It's amazing how a fresh perspective can make you appreciate things already familiar to you. Read what one thirteen-year-old Canadian girl had to say about her visit to Singapore.
Here is her blog entry in full:
"I offered to eat an entire durian to get out of writing this blog, but I suppose seeing me turn green isn’t as entertaining, so here it goes.
"Some people love flying. A twenty-two hour flight is the time to catch up on lost sleep, watch movies and relax. These people are usually the calm, patient people in our lives that may see flying over a typhoon exciting. I’m not one of these people.
"I won’t go into the details of the flight, but lets just say it was the perfect time to realize I couldn’t sleep on planes, and somewhere between trying to doze off and checking the time left every five minutes, I made the mistake of ordering eggs. Of course there was always the one thought that comforted me: this flight does have an end (and so does my French book). And when it does,there’ll be some amazing people waiting for me, with a whole new place full of new experiences. (Also the comforting thought that I would have ventured outside of Canada before my twin, T did cross my mind, but that has no importance).
"Singapore is a country that’s truly alive: bursting with color and culture, pulsating with spice and energy. It was only my first couple days and already I saw and tasted so many new things: after a treetop walk in the rainforest we turned a corner and instead of being surrounded by monkeys, (scarier than it sounds) there were hawker stalls and voices. In a few minutes you can go from the sweet aroma of earth and rain to rich spices and the not so sweet smell of the popular durian fruit. Thousands of pictures cannot even begin to compare. Even after a week, the only things I could conclude was that the local food is excellent, putting durian in an ice cream doesn’t make it taste better, and to truly enjoy the heat I must be a reptile.
"You can never run out of things to do in Singapore.[My hosts] always provided endless activities, whether it be attending the Singapore Symphony Orchestra at the Botanical gardens or spending the day playing m.o.n.k.e.y with a coconut on the east coast park. Day by day you discover more about this small but fascinating country, through the diverse food, dense wildlife and culture. On a memorable day we took a little boat to Pulau Ubin, one of the last rural areas in Singapore bursting with flora and fauna. Drinking from a coconut on the side of the dirt track, the only sign of human inhabitation was the smoke from a colorful shack a ways off, and even when we left our bikes for a couple of minutes to observe two wild boars and their young, they were hijacked by a bold monkey. One glare from his beady eyes and I realized I wasn’t getting my bike back anytime soon.
"One of the most interesting aspects of Singapore in my opinion is its culture and religion. Whether it be strolling through little Arab by blue sky or eating in a small restaurant one evening in little India, subtle reminders like the smell of incense from a pedestal gives color and taste to the air. Walking down a street in the morning you’ll hear prayers from a Buddhist temple, turn a corner and the red and golden pillars of a Taoist temple will appear. To witness the energy and devotion present in any of the places of worship was truly moving.
"Smelling durian in the morning… well that’s a different king of moving.
"The food in Singapore is far from being the dullest aspect of the city. In every menu there’s some new dish to try, an exotic fruit you’ve never heard of or added spice that will not only make smoke come out of your ears, but simultaneously succeed on setting off the fire alarm. Satay and roti prata are just a couple of my new favorites that I’ve discovered during my stay, by a hawker stall or served on a banana leaf. As diverse and intriguing as any, it is as if food creates a whole new culture itself in this little red dot covered by the equator.
"To understand more about this fascinating country, you can trace it back to its roots in Malaysia, a trip I‘ll never forget. From the dense city that covers the island we took abridge over floating water homes onto a deserted stretch of road, like a silver ribbon through the vast coconut plantations. On horseback we delved onto the tree covered Malaysian landscape, and with no sign of modernism in sight we followed the overgrown path, winding ahead admits the calm of the trees and the occasional screeching of unseen animals. The guide told us our horses wouldn’t shy in front of monkeys, but mine happened to take it upon him to hunt down every blade of grass on our path. I like to think it was for my own protection.
"I suppose I could go on for hundreds of pages trying to capture the full experience of Singapore, just like you could fill your camera with thousands of photos and still feel as if you’ve forgotten to take the lens cap off. But now let me put the camera down,because I am capable of putting into words the things this trip taught me. The first one being that I’ll never forget my three weeks [there].
"The second, of course, is that I’m terrible at saying good-bye.
"Thank you, T, R, M and J For such a wonderful stay."
