A little about Singapore.

We were told that Singapore is Asia for Beginners or Asia Light. It is very easy for non-Asians to feel at home here. English is the official language (other official languages are Mandarin, Malay and Tamil). The reason for English is a nod to Singapore's roots. Singapore was colonized by the British (surprise!). Because of it's central location in Southeast Asia and it's proximity to the "Spice Islands" it was a desirable location for the Brits. The Dutch had the Dutch West Indies so the British had to find a spot and make friends with the natives. Currently Singapore is one of the two busiest port in the world, so it's location is still prime. Amazingly this small island nation has just under 5 million people but only 252 square miles!

I've gone on two walking tours, one where we learned about Singapore's roots and little about the current government and their strict laws. The 2nd tour was last week to Chinatown. I had hopes of seeing lots of beautiful fabric, I hear it's there. The tour focused on the upcoming Chinese New Year and the traditions that surround that very important holiday. I learned lots and tried some interesting foods but saw no textiles at all!

So now I understand a little better the importance of Chinese New Year to the locals. Singapore is 75% Chinese, 14% Malay, 9% Indian and 2% other (that's us). The main religions are Buddhism, Muslim, Christian, Taoism and Hinduism. Most locals live in HDB (Housing and Development Board)housing, these are high rise flats and apparently are nice inside. The HDB housing is why so many people can live on such a small island. We live in a "Terraced House", which is really a town house. Shared walls on 2 sides and 3 stories high. The walls are concrete so we do not hear our neighbors at all. Anything "landed" is rare here. Our land is a small patio in the back and a small garden and enough tiled driveway to squeeze in our car. But, Jack has a spot to do his business. There are houses with yards (land) but it's still not much land.

Enough about Singapore for today. The top photo is a picture of the new Sports Hub, a modern building and then the bottom photo is of a row of houses in Chinatown. The two show a little of the contrast of architecture in Singapore.

Tracy