sling

Everyone said that a couple of days was plenty for Singapore, and uniformly - people in Australia, even people working at the hostel here - are mildly surprised that I am here for FOUR FULL DAYS, like it is epic. But after day one in Singapore, really, there is plenty to do.

Or maybe it will just take me a long time to do anything, because it is ridiculously hot and humid and I am in constant danger of melting onto the sidewalk.

Singapore is hugely international, that's the first thing I notice. All of the signs are in four languages (but the first is fortunately English, so I can even find my way about). Today, I wandered Little India, Chinatown, scouted a major vestige of Colonial Britain, and ate dinner at an Egyptian place. I feel like I've done a mini-RTW in one day.

Part of the reason it was so full was that this hostel, more than any other I've been to, makes it easy to meet people. I am not sure why, but just sitting at breakfast this morning, I met three girls, and spent the day with two of them, and since one is leaving in two days, she wanted to see as much as possible. Then tonight, I went to dinner with the third. I've made more headway making friends here than I have just about the entire trip. Weird, but nice.

Anyway, even though it's relatively small, it takes a while to get around. It's not expensive, but it's not cheap. The street food is everywhere, and really impressive. I don't know if it will be possible to drink enough water in the next month. And even though it's only midnight, and I got lots of sleep last night, I can barely keep my eyes open.

Those are my day one Singapore thoughts.