The most Western city in the East...

(MAKE SURE TO CLICK ON THE 'VIEW MORE PHOTOS'!!)

SARA:

We landed in Singapore around 12pm, which was actually about 6am the day before for us. Overly exhausted and immediately too hot to handle, we made it to our hostel and was warmly met by Andriana - the owner of our Welcome Home Inn Hostel and her to kittens, Whiskey and Tequila. Whom both Kati and fell deeply in love with as they met us everyday at the front door and were a great source of entertainment for us. After relaxing, eating and falling asleep for almost 12 hours - we were prepared to meet the hustle and bustle of Singapore. And start our real travels...

our trip there included feeding an Ostrich, walking among tropical neon colorful birds, being inside a manmade rainforest with birds flying freely and a 30 meter waterfall

Singapore is probably the best (and worst place) to begin a journey in Southeast Asia. It is incredibly Western-ly influenced and everyone - I mean everyone, speaks English. So much so that there is more English writing and English phrases all over the city than any other language. The announcements on their Trains are even in English. The city is so easy to navigate and extremely simply laid out that you have to work really hard to get lost.

This can be an advantage to getting around from place to place, and its easy to learn customs and a great way to talk to people - but it can be even more of a culture shock when you get out of the city and enter the more (realistic) parts of Southeast Asia

In Singapore food is about as highly regarded as needing air to breathe. The people of Singapore eat about five times a day, and there is no lack of delicious food. The city is also extremely clean and you can drink the water, so eating at little hawker stands (like food kiosks) right off the street is no big deal. We were undoubtedly the only white people at these places, and get plenty of awkward stares from every single person around. But this didn't stop us from diving right into the culture food and trying amazing meals full of flavor and meaty things that tasted incredible - even though we had little to know idea what it was.

Singapore also happens to be the most expensive country that we will visit, which presents itself with shops all over the places like Gucci and Prada, and the amount of money that the locals spend seems to be never-ending. It's an incredibly affluent city, and doesn't stop at proving itself so. Shopping Malls are never ending, we must have seen hundreds of them all over the city. And packed to the brim with people standing in line to buy the latest trends. It was a bit overwhelming in fact, with almost no lush forests or natural plant life. Skyscrapers towering over the city, and everyone lives in an apartment. If you live in a house - it costs you approx $1 million dollars and up. In other words, Singapore is basically the Asian version of New York City.

Positive aspects of Singapore is that there is SO MUCH to do! Trying to make a decision on where to go - when, can be extremely overwhelming. Thankfully, both Kati and I were drawn to the Jurong Bird Park - which holds over 600 species of birds, with a total of 8000 birds living at this park. The enormous, enormous park. It took almost 5 hours to navigate the entire area. Basically our trip there included feeding an Ostrich, walking among tropical neon colorful birds, being inside a manmade rainforest with birds flying freely and a 30 meter waterfall, and watching two peacocks fighting...the list goes on forever. It was an incredibly beautiful day full of so many different types of birds that one might never get to see in the real world. I am so happy I went, and would recommend to it anyone who travels through Singapore.

KATI:

Besides the awesome bird park (with

the exception of the owls and penguins who need to be freed from their

tiny boxes asap), we toured the city the most typical way we could

think of: in an open-air, double decker bus replete with a tour guide

on a mic. Cheesy yet informative. On the way to the Hippo tour, I

almost had a heart attack after accidentally spitting on the sidewalk.

Fines are given for spitters as well as litterers ($1000 Singapore

Dollars for the latter). Luckily, no cops in sight. In fact, we hardly

felt a police presence at all. Unless they're all undercover, I only

saw officers once. After the Hippo tour, we decided to walk around

Little India to find food. Not the best idea. As is the norm in Indian

culture, it is the men who go out at night. And as is the norm on

Sunday nights in Singapore, it is the time when all of the Pakistani,

Sri Lankan, and Indian men who are working contracted labor jobs

congregate and socialize. We entered Man-world, which was literally

spilling over with guys (in the streets, on the sidewalks, in the

cafes), and we exited a few blocks later.

This trip has so far been educating me on how it feels to be watched.

Not only that night (as we were painfully out of place), but most days

too. Sara and i both draw attention, but blondes are like an

endangered species in SE asia.

We spent a total of 4 days in Singapore and I'd like to go back. It's

a serious money drain, but there's a lot to do and see and the food is

just so goddamn good. ESPECIALLY coconut water. These coconuts are the

immature version of what we get in the states. Up to a liter of sweet,

refreshing water in them and the meat, instead of being hard and dry,

is smooth and soft like gelatin. Believe me when I say that nature

cannot have made a more perfect treat.

Another fabulous drink is sugar cane juice. The cane is run through a

press by hand, extracting a pleasant tasting and not overly sweet

water. It's drink heaven here and there are so many home-made

beverages to choose from.

So, after Singapore we bussed out to a town called Mersing in south

eastern Malaysia. After the Malaysian border crossing, Sara and I grew

confused and, instead of making it back to the bus (and then to the

bus station for our transfer), we followed the crowd into a mall. The

mall was most definitely not the bus and therefore we were lost. This

pre-empted my first experience with a squat toilet. The squat toilet

is elevated. There is a hose or bucket of fresh water to wash with,

and it seems advisable to remove everything from the waist down if

more than pee is going to come out. Beyond that, I just don't know

about them. It's like peeing in the woods, but not as relaxing and

there's no tree to grab on to.

We finally exchanged enough broken english to figure out where to

catch a bus that would take us to the Larkin Bus Terminal. The

security guard with the semi-automatic commented on my tattoos and his

friend commented on Obama becoming our president. In fact, most

people, after finding out we're American, exclaim "Obama!" It's

incredible to see the far-reaching impact the election is having.

People (in Malaysia and Singapore, at least) are hopeful and excited,

waiting with baited breath to see what change will come.

Many hours later we arrived in Mersing (the bus never stopped though,

so we got dropped 2km away on the side of the road). The taxi driver

who picked us and our giant backpacks up was laughing. We rested, we

ate, and the next day we took a ferry to Pulau Tioman.