Singapore: Vegas on the outside, London on the inside, and Dubrovnik as a sister city

Our time in Asia finished in one of the world's financial capitals and impressive cities: Singapore. I didn't know very much about Singapore before we got there and it surprised with me of how similar it felt to other cities that we have visited. Especially Las Vegas in Singapore's buildings and newness, London in Singapore's ethnic diversity, and Dubrovnik, Croatia in Singapore's power as a city-state. So this blog post is about the similarities to those cities.

Singapore, like London, is rich with ethnic diversity. Ethnic Buddhist and Confucian Chinese, Hindu Indians, and Muslim Malaysians comprise the majority of Singapore's population. Walking around Chinatown or Little India, you feel as if you could be in any of those countries.

In fact as far as our "India" experience, Wilson had the gastro-intestinal experience that many travelers unfortunately experience in India. This gastro "experience" appeared 7 hours after eating chicken masala in Singapore's Little India. Setting aside Wilson's gastro experience, the sensation of being in India while actually in Singapore is exciting.

Diversity enclaves, such as Singapore's Little India, offer multinational experiences within a limited geographic area. London also offers these diversity enclaves. Only to a greater extent. There, it is easy to stumble upon non-UK comunities and in East London, I have wondered through foreign smelling markets trying to buy vegetables that I didn't recognize. Singapore is a little like London on the inside -- international diversity amidst commuters in cuff links.

Singapore is also a modern city -- clean and efficient subways, beautiful and interesting skyscrapers, and green spaces surrounding the cities water ways. Singapore's modernity and how new it feels recalled Las Vegas for me. Like Las Vegas, much of Singapore has been built or re-built within the past 50 years. Even Hindu and Buddhist temples that have inhabited the same real estate for centuries are not as old as they calim because they have been rebuilt. Singapore seems to be in a frequent state of rebirth, all the new sparkly buildings as a prime example. Singapore and Vegas not only share sparkly buildings, they also share casinos, hot weather, and light and water shows for free at night.

And despite the newness and modernity akin to Vegas and the diversity akin to London, Singapore could be a sister city to Dubrovnik, Croatia. Dubrovnik is an incredibly beautiful city in Croatia that was a powerful city state for centuries. Dubrovnik's power for over half a millennium was during a time of powerful city states throughout Europe. Now, the powerful city state has diminished to a select few. And Singapore is certainly one of them as one of the world's 10 most economically powerful cities.

 

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