My first impressions of Singapore were rather anticlimactic. In fact, I really felt like I could have been in any large US city. The signs are in English. The music is in English. People are speaking many languages on the street. This could be Chicago, my favorite US city. Except the streets are cleaner (and Chicago does a fair job in that regard). Not a speck of trash anywhere. It also seems a little less crowded than Chicago.

There are fewer beeping car horns, which did surprise me. I was not constantly harassed by panhandlers ( I saw only one, an older woman, who was trying to sell something). The people are extremely friendly and polite.

And have manners. The don’t cross the street until the little green man (sign) say go and at one intersection I got momentarily confused…. There was some construction which made the sidewalk more narrow (like a regular width sidewalk). When I approached I saw 2 nice, neat, straight lines coming from 2 different directions, with a nice open space down the middle of the sidewalk. As people approached the intersection they just got in line. I couldn’t figure out what people would be lined up for so I just stood there a second. My policy is, when in doubt, do what the natives are doing until you figure it out. The moment the green man started flashing, both lines simultaneously merged into a crowd that quickly crossed the street. Also, the signs on the street/sidewalks that ask you to or not to do something often say ‘please’. It wasn’t until last night and this morning that I got my first ‘taste’ of being in a different country.
It was dinner time. Sure I could have McD’s or KFC across the street from my hotel, or go to Chilis a couple of blocks down, but I’m here to live and experience and that just seemed unacceptable my first night out. I chose a basement food court in an indoor shopping center a couple blocks from where I was staying. There was lots of local traffic in and out so I thought I would see what they had. They had Chinese. All the stalls, about 20 of them, were Chinese. No problem, I like Chinese. Well friends, what you all are getting back home…that ain’t Chinese. They still have the nice collections of pictures showing you what the food looks like and what it is called but the similarity ends there. Here it is a completely different menu. I saw ONE familiar item at one stall. Wonton soup. But it must not be too popular because only one guy was serving it. One thing I did notice was that about half the plates come with a whole fried fish laid across the top. I’m not talking a large portion of fish. I’m talking the whole damn fish, smile included. And that was what most people were eating. And variations on Top Raman. People were also ordering separate bowls of rice and sharing entrees. That would explain the lack of obesity. I went with a plate that was called BBQ Beef Set. It wasn’t bad. It was a thinly sliced beef cooked on the flattop with cabbage and very little seasoning. I got a bowl of rice and a cup of soup. The soup will take some getting used to. I like Egg Drop Soup. This was Fish Drop Water with Slices of Seaweed (my name not theirs). Since I am not a big fish eater (yet) it is not a taste I crave (yet). The rice was what you would expect. The condiments. ?? Tried one. It might have been Kimchee. Not horrible. Not coleslaw. The other?? I’m just not ready for the other. It has only been one day. I have to work my way up to mini, dried, sliced fish bits with eyeballs. Maybe tomorrow. All in all it wasn’t a bad dinner and it was interesting to people watch in a place that had no other tourists.
Now for the big wake up. Well no. And you’ll see why. The number one reason that I know I am in a foreign country (insert drum roll here)…. this was the coffee I woke up to this morning.

I should have been expecting it since I ordered coffee in the hotel restaurant upon arrival. By the way these don’t come with free refills. But before you start crying hysterically for my loss and dire circumstances…..just know…there is a Starbucks on every corner. Just like home.