SWEET Singapore...

As soon as we were on our way to the airport Jamie and I started to feel a little better. Once again we hadn't had much sleep because our favorite radio station on the loudspeaker had been playing late into the night and started up again at 3AM. As soon as we got to the teeny tiny airport (with only one international gate) we were bumped up to first class seats!! We started to remember what it was like to be happy! So we got on our small plane with smiles on our faces and a fresh breathe of hope in our hearts. Although we arrived in Singapore late at night, maybe around ten, we had made a reservation with a hostel so we hopped in a cab and were there in ten min. On the way the cab driver was SO nice and explained little details about Singapore, like the taxi surcharges chewing gum being illegal and funny stuff like that. By this time we were just so thankful for his hospitality and the fact that hailing him had not involved 15people harassing us that a little surcharge didn't matter.
Our Hostel was very big and kind of like a giant dorm with a shared bathroom but nothing could take the smiles off of our faces. We walked around a little bit (Singapore is one of the safest places in the world) and talked about how exciting it was to be in a big city again. Singapore is a very developed country and we had not realized what it would feel like to step into one of those after 5 weeks of third world living. The tall skyscrapers and charm made me feel like I was home in San Francisco. Singapore was really interesting because of the diverse cultures, there is a lot of Chinese, Indian, Indonesian and Malay heritage that all combined to create the small country. We went to a Malay heritage center and did some shopping and then to the botanical gardens. For dinner (as we mostly only have one meal a day, between 2 and 4pm and have come to call it dinner) we had the most delicious Indian buffet right in the middle of Little India. As it was a buffet you can imagine how much we ate trying to stuff ourselves.
This morning we actually splurged and went to a movie (Harry Potter) and then caught a bus to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. We are here now and just had a bite to eat in Chinatown. It is another big city but different from Singapore. Right away the familiar calls from taxi drivers, or vendors, or whoever else trying to make a buck made us miss our brief refuge Singapore. Apparently in Singapore it is illegal to harass people to take a taxi or buy stuff or whatever. It is nothing compared to our experience in Indonesia though and we are back to our normal routine of a smile on our faces and lots of "no thank yous." I plan on putting pictures up tomorrow so good night for now and talk to you all soon!