Is Singapore meant to represent "what Malaysia could have been?" I wonder if there are people in Malaysia that secretly wish it were more like Singapore with regards to modernity. Considering they were part of the same colonial territory and were forced out of the Malaysian Federation in 1957, it seems like in another timeline perhaps Kuala Lumpur might have been what Singapore is today. But must we always compare cities with each other when they are really so different? For goodness sake, quite a few people (read: taxi drivers) in Singapore complained that Singapore was not enough like Japan (with regards to timeliness of trains and other efficiencies). On the flip side: four hours away, in Malaysia, is a former Dutch colony with small hints of Venice. The Ponte Vecchio is replicated, unnecessarily. The provincial and romantic Malaysian town of Melacca stands in stark contrast to the architectural marvel that is Singapore.
Singapore
Any person who appreciates architecture, order and urban planning will have an appreciation for Singapore. Too frequently I've heard people say, "well everything in Singapore is fake/man-made/not real". I'm sorry, did I miss the memo about cities being natural wonders? Is there anything at all left in New York City that is natural? (The Staten Island Greenbelt comes to mind! Of course, he had an answer...).
I do not care that Singapore is man-made. Every city in the world is man-made. I do not care that in order for Singapore to exist, land reclamation and imports must continue. Manhattan had a massive land reclamation project in the 1970s known as Battery Park City. We really have to stop with this holier than thou judgement of other cities. Singapore does a lot of things right. What you will see below is a collection of the architecturally inspiring moments I had. The final picture is a bunch of monkeys I ran into on my 3 hour rain forest hike around the reservoir.
Malacca
This lovely little city can also be spelled Melaka. This little quirk works well. Malacca is definitely quirky. While there is a colonial fort and collection of buildings in the historical complex, the highlight of the city are the shops, restaurants and houses that line the river. The bridges that cross the river are all unique. The walls of the buildings along the river all have "street art". Some of it resembles fancy graffiti. Is there a difference? I opted to take the river boat tour at night because I had read that it is nice to see the buildings lit up; that the lighting scheme was designed. What I did not expect was a neon-lit monorail to come passing by us! It was a lovely complement to what was a very weird experience.
My two hostelmates were older than me by almost 10 years. They did not know each other. They were both hardcore travelers. It was the first time in three months of traveling that I wasn't the oldest person in the "cool kids club". (Every now and then you get a grandma who is backpacking, but she isn't trying to be a cool kid). The lady roommate was biking from North Europe down to the tip of Indonesia. She has her own bike and has her camping equipment and clothes in special bags you attach to the side of the bags. She was from Canada. I could barely handle a conversation with because I was simply in awe of her accomplishments. She did not spend much time in the room because there was a guy also biking the world that she met in Azerbaijan who she had to meet up with. That's definitely a few levels deeper than this whole think I'm doing right now.
The dude roommate was an incredibly attractive Vietnamese guy who grew up in Germany. I mean, he's a German and he had a thick German accent but he was beautiful and Asian and eventually in conversation he revealed that he is ethnically Vietnamese. I could barely have a conversation with him because one of the first things he did when he got into the room was remove his shirt and reveal his ridiculous 8 pack abdominals and super smooth-as-silk skin. I was able to gather that he was backpacking for 7 months, also going all around the world. He had recently spent quite a bit of time in South America. Then he mentioned something about his girlfriend and I lost interest. Below are the quirky photos of Malacca:
