I have arrived.

I arrived in Singapore when I felt the humidity.

It was my second time landing in Changi Airport. I turned to Marie, my French traveling companion and told her that I always felt like I had arrived when I could feel the humidity while disembarking. I said the contrast with the crisp Vancouver air got me every time. She laughed because we'd just returned from Thailand. 

The fact was this time I really felt like I was in Singapore. Not that the weeks leading up to this moment were insignificant, but rather they passed in a bit of a blur. Arriving at Sleepy Sam's, meeting exchange student upon exchange student, figuring out how to get around Singapore, where to go, what to eat. Now I was more at home. I was two weeks into classes and fully settled into my apartment and had a nice friend group. This time when I arrived I knew where I was. 

I was in Singapore.

So let's talk about Singapore for a minute. It's a really interesting place. It feels a bit like Dubai in the fact that its got a lot of expats, and there is always a certain culture that goes with that. But its also in the middle of Asia and English speaking and is a tiny island with a population of 7 million. Interesting indeed. 

There are a few big differences between here and Canada. I will discuss two, the food and transportation. 

The food was a big adjustment for me. The previous exchange students all raved about how amazing the food was here, yet it seemed I was batting zero. There were lots of  whole hanging ducks and chickens everywhere and rice with every meal. At first I thought that I could just stick to tofu and veggies but then I discovered the delectable habit the Chinese have of putting pork in absolutely everything. So I started eating halal. Now my Ismaili roommate Farah and I have a grand time exploring the full menu of our favourite neighbourhood Indian spot. 

As for the transportation Singapore has this really amazing underground subway called the Massive Rapid Transit (MRT). The MRT is absolutely essential because as I previously mentioned, 7 million people live here. A car, or 'private transportation' as its referred to as here is prohibitively expensive. There are import duties, licensing duties and traffic levies all designed to keep as many people as possible off the road. Well done Singapore, but now could you find a way to make the MRT less crowded? Apparently this city could accommodate up to 9 million people. I would not be one of them. This is probably one of my main annoyances with Singapore, lack of personal space. It's probably very Canadian of me to say so.