When first arriving in Singapore I was greeted with a beautiful airport that consisted of an array of stalls all along the walls whose color schemes always complimented the clean white floors and walls of the airport. Centered in the middle was the famous waterfall which unfortunately was off but nevertheless the garden which surrounded it was stunning. This really set the tone for the trip as it raised my expectations for the type of cultures and organization that we would see in Singapore. During our bus ride from the aiport I saw green no matter where I looked which I found surprising as most urbanized areas fail to keep their luscious greenery and instead replace it with lots of steel and concrete. This again raised my hopes for my time in the country as seeing that they put the time and effort into maintaining their environment meant that any other non-necessary upkeep would be properly maintained as well. We were immediately treated to a boat ride within Clark Quay where we truly got to see what Singapore had to offer us. From the sizable Marina Bay Sands buildings to the more cultural places of Little India and China I became engrossed in what there was to offer and couldn?t wait to explore. The immediate difference I noticed between here and the United States was the distance between everything. Of course being a small country everything in Singapore was within 20 minutes of each other thanks to the MRT (transit) system. The need for cars by most of the people who live here is basically non existent which created a city in which noise pollution was a non-existent problem which I appreciated. One of the things that it does share with Texas has been the humidity although Singapore does seem to have way more, which makes sense due to its location relative to the equator. During this trip I hope to experience exactly why locals love Singapore and the amazing food and culture that the country has to offer. I hope to be able to eat the 3 major food groups which consists of South Indian, Malaysian, and Chinese cuisines from the many small food stalls throughout the country.
