Visas in Singapore

We flew into Singapore for one night in order to renew our visas for our final two weeks in Indonesia. Our customs ticket warned that drug traffickers would be put to death. Singapore is a republic and since 1959 has functioned as a city-state. About 5 million people live there, a huge mix of ethnicity and religions. It is one of the most productive ports in the world, which its rising skyline and weirdly modern architecture appears to be advertising.

Drug-trafficking aside, we'd read Singapore has famously steep penalties for transgressions like spitting (a tourist was recently caned), j-walking, smoking in smoke-free zones, public peeing (apparently some elevators have "sniffer alarms"), littering ($500), and not flushing a public toilet (enforceable?)... But of course it is all utterly overblown. Everyone j-walks, many smoke, public restrooms are like public restrooms everywhere, and stores openly burn their trash on the sidewalk. Moreover, the people we encountered were relaxed, friendly, and as cosmopolitan as any other place we'd been in Asia.

It was brutally hot that day, and we each learned mid-90's humidity doesn't mix so well with all-you-can-eat Indian buffets. Mark learned the lesson especially well. However, by evening things had cooled down and the skyline began to gleam. One of the more interesting architectural feats in Singapore is the Marina Bay Sands. Completed in June, it looks like a giant version of the AT-AT walker from Star Wars or some futuristic noah's arc.Sarah and I took an elevator to the top (almost 60 stories), where there is an sprawlin wooden deck, trees and a grass garden, and possibly the most amazing vanishing pool on Earth (for hotel guests only). The opening ceremony to the International Youth Olympic games happened to be going on that night and at 10pm the ceremony concluded and we were treated to fireworks, which we watched from above, which was cool.
















Early the following morning we would head by boat and plane to Sumatra.