Japan and Singapore Thoughts and Pictures

I just got back from a trip to Indonesia and Singapore. The last few days (in Singapore) were a family vacation for us. Maybe our kids are still too young to call it a vacation, though, if that means "resting." Personally, I'd rather be backpacking in New Zealand (or Colorado) or exploring a deserted island somewhere, but Singpore is still nice. The city has a lot of things that I like but can't find in Japan, like: good, CHEAP Chinese food, Thai food and Indian food. Not to mention American food (whatever that is), and I even found a New Zealand ice cream shop and returned several times! We enjoyed the Singapore Zoo. The animals are kept in quite natural habitats, and some aren't enclosed at all. For example, several species of monkeys are living freely in different sections. On the downside, I was drenched in sweat after an hour, and the place was a bit smaller than I expected. The next day, our friends offered us a 2 hour break from the kids, so my wife and I went to Boat Quay for lunch and a walk along the river. That was very relaxing. We also visited Chinatown and ate Dim Sum (Yum Cha), enjoyed Singapore's cultural/religious variety, and, of course, we shopped.

At one point, I started to compare Singapore and Japan. In Singapore the buildings are new. It's colorful. You get a strong feeling of forward progress. It's a great city, uh, I mean country. Japan feels old and very slow to change by comparison. On the other hand, the entire economy of Singapore pours into a country that compares better size-wise with Tokyo, and it's efficiently managed by a government of technocrats. The bulk of Japan's economy is generated in several large urban areas, but the proceeds are used to maintain the whole country. On the one hand, I'm glad that Japan preserves so much of it's history, but Japanese wealth has been poured out with some remarkably unimpressive results, like lining the rivers of Japan and most of the coast with concrete and building unneeded highways to nowhere.

Before this turns negative, let me change course. On the three hour bus ride from Narita back home, I realized that I'd probably get bored of Singapore. I'd tire of the smallness. The intensity of change would wear me out. I'd stop eating out all the time. I'd go crazy waiting for Winter to come.

Ok, who am I fooling? I'd love to live in Singapore. Or in New Zealand, Colorado, Vancouver, China, Thailand... I'd like to live in a lot of places.

And I love living in Japan. My family is here. My friends are here. It's not a perfect place to live, but it's home. The more I learn the language and figure out what's going on, the better life here becomes.

Posted by jw at April 1, 2004 08:21 PM