street. On my very first morning in Saigon, Vietnam I spotted a bakery across the street from my hotel. I stood at the curb for 15 minutes, waiting for a break in the monstrous traffic but the vehicles just kept coming. Just as I was about to give up, a local man stepped off the curb, walked out into the midst of the traffic, and slowly crossed the street as the vehicles weaved and darted around him. Eventually, I got up the nerve to try it and stepped out into the stream of traffic. Read the rest of this entry »

Hi Everybody! I’ve uploaded all my Singapore photos to the photo library, which includes all the shots from the Singapore blogs, as well as many shots that were not included in the blog. If you’d like to view all the Singapore photos, simply click on the above button labeled “Photos” and follow the instructions. I’ll be back once I get to Africa!!!!

Safe: Singapore may be the safest city in the world

Clean: Clean drinking water, clean river, clean streets

Orderly: There are lots of laws and regulations here, but they do not seem too onerous. The people are happy and everyone just seems to do what is “right.” For example, at a bus stop yesterday, I watched people automatically queue in an orderly line along the sidewalk, without benefit of stanchion and chains. There is no pushing or rudeness; only polite orderliness.

I finally found a part of Singapore that is not perfect. The direct path from the city center to Singapore’s Chinatown took me through the Chinese food sector. Here, although the streets were still litter free, the odor emanating from the markets and restaurants was a mixture of soy sauce, sweet and sour sauce, and rotting meat. The smell was so rancid I nearly lost the contents of my stomach a couple of times. All Chinese markets have this smell in common and they have never before bothered me in quite this way. But ever since I unexpectedly found myself in a Chinese meat market in Vietnam, where rotting pigs heads sat on outdoor counter tops aside putrefying rows of stuffed sausages, I find I cannot tolerate the odor of rotting meat. I held my breath and passed through the area as quickly as possible, grateful not to have embarrassed myself by throwing up all over the sidewalk amidst the throngs of shoppers.

Singapore's Chinatown

The heart of Chinatown is a long pedestrian mall that is accessed from an overpass leading from one of the city’s busier avenues. A brightly painted latticework canopy, supported by tall wooden beams, provides shade in the sizzling Singapore midday heat. Red and gold Chinese paper lanterns zig-zag overhead, while red, green and gold patio umbrellas line the sidewalks. Read the rest of this entry »

I am enchanted. I am captivated. From the moment I arrived this city/state it felt like home – it was instantly familiar to me. No matter where I wander I seem to instinctively know where I am without having to look at a map. Alone I have walked its streets until midnight, carrying expensive photo equipment on my back without feeling the slightest apprehension. Singapore is one of those places where people come for a visit and stay forever. It is not hard to understand why:

• Singapore is safe. There is virtually no crime because it is a small island state – criminals cannot easily escape. Plus, the penalties for crime are steep. They regularly carry out the death penalty for drug trafficking. Yet I haven’t see any police presence during my stay.
• English is the first language in Singapore
• Singapore is multi-cultural and diverse
• The cost of living is reasonable and the quality of life is high
• Singapore is modern, with all the same conveniences found in the United States
• The sewers and toilets work and the city does not smell like most Asian cities
• It tap water is safe to drink
• The people of Singapore are exceedingly friendly and welcoming
• The weather is warm year-round, without excessive heat most of the year
• The residency and migration requirements are lenient
• It is a highly moral and ethical society – everywhere there are signs that the population wants to do what is correct and right. There is no litter or graffiti in Singapore. There are no homeless. No houses of ill repute to which the government turns a blind eye. Even the schoolchildren, when interviewed on TV, are explaining how it is wrong to “bully” on the Internet.

With only one more day in Singapore I tried to cram as much into today as possible, beginning with a visit to the famous Sultan Mosque on Arab Street where, much to my surprise, I was permitted to go inside. Most mosques are off-limit to non-Muslims, but this one allows visitors to view the main worship hall from the entryway and corridor surrounding it.

Sultan Mosque on Arab Street

Sultan Mosque on Arab Street

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In a city vibrant with color, Little India is perhaps the most flamboyant of Singapore’s many ethnic neighborhoods. Life bubbles over in Little India. The streets are lined with stalls selling everything from fresh fruits and vegetables to used computers, stacked in a high tower on the curb. Indian men rattle incoherent streams of Hindi into cell phones glued to their ears as they rush up and down the street. Lines of pedicabs pedal customers around the narrow streets. Women in exquisite, lusciously colored saris cluster on street corners, waiting for public transportation.

Little India in Singapore

Bicycle rickshaws in Little India

One such group of women in particular took my breath away and I snapped a photo, hoping my intrusion wouldn’t be noticed. No such luck – the woman in the dark green sari looked up the moment I lowered the camera and flashed a brilliant white smile at me. “Would you like to see the photo?” I asked. I leaned over, turning the camera around so she could see herself on the digital display. Her friends clustered around, exclaiming over the photo. “You are all so beautiful,” I said, adding, “Your saris are gorgeous – so colorful – would you like me to take another photo of all of you?” Shy at first, they slowly adjusted their saris, stood or sat up ramrod straight, and gazed regally into the lens.

Women dressed in beautiful silk Saris and Salwar Kameez in Little India

Women dressed in beautiful silk Saris and Salwar Kameez in Little India

I again turned the camera around and watched each of their faces light up with delight as they saw themselves in the photo. I put my hands together in front of my heart and bowed to them – “Dhanyavat,” I said in Hindi – thank you. “Oh no,” they replied in unison, “thank you!” The power of the camera never ceases to amaze me. Read the rest of this entry »

Somebody let the cat out of the bag. I wanted to slip into Singapore unobtrusively, walk its city streets, ride its river and soak in its atmosphere as just another face in the crowd. I walked the few blocks from my hotel to the Singapore River and was contentedly watching the bum boats ply the waters when suddenly there was a deafening roar. Directly overhead, five helicopters flew in formation, the lead one towing an enormous Singaporean flag to welcome me. As I enjoyed dinner at an outdoor table along the banks of the river, fighter jets thundered in the sky above my head. Really, no need to go to so much trouble! As dusk fell I joined the crowds strolling along the river – families with ice cream cones, young lovers on benches with their arms twirled around one another, corporate types enjoying after-hours cocktails. Spontaneously I jumped aboard one of the canopied bum boats for a half hour cruise down the river.

Helicopters fly in formation over Singapore, carrying the Singaporean flag

Fireworks from the top of a highrise

No sooner had we left the dock than the fireworks began, with stunning bursts showering down from skyscrapers in my honor. The boat reversed direction and motored into a sky full of giant illuminated jellyfish kites, their tentacles bobbing up and down between adjacent fountains and bridges. Really, Singapore, this is just too much – the extent of your welcome is almost embarrassing!

Seriously, I have no idea what the festivities were all about. It didn’t seem to be a holiday of any kind. I also determined that it was not an everyday event. It felt as if it was being done specifically on my behalf, and perhaps the Universe did arrange it that way. It certainly provided me with a spectacular introduction to Singapore. Read the rest of this entry »