Before leaving Indonesia I committed a bit of a faux pas in a security line. There were actually two lines and when one of them completely opened up I went over to it and raised my arms, etc. in preparation for my screening. What I didn’t notice beforehand was that the two lines were segregated into strictly “male” and “female” due to cultural / religious reasons. It got a bit awkward for a second (the female screener got really embarrassed), but all present recognized my ignorance and weren’t offended.
As a final parting thought on Indonesia, I really enjoyed the food. There seemed to be a broad Asian influence and pretty much everything that I tried tasted very good. One of my favorite things was a coconut milk-based, homemade ice-cream with chunks of mango. Some of the drinks were a bit much, though, as there were a lot of sweet juices and teas, but for the most part I enjoyed them as well.
Tonight we arrived in Singapore. It turns out that Singapore takes drug trafficking very seriously as well, as noted on their customs form:
After a quick work-related dinner / tour of the city I was finished with my work obligations and free for the weekend. Since it was already somewhat late, I decided to walk around the Clarke Quay area along the Singapore River as it was very close to the hotel where I was staying.
The area had an active nightlife full of restaurants, shops, bars and clubs. Compared to Hong Kong, my initial impression is that Singapore has much more of a Western feel. Without question it’s definitely a very clean and orderly place. Our cab driver from the airport joked that Singapore is known for being a “fine city”…due to all the fines for doing anything wrong whatsoever.
As a final parting thought on Indonesia, I really enjoyed the food. There seemed to be a broad Asian influence and pretty much everything that I tried tasted very good. One of my favorite things was a coconut milk-based, homemade ice-cream with chunks of mango. Some of the drinks were a bit much, though, as there were a lot of sweet juices and teas, but for the most part I enjoyed them as well.
*** Singapore ***
Tonight we arrived in Singapore. It turns out that Singapore takes drug trafficking very seriously as well, as noted on their customs form:
“Warning: Death for Drug Trafficking Under Singapore Law”
After a quick work-related dinner / tour of the city I was finished with my work obligations and free for the weekend. Since it was already somewhat late, I decided to walk around the Clarke Quay area along the Singapore River as it was very close to the hotel where I was staying.
The area had an active nightlife full of restaurants, shops, bars and clubs. Compared to Hong Kong, my initial impression is that Singapore has much more of a Western feel. Without question it’s definitely a very clean and orderly place. Our cab driver from the airport joked that Singapore is known for being a “fine city”…due to all the fines for doing anything wrong whatsoever.
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