Time flies, doesn\u2019t it? It has been nearly four days since I arrived in Singapore, and since then I\u2019ve seen and done quite a lot. Nevertheless, it\u2019s hard for me to believe I haven\u2019t already been kicked out of the country because of some faux pas, real or imagined, on my part. One of the few and admittedly minor concerns I had in coming here is that I\u2019d do something to unintentionally offend someone \u2014 or worse, a whole group of people \u2014 on a grand scale. After all, it happens all the time at home.<\/p>\n
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But as I was saying, the days in Singapore go by fast, certainly faster than they appear to back in central USA. (And this is even accounting that I\u2019ve awoken each and every morning so far at 6:45 AM, just like clockwork \u2014 I never can do that at home for some reason.) I\u2019m having so much fun, I\u2019d just as soon they\u2019d never end.<\/p>\n
When I\u2019m not graced with the presence of Yang and Ling, my favorite activity is the journey to one place in Singapore to another. I\u2019m such a county bumpkin that, yes, it\u2019s sort of like an adventure every time I leave <\/a>The Rivervale<\/a> apartment buildings. The security guards pay this Ang Moh absolutely no mind as I frequently step out the side gate and traipse toward the nearest bus stop where I generally stand around looking rather clueless to the local stop-side locals waiting for the next bus to arrive and wisp them on their way . . . sometimes I even manage to collect my wits and take the bus, too.<\/p>\n But then it\u2019s on to my very favorite activity: catching the MRT train. The hustle and bustle of Singapore is not at all limited to what one can see on the ground. Quite the contrary, there\u2019s as much commotion occurring down beneath the surface as people push, shove, and generally climb atop and over one another in an effort to catch the docked train before it departs. Taking the escalator down to the docking area of a soon-departing train is quite the experience. If I didn\u2019t get such a kick out of what is the epitome of an atavistic endeavor, I\u2019d just hurl myself down the middle-lying stairs and come out ahead.<\/p>\n If I haven\u2019t come off as a complete greenhorn yet, just wait until I write about the food. The sheer variety of food installations in Singapore \u2014 above and below ground \u2014 fascinates me. When I go it alone to a hawkers\u2019 center (most easily found in the gazillion shopping plazas), I try to go when it\u2019s not crowded. That way there\u2019s more than enough tables and seating available and I\u2019m not forced to eat so fast I derail a fork or chopstick into my eye. Plus, the hawkers aren\u2019t nearly as eager to get rid of you to clear the impending queue forming behind you!<\/p>\n Yang has loaned me a camera, and I\u2019m just now growing accustomed enough to Singapore to not feel too self-conscious wielding it. I figure any hopes of me not sticking out like a sore thumb are entirely hopeless as it is. I might as well embody the look of the clueless tourist while I\u2019m at it \u2014 that\u2019s exactly what I happen to be anyway! Perhaps I\u2019ll have some pictures to exhibit soon. Who knows what is in store?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Time flies, doesn\u2019t it? It has been nearly four days since I arrived in Singapore, and since then I\u2019ve seen and done quite a lot. Nevertheless, it\u2019s hard for me to believe I haven\u2019t already been kicked out of the<\/p>\n