by Marilyn De Angelis Pennell

Created on: May 17, 2008   Last Updated: July 10, 2008

SINGAPORE: THREE DAYS IN AN ASIAN OASIS

Fellow travelers advised me to skip Singapore on my recent worldwide jaunt. Boring. Plastic. Too many rules. I'm glad I ignored the advice.

THE RULES

Coming on the heels of a whirlwind visit to India with all its chaos and confusion, Singapore had all the right smells, tastes and sights for a weary traveler. And, as a teacher leading 85 independent minded college students to a foreign country, I welcomed "rules"- especially those enforced by the local government. Government rules meant all the less lecturing about proper behavior for me.

Though the law requiring death to drug traffickers was most likely not pertinent to my young charges, it did set the tone for good behavior. Other regulations such as fines for not flushing a public toilet or chewing gum? Terrific. The Singaporean government made it all clear. (Though we were actually advised to tell the students not to wear flip flops and open toed shoes by our American tour leaders, this turned out NOT to be a Singaporean rule).

Other than the rules, what first impressed me about Singapore was arriving at the ultramodern and efficient airport, which was worlds away from the sad grime and poverty at the train stations of Delhi and Agra. The memories of what I saw in the streets of India haunt me still. I wished I knew how to help. I went to Singapore, in part, because I needed a break from sadness, as self-centered as that seems. I needed to chill, as my students say. Maybe that's why Singapore is such a popular stop over destination for travelers to Asia. Singapore does not test travelers the way most other Asian nations do.

Back to my journey. In Singapore, driving down the main highway from the airport to the city was another kind of eye opener. Our guide informed us that all the pretty potted flowering plants in the middle of the road could be taken away in a moment's notice to create a landing field for aircraft-right there on the highway! Ingenious, I thought! These people are preparedfor what I didn't exactly know.

CLEAN AND GREEN

Since we barely had three days in Singapore, we had to make the most of it. Our first activity upon arrival was a cruise down the Singapore River on a "Bumboat." With 85 students and two teachers, we were actually a "bumboat flotilla." The cruise took us past views of Singapore's "mascot" The Merlion, which is a creature that appears to be half fish and half lion and spouts waterfalls from its mouth. Our flotilla also cruised by the Esplanade,

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