From one metropolis to the next

Fra en koloenorm storby til en anden - tirsdag kl. 18.10 landede vi i Singapore efter 4 dage i Bangkok efter Hua Hin. Bangkok var vildt; det thailandske nytår, Songkran, begyndte dagen efter vi ankom, og som følge af det var byens turistcentrum et kaos i næsten al den tid, vi var der. Det var meget vådt, eftersom nytåret fejres ved at alle plasker vand på hinanden med vandpistoler. Ikke noget jeg normalt ville forbinde med fejringen af et nyt år, men man er vel også ovre på den anden side af jorden!

Videre til Singapore - hvor Bangkok var enorm og kaotisk, er Singapore bare enorm. Ordet 'kaos' eksisterer ikke her. Selv Tokyo kan ikke følge med længere, og jeg havde ikke troet jeg skulle leve til at se en by, der kunne måle sig med Tokyo hvad angår renhed, orden og pænhed på trods af den store befolkningstæthed, man finder i begge byer. Men Singapore er bare i en klasse for sig. Den ligger nr. 3 på verdens ranglisten over befolkningstæthed, og hvor det kan mærkes i Tokyo, er bybilledet ikke overrendt her. Det spiller bare. At det hele så fungerer på grund af en utrolig stram overmagt (tyggegummi er ulovligt; det siger lidt om standarden!), kan man jo se som man vil. Men der kan ikke være nogen tvivl om, at Singapore bare holder. Så mange forskellige kulturer og mennesker, der lever side om side på en ø, der er 716 kvadratkilometer stor. Det er altså imponerende!

Dog er det allerede farvel til Singapore imorgen, da jeg fandt en billig flybillet til Kuala Lumpur, Malaysias hovedstad. Jeg glæder mig helt ustyrligt til at se KL, som de lokale kalder den - og jeg glæder mig til besøge endnu et land. Malaysia er det sidste land, jeg besøger i denne omgang - på torsdag påbegynder jeg min hjemrejse til Skotland igen, så det er bare om at nyde de sidste par dage!

From one huge city to another - Tuesday afternoon, I flew from Bangkok to Singapore after staying in the Thai capital for 4 days. Bangkok was definitely an interesting experience; it was chaotic and even though I actually like Bangkok as a city, 4 days was more than enough. Songkran, the Thai new year, began the day after we arrived from Hua Hin and the touristic centrum of Bangkok turned into a watergun fight with locals and tourists splashing water all day long. Very wet experience! It was interesting to experience a different way of welcoming the new year - water is something I'd never connect with new year's, but hey, I'm half way round the globe, so ya can't expect everything to be the same!

Moving on to Singapore - whilst Bangkok is one big, happy mess, Singapore is the stricter and cleaner cousin. Singapore is huge as well, but it just works here. The Singaporean dictionary doesn't include the word 'chaos'. Even Tokyo - and I never thought I'd live to see a city overtake Tokyo in terms of law and order - has gotten some serious competition. Singapore has the 3rd largest population density in the world and whilst I'm guessing Tokyo's just as dense, you don't feel it here. The streets aren't overly crowded all the time - how that's even possible, I have no clue. But it's impressive! The fact that all this is caused by very strict laws imposed by a very strict (and indirectly homophobic) government is the other side of the coin, but I guess you can't have it all. Just to give an example: chewing gum's illegal. Just saying. However, there cannot be any doubt that it works; Singapore works and it's cool. There are three dominant cultures/ethnic groups/peoples, whatever you like to call it; Malays, Chinese and Indian. We have Chinatown and Little India. You see every shade of yellow, white and black possible in the general street scene and people live side by side. It's amazing to see.