Asian Awakening.....

I recently got back from a small vacation and it became a major talking point. For some it was what I did on the vacation and the rest- okay he actually took a vacation… so he has a personal life after all eh?

So I was going to Singapore and a major part of why Singapore was- well it had a Grand Prix. So it was a part of my cherished dream to watch a race with Schumacher racing in it and me wearing the Ferrari colours and cheering my team. So some friends were happy that I was gonna watch F1, rest for I was off to Singapore.

Now every travel abroad has its phases- much unlike traveling within the country. The first being pre- travel information that was sincerely being contributed from the more experienced travelers. So ‘don’t go to Mustafa on a Friday with a heavy wallet’, ‘make sure you don’t break the rules’, ‘buy a MRT card- it’s the cheapest to travel around’, ‘Zoo and Night safari is a must’, ‘Sentosa is a paradise’…. That was all I could hear from most. The rest contributed about where to find ‘chicks’, rules in the Casino and so on. On return, I was faced with only one question- ‘How was it???’

Now just over six days and I made up strong opinions about the country- which is the size of Mumbai, population of Andheri, Government Housing (like MHADA) and 50% taxes on salaries. And most of my opinions were not first impressions, they gradually changed over this period.

The Changi Airport is splendid- well, it resembled the new Bengaluru Airport to a very high extent with space no constrain. So I did not have an orgasm with its layout of aesthetics. What I did manage was chocking on a Burger King burger and coffee as I sat waiting for my friend (whom I stayed with and saved money) to come and pick me up. The preliminary Burger Index calculation told me that prices in Singapore were 3 times of all you pay in India for a burger. So the ‘Now I know what was missing in life’ soon had changed to ‘You are on a vacation, keep the conversion tables aside’.

Now by the time I walked off the aircraft, the only Asian girl I had spotted was one airhostess- could be caused due to traveling on an Aussie airline. The airport had people in travel attire and not appealing. So I will confess that the first girl I flipped for was the counter girl at Burger King. By end of Day 1, I was already seeing myself amidst the F1 after parties and the feeling of being in an Asian paradise was growing.

By Day 2, I had reason to believe that like a 100 rules to be followed in Singapore, girls with pants below 5 inches under their waist attracted less attention and were liable to be fined 1000 SGD. In fact, when I was joined by a Brit colleague of my friend as the only non resident member of the group, we both shared a joke on how our blokes manage to keep the mind off girls who wore clothing as a liability.

By Day 3, Singapore was a country with a fine for everything fun, sold expensive beer and smokes and gave you the feeling of being in a Big Boss house; thanks to the millions of CCTV camera’s that throng the place. It also offered Asian girls crafted from the same mould with no distinguishable features, who peeped through the hair they pull on their eyes to hide their large foreheads and looked like chopsticks with mittens wearing a bra as a sign of optimism. By Day 6, I was actually looking forward to seeing Indians.

I have a feeling that Singapore is a country living in fear. There is a CCTV everywhere- though I’m not sure which authority watches all of them. To make matters worse, they have screens that show you what’s being seen as well. But even then, the locals have found a way to get cozy in public. The best place to lip lock is the escalators. They are almost everywhere, provide the height advantage to the person in front- so no one bends, and only the top of the escalator comes on CCTV. So I’m confident that an MMS scandal will never happen - there’s no novelty factor.

Singapore and Sentosa especially are destinations built entirely on marketing and the mystique created by providing half information. To see anything worth a look, you have to pay amount which are never worth it. The beach front in Sentosa is an artificial beach of white sand. The view is the same what I see at Sewree creek in Mumbai. Same merchant ships, same oil tanks- even coconut shells in the water. And I still paid for it. Singapore River passes through the city centre and you see the buildings around. Sadly, the Mithi does not have buildings facing it- else I had a proposition.

So finally, what makes a country worth a visit? Yes, it is clean- but isn’t big brother watching you all day? People are warm and friendly; provided they have their head out of the mobile phone. My local friends were happier underplaying our country to justify the highs of Singapore. My final word will be it is a place worth a visit for what it is. But if you want me not to compare the price points, I will honestly say that you should not compare it with my homeland as well.