My first day in Singapore after leaving Munich on November 22. As it is raining - the second thunderstorm today - I decided to get online. To not become unnecessarily wet and have a bit of a rest after a 2 hour walk in Little India (which actually is fairly big!). I survived the 12 hour flight pretty well, I had a good companion: an Irish gentleman, grandfather of 16 (!) on his way to Australia to spend Christmas with his three daughters. And he told me everything...! I felt very comfortable, also within the longest turbulence that I ever witnessed on a plane. Besides the fact that we were served by a funny steward that made me smile quite a lot (for sure gay, although he was wearing a ring which tells me that there must be thousands of married gay men out there...!).
My first impression of Singapore was: haze! We saw not the smallest piece of the sky when landing....an experience which fortunately didn't continue today. Singapore to me is humid, hot, quite calm, very tidy and the real face I hope still to discover. I heard unknown birds today, actually waking me up. The tropical heat is doing its good, I feel to eat less and to drink more. I could already enjoy my first fruit salad: fresh ananas, melon, apple and some unknown fruit! It was fantastically refreshing, and some butterflies were sharing my joy, as big as a child's hand.
The city seems to have been constructed on a chessboard, traffic is calm, busses are brand new, and everything seems to work very efficiently. I got to understand a bit more about this town during dinner with Alex yesterday evening. She is living here since more than 4 years and is hosting me for this week. I don't even know to distinguish the difference Asian populations, so need to learn a lot! Apparently there are Chinese, Malay, Malaysian and Indian people, and the rule is: the darker your skin color, the lower your position and respect in society. I am trying to understand this better by what I see in the shops and restaurants. It seems that racism has a different dimension here, and I realize that Asia is a world by its own with its own rules. It makes me think of Tiziano Terziano who spent half of his life in Asia which is probably the time you need to understand life here better.
My friends, I leave you here, rain has stopped and I hope to continue my walk!
No comments:
Post a Comment