Singapore Hotels
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Multicultural crossroads
Entry 36 of 57 | show all | print this entry |
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After exploring Bondi Beach on my last day in Sydney, I flew to Singapore for the start of my next phase of the trip. This sort of marks the halfway point as my Australia explorations are over (for now) and there's a lot more to see although at a bit more hurried pace.
Since my flight was with Singapore Airlines, as I looked out the window I was excited to see I would be flying on the immense Airbus A380! I admit I'm partial to Boeing over Airbus but this airplane is a technological marvel.
Two whole decks of passenger space, and the 'premier class', called such to differentiate it from lowly 'first class', is accurate as each passenger has a fully enclosed private cabin! I could only see the outside on the way in (yes, surprise, I wasn't flying in one) but being able to close yourself in and have a literal couch is amazing. But for a 7 hour flight is it really that important? Anyway I was far from disappointed in my measly economy class seat- each seat had a large screen with many movies on demand for each passenger, a very comfortable seat, and at about 50% capacity plenty of space. I asked but wasn't allowed to explore the upper deck which was a disappointment. One thing I did notice was the aircraft is so big I barely felt acceleration, turbulence, or landing.
I've spent a few days in Singapore and it is a unique place, although it seems not very much to see. The airport was immaculate, huge, airy, and comfortable (and a big source of pride here) and the city has done a great job of keeping a lot of green in its planning. The majority of people here are asian, with Chinese making up the majority within that majority, but there is a huge mix of Indian, Arab, and European folks as well, all mixed together, although there are Chinatown, India town, and Arab Street areas.
It is very interesting and easy to get around as English seems to be the unifying language although there are 4 official languages, English, Mandarin, Malay, and Tamil.
So almost every sign has all four, it is cool to see the mix of Greek alphabet, Chinese characters, and Tamil which looks Arabic to my uneducated eyes. The city is in the midst of preparation for Chinese New Year, so there are red lanterns and decorations everywhere, and New Year street markets in addition to the ones already in full swing. It is cheaper here than Australia although due to lack of planning I ended up in a pretty expensive hotel... but it is easy to find a good meal among the many street cafes and food hawker areas for around $4, which is nice. Alcohol is heavily taxed but alas such is life.
I need to go off for a minute... This is a big city for shopping, and even though I am not a fan of shopping, even I have bought some things... unfortunately my bag only seems to get heavier. But it is pretty crazy the number of shopping centers and stores of all kinds, most being obnoxiously priced luxury name brands that annoy me with their blatant materialism- I mean, the ones I looked into (which I thought I could afford) had t-shirts for 89 dollars!
Okay, that's Singapore dollars, but that is still $65 or so. Seriously if you're paying that for a t-shirt you're priorities are screwed up, and the companies making this overpriced crap need to get real. I have bought expensive things (expensive to me at least) but the overwhelming push to consume expensive things because they are of a particular brand (and have it splashed all over their products- like coach's little 'c' and Louis Vuitton's obnoxiously ugly and plain brown 'vl' design to name a couple) or just to show that you can buy those things- even if everyone already has them- is out of control. I'm sure a lot of people will say 'oh but the quality is better' or 'this guy just doesn't understand high fashion'- both true in a sense, but I'm still annoyed someone wants me to pay $65 for a t-shirt. Sorry but I don't want to be a walking advertisement for your brand that badly. Nor do I have the desire to spend ridiculous amounts of money on crap that only adds to your already inflated bottom line and does nothing to help the world.
I use clothes as an example but this argument applies to all kinds of things- oh boy here I go- recently there was an awards show to honor some rich people, one of whom was singled out for 'appreciation of the luxury lifestyle' or something to that effect. So you're going to reward someone for spending obscene amounts of money on unnecessary luxuries (say, a private suite on Singapore Airlines A380, or a $30,000 watch- I mean come on, a watch!) while he (or she- actually most shoppers I see are she, but the materialism is spreading to everyone) could spend a bit less, be just as comfortable (and still be able to tell what time it is), and donate the rest to a good cause or feed some hungry people or whatever. Sure there are people who do those things- but to judge by the number of people paying for $65 t-shirts, or shopping in these luxury stores, or being advertised to, it doesn't seem to be enough.
If you're still reading, my apologies for ranting, and goodness knows I'm not completely blameless either. But this city (and to some extent all other big cities) and its shopping centers, and how they cater to the grossest of materialistic tendencies in people, and seeing them fall blindly for it like a bunch of sheep (and then telling other sheep that yes of course you need to buy that $2500 handbag) just sets me on edge. And you're probably saying 'if you had hundreds of millions of dollars you would buy ridiculously expensive stuff'. Perhaps- and I wouldn't mind finding out- but I would still get pissed about paying $65 for a t-shirt.
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