Singapore Sling

The Singapore Sling is really famous rum drink here in Singapore. While I do like rum, I prefer cheap coconut rum (Malibu) to drinks that cost nearly as much as my stay at the hostel. Singapore is expensive by Asian standards, but a decent deal for Americans. It is an island city state at the tip of Malaysia. The island is barely long enough to run a marathon from end to end. 

There are many effects of its location and its small footprint. Singapore is one of the world's largest ports. The island is too small to make anything, and there are no real natural resources, so all of the nation's wealth comes from the port. They import everything here - even tap water. Land and therefore housing are scarce, so the government controls housing for 85% of the people. Only the a absolute richest have their own homes. There are huge high rise malls catering to the rich all over. I saw four Gucci stores yesterday. I was in one mall standing next to a Gucci store looking out a window across the street to another Gucci store. The number of high end stores makes Las Vegas look like New Orleans. These malls must cater to tourists because it doesn't seem like the people who live here would have the money to support them.

Government control is what leads this place to run so smoothly. The government controls everything and has fines for everything. Chewing gum has only recently become legal in Singapore, but it is only allowed to help people quit smoking. They are building the first casino here. Visitors will be able to go there for free, but there will be a $100 entrance fee for citizens of Singapore to discourage them from gambling. I don't think New Orleans would ever do that. Cars are taxed heavily, so only the rich have cars. This means the cars are extremely nice. Most of the cars are really nice since rich people drive them. I haven't seen a single old car on the road, so I feel like there is probably some law against that. Singapore also has the most incredible subway system I have ever experienced. It is called the MRT for mass rapid transit, and nearly everyone that lives here uses it. The tunnel for the elevators at one of the stations was completely surrounded my LED screens and white glass the give the effect of going up through a field of flowers. That was when I knew I was in Asia.

I'm leaving for Bangkok, Thailand in a couple hours. This is one of the cities I'm most nervous about, so I'm staying at a nice American hotel with hopes that everything there will be much calmer than the rest of the city.