Asia first impressions

There's something I feel I should admit to everyone. You see, the thing is, if someone had told me last year that I would be ringing in 2008 in Asia, as part of a 1 year round-the-world trip, I would have said they were absolutely, certifiably nuts. Crazy, no doubt about it. I've never had a burning desire to visit Asia. The opposite actually if I want to be truthful. I even remember discussing travelling to Asia with someone and saying it sounded like my worst nightmare. Way too crowded and too many people for someone not 100% comfortable in crowds. Plus being a picky eater, Asian food is not my favorite. Yet here I am, 1 year later and I'm travelling on my own through South East Asia. Crazy!

Then why am I here, you may ask yourself? Basically this trip has been my opportunity to push myself a little bit (or a lot), to get out there and live life a whole lot differently than my usual 9 to 5 (or in my case 7 to 5) job + watching TV. I want to see exotic places than I might not feel up to seeing when I'm retired, if ever.

All that being said, I was a bit anxious and worried about starting the Asian part of my trip. Hoping that I would adapt well and enjoy this part of my itinerary, since it does represent a huge chunk of my time, in theory. I arrived in Singapore, dubbed "Asia for Dummies" in the Lonely Planet, a bit nervous, exhausted and somewhat overwhelmed.

I definitely felt odd and out of place during my first few hours of walking around. Being a visible minority and not understanding the language being spoken around you is quite the change for me. Then I realised that Singapore is basically just another big city with 1 very clear passion: shopping. The malls are absolutely everywhere, and were very crowded while I was there. I can't say if this is because of an After-Xmas shopping blitz, but whatever the reason, they were packed. Some Singaporean call shopping their hobby or favorite sport, while most tourists seem very happy to spend all their time shopping.

Since shopping ISN'T one of my passions, it seemed to me like there wasn't much to do. I visited/shopped in Little India, visited/shopped on Orchard St., went to the Night Safari (basically a night zoo), visited a museum, and made an aborted attempt at visiting Sentosa Island, Singapore's version of an amusement park/beach resort. I was just so exhausted and hot, I ended up going to the movies instead (yay!!!).

Still, I ended up being happy about my time in Singapore. It gave me a chance to adapt slowly to being a visible minority, and being stared at for some other reason than just my weight. I got the chance to rest a bit as well, taking it easy and recuperate from my time in hot & sweaty Australia.

That's it for now. More on my time in Malaysia later, I've got to go catch a bus!