I get to go to Singapore for a couple of weeks starting next week, and Im looking forward to it. I should be planning on seeing the sights, enjoying the restaurants and perusing the museums, but sod that. My idea of a good time is wandering around pointing and laughing. Anyway, its hard to love Singapore when you remember what they charge for yard glasses at Raffles Hotel... two friends and I spent exactly one third of our company allowances in one night at that bar on beer and peanuts. Heres the thing...the peanuts were free and the allowances were meant to last us three weeks. The bloody bar is on the second floor ( just follow the filipino singers ) and you cant do a runner because of the way the tables are laid out.
Singapore is weird. If you go there everyone rattles on about how clean and disciplined the place is, and about how everyone has a far better quality of life than in other parts of asia. If I could characterise Singapore, it would be as Tracy Flick in 'Election'. Its the geographical equivalent of that kid at school with the bitch mom who overachieved at everything, including overachieving. Sure, taxis are cheap and the fast food restaurants look cleaner than those in the U.S and Australia, but I feel uncomfortable knowing I stand to be caned if I go out at night and spray paint police cars. Tourist friendly? I think not. Some of us have special needs. Thank God some tourist destinations like Jakarta are so corrupt the cops will actually go and buy the paint for you if you bribe them enough.
Cairns has its own problems. The developers have the kind of relationship with the mayor that Patrick Swayze had with Demi Moore during the pottery scene in 'Ghost', except instead of a pot these guys make eyesores all over the landscape. Whole sugar cane fields have been turned into ultra high density suburban nightmares where all the walls are so thin and the houses so close that all you have to do is roll over and youll be part of the wife swapping network. The estate streets are so narrow you can park on them or drive on them but not both. The kids have a dedicated place to play. Its called a car hood. Whats really fascinating though is some of the most popular new developments have been placed in ravines at the bottom of valleys. Maybe the streets were designed for surfboards instead of cars.
The election is underway in Papua New Guinea but it takes a couple of weeks. The ballot boxes are often hand carried over valleys and across rivers to the nearest airstrip or vote counting station and its all quite remarkable for an election in the year 2007. One politician in Mt Hagen was arrested this week after he was stopped at a roadblock with a gun, booze and marijuana. This cannot be allowed to continue, so the cops will probably stop searching politicians.
K
