When I first landed in Changi Airport, I was greeted by new sights, sounds, and smells. Our first meal was in a mall food court, but I got to have some food that I had never ate before. Singapore was a very new experience for me, as it was my first time in Asia, and I was excited to experience the culture.
One of the first things I noticed about Singapore was how clean the city was. The cleanliness of the people, as well as respect for their city and surroundings, was a big difference compared to what I was used to in America. For example, one day while we were walking to eat, I watched an old man go out of his way to pick up a napkin from the street and take it to a trash can.
Another reason I was so excited to go to Singapore was the food. I did a lot of research beforehand, and was ready to try some chicken rice and eat at the cheapest Michelin Star restaurant in the world. Almost every food I ate was both new and tasty. I really hadn?t tried much Asian food here in the states, so even normal Chinese food was new to me. One of my favorite meals was our Indian lunch. The curry, naan, and rice was delicious and definitely expanded my culinary horizons.
Something else I would like to do would be to learn some Mandarin. I know it is a very complicated language, but so many people speak it and I would be happy if I could just learn a few phrases. A difference from the U.S. is how many languages are spoken. English may be the national language but there are at least 4 languages it seems most people speak here. The train stations have directions in English, Mandarin, Malay, Thai, and several other languages, which I thought was very interesting and inclusive.
