Two days in Singapore - too many experiences!

What an amazing couple of days we have had here in Singapore. This is such a fascinating place with 4.6 million people all fitted into an area roughly the size of Lake Taupo. They plan to increase the population to 6 million over the next few years.

The contrast in housing is extraordinary. Most people live in 'HDBs' - high density building (I think). They build these sets of towering apartments, twenty at a time. Each set of towers gets a set of shops and a set of schools. Once complete they just move another 100,000 people into them. Instant city.

Each set of the housing towers is decorated with fishing poles, extending diagonally out from every window ledge, covered in drying laundry. Drying is a term I use loosely. The humidity is so high that after 24 hours the washing on our outside line was wetter than when it came out of the spin cycle.

The house we are staying in is one of the 'black and whites' built in the Sambawang area in the 1930s. The NZDF used them to house officers when NZ had a whole battalion up here. Now many of the houses are leased out to the Australians and Americans. This particular house is used for personnel in transit. Friends, Gillian and Steve, are based up here and invited us around to have dinner with them last night. Their home was once the 'top house' here and was taken over by the Japanese commander after Singapore surrendered during World War II. Steve's son had recently done a research project into the histroy of the house and was able to share some of its fascinating history.

Steve also took us for a drive to a local park at the beach and showed us just how close Malaysia and Singapore really are. Spitting distance. You can almost see the faces of the people in the barge-based bar across the strait. So strange for us Kiwis to see another country from the shoreline.

Today we all headed into town and began our adventures with Sinapore Slings in the Long Bar at Raffle's hotel. Caitlin and I then went off to explore the 'delights' of Orchard Road. What a contrast to the sites of the previous day. We did make some purchases but, even with the famous sales being on bargains were few and far between. We headed back to Sambawang to meet up withe Barry and Alan who had been off doing there own exploring. After picking up a few groceries for our last breakfast here we made for home.

Dinner was a difficult decision to reach so in order to appease everyone we drove to the 'Terror Club'; the local American navy club. Another culture shock. The food was everything one would expect in a military club; crumbed and deep fried with soggy salad. Having to over hear the 'gentleman' at the next table trying three times to arrange an assignation with a 'lady' added to the evening. What finally finished it for us though was the truly corny country and western music.

It's been a challenging few days on many levels; the move, the jet lag, the food, sights, smells and sounds, being blatantly in the minority. Exciting and tiring probably sum it up.

Happy 18th wedding anniversary to us!