Singapore. My new favorite city. Perhaps I just had low expectations, but I had a great trip this weekend. Everyone told me Singapore was just like a typical "western" city. Well, western cities wish! Ok, first off I guess it is kind of a police state, what with the canings and all (in fact, I'm even a little nervous being a tad critical of the place here!) And my libertarian leanings were severely tested by the compulsory use of seat-belts in the back seats of cabs. They make a cute t-shirt for tourists: "Singapore. A Fine City. A Fine for jaywalking. A Fine for chewing gum. A Fine for littering." You get the idea. But still -- what a wonderful town! Yes, the city is clean, but not sterile. It is really beautiful -- they invest a lot in keeping it very green and lush with orchids and palms and other foliage. Here the jungle isn't concrete. And there was so much street-theater going on everywhere -- from kids doing some type of Asian line dancing, to a contest to see how many people could squeeze into a car (a lot), to a percussion performance ala "Stomp."

I went to the Raffles Hotel to soak in a bit of late 19th century British colonialism and trace the steps of famous residents like Rudyard Kipling, Somerset Maugham and Jack London. This is where the "Singapore Sling" was born -- in the "Long Bar" -- and I had to try one -- because I'm a tourist and that's what we do. Now those who have been drinking with me before know I'm not averse to the sweet and fruity drink, but oh my gosh. This drink makes Hawaiian Punch seem bitter. Gin, Brandy, Benedictine, Grenedine, Cointreau (whatever that is), pineapple juice and lime juice. It's one of those drinks where you don't taste the alcohol but you get bombed anyway.
So once I was sufficiently looped, I went on to a night safari at the Singapore zoo. Smart, right? Get drunk and go pet the big cats. They do it really well -- it's probably the closest I'll ever get to a real jungle safari. They must use some sort of invisible fencing because except for a few tigers, leopards and other big cats, all the animals are roaming freely. In most cases, the only thing separating you from the animals is a very shallow moat (the kitties are behind glass). Elephants, hippos, rhinos, boar, lions, tigers, . . you name it. They even had native dancers and fire eaters to recreate the jungle experience! I know, it sounds hokey, but I assure you it was not. It was a really spectacular show!

From there I went to the Boom Boom Room. I couldn't resist a name like that. That, and the drag performers. I may be queer but I'm an Old School queer. The next morning, after shaking off my morning-after headache, I headed out to see the city and to take pictures. I went down to the harbor to look at the boats and from there wandered around the old colonial neighborhood. As I did so, I heard these loud shouts -- like a crowd cheering. Sure enough, as I went to investigate, I found that the annual dragon boat races were taking place along the Singapore River, in a cool part of town called the Boat Quay. Apparently, all these schools, businesses and even local government agencies have rowing teams that compete every year. The team captain sits at the front of the boat (a dragon head at one end and a tail at the other) beating a drum to synchronize the rowers. I stopped at an English pub with tables along the river to sit, eat lunch and watch the races. My first real "western" meal (other than breakfast) since I got here (do Ritz crackers count?). Sunday night, I headed to the bus station and then settled in for the long ride back to Kuala Lumpur. Traffic was heavy and it took almost 7 hours to get back. ugh!

I started a new book -- The Plot Against America, by Philip Roth. (I finished the Kite Runner a few days ago). I don't want to turn this into a politically-themed blog (lord knows, one per family seems enough) but it's startling how the plot and characters in the book mirror current events and certain world leaders. Chilling actually. Reading it, I shiver.