The mix is Singapore

A long flight to Singapore was made better by the showing of the most underrated film of all time (or all last couple months) that being speed racer. I thoroughly enjoyed it, especially for everything that it wasn’t. I felt like it was a trip on lsd combined with formula 1 (is there anything better). Arriving in Singapore was welcoming, made especially by the outrageous airport Changi. This occupied me for a while as I was well hungry and needed to store my bag for the night.

I had about 24 hours in Singapore, I used this time to explore the city and learn about the mix of cultures that makes up this interesting country.

Things I really enjoyed doing and would recommend to others is:
Seeing the city from the ocean along side the esplande mall.

The esplande and ferris wheel

Singapore skyline

Having a meal in a hawkers market, for $4.00 I got a dish of chinese, a really good pineapple juice and a warm piece of watermelon (The water melon wasn't very nice, but everything else was real good).

Hawkers market in Bugis

Having a bit of a barter with some sales people in Sim Lim mall. I got a wide angle lens for my camera for $120 which usually retails at about $200. (Although mine is probably something spewed out a Chinese factory for $5).

Some mall, shot taken with new wide angle lens

I found the mix of cultures quite interesting. The city is a combination of Malay, Chinese, Indian, and Westerners. This makes for some great eating, but I found that some cultures were a bit suffocated by western values. Everyone was trying to be a westerner, the main written language was English, and the amount of American franchises was getting way over the top. It seemed to be looking towards America and saying we want to be you. There is a historical reason for all this happening to do with war and colonisation I guess, but it was just a shame that they feel the way forward is to become American.

What I also found bad was the lack of things to do. For someone living there I'd be bored within a week. Although I don't know exactly what goes on day to day, it seemed people just worked, then shopped and ate. The city is crammed onto this small over populated island, so there is communist styled apartment blocks everywhere which made it feel very compressed. The amount of shopping malls was ridiculous, and it seemed people on their day off from work would just go to the mall (probably the one they work at too...).

Costs:
The Singapore dollar is approximately equal to a NZ dollar, this meant prices were basically the same as in New Zealand although there were good deals to be found.
Shopping: 1 wide angle lens = $120
Eating: Meal in hawkers market = $4
Transport: Train to airport = $1.70
Cash withdrawal fee because my bank isn't in alliance with any singapore banks = $8
Departure tax from Christchurch airport = $25
Total spent in 24 hours in Singapore = $227
Running total = $3609