Traveling: Impressions of Singapore

Our first impressions of Singapore was that Singapore were impressive. The airport was large, clean, very modern - lot of stores and it seemed that the security was actually up-to-date.

We had a driver meet us at the gate and take us to our hotel. We loved all the Christmas lights that were up already. Everywhere we looked was decked out in lights. Since we arrived at dark, we got the full effect of all the lights in the trees. Apparently, every year they have a different color scheme -this year the colors were gold and silver with the theme of "Glitzy Christmas". It was all so beautiful.

Our hotel was equally beautiful. It was downtown close to several malls and the river. It was so nice to have stores and restaurants - and real Starbucks!! - within walking distance.

Also, close to our hotel was the "Fountain of Wealth" with five buildings around it. The buildings and the fountain were presenting of a hand - the building the fingers - and the water of the fountain wealth pouring into the palm.

Much like the Chinese, Singaporeans believe in luck. It was said to be lucky if you could touch the water of the fountain. Several times a week, they allowed people to walk to the middle of the fountain to touch the water - while they took your picture in which they would sell to you for a nice price.

We chose to skip the "lucky" ritual and just trust Jesus for a good life.

Singapore really is a beautiful city - very clean. The buses and subway were also very clean and were easy to use. It's a very easy city to get around. There were also water taxis. Many of the buildings were nice looking - very few "run down" buildings. We never saw any abandon buildings like we do in DC or New York. There's lots of "green space". In fact they are building several new gardens. By the end of next year, it'll be an even more of a beautiful city.

But would I ever want to live there? That's the question Drew wanted to know. He would love to get a job there once our military life is over. But me? I don't know. It's even farther away from home that Guam. Maybe in a few years...right now I need a good dose of an American life.