MY RECENT TRIP TO SINGAPORE, INDIA AND NEPAL (short version)

SINGAPORE The Republic of Singapore is a small island country in southeast Asia located off the southern tip of the Malaysian peninsula. It has 50 smaller islands around it. It is a very important seaport and its citizens enjoy one of the worlds highest standards of living. Singapore is located north of the equator so the weather is most always hot except during the rainy season when the temperature goes down a few degrees in November through January.

Ethnic Chinese make up most of the population in Singapore. There are also many Malaysians and Indians who live there. Many languages are spoken in Singapore but English is used in administration and business. There are places of worship for all the world's major religions.

Singapore separated from Malaysia in 1965 and became a soveriegn state. It is a republic and has its own constitution, and its leaders are voted into office by the people.

Journal of Mike Bailey
September 10, 2006 - I just got off from work about 45 minutes ago. I am now on vacation. I have 2 weeks for rest and relaxation. I'm so tired and burnt out. I feel like I'm in a straight jacket. Once I get on the road I will be able to shake these shackles of work off me. I've been waiting for this for a long time. Finally the time has come for me to do some traveling. By God's grace everything will go ok. In a little bit I'm going to go to bed and sleep for about 2 hours. When I wake up I'm going to call a taxi and go to the airport and get on a plane that will take me to Los Angelos. From there I will go on to Singapore and then on to India. I will write more as I go. I'm just happy to be on vacation now, but I am so tired. I'll try to get a little rest and then I will write more.

Sept 12, 2006 - Singapore
12:20 pm. - After a grueling day of flying arrived in Singapore last night. I started from Seattle/Tacoma Airport and flew to Los Angelos Airport, then took a flight out to Tokyo. This was unexpected. I was very glad to be able to go to Japan even though it was just the airport. I watched out the window as we came closer to the ground and saw everything. An orderly nation. Rice paddys, endless gardens. Houses, city streets, lots of greenery, rivers, cars with headlights on. After about a half an hour we loaded back on the plane that took us to Singapore. From the airport in Singapore I took a taxi to the hotel on the north side of the island. I checked in and got a room. I was exhausted from traveling and was able to sleep well til about 7am. I just laid around contemplating everything for awhile and then went down to the buffet breakfast. I had some fruit and museli and some fruit rolls and some good strong coffee. There was no charge for this. Then I went outside into the tropical heat to see if I could get some shots with my camera around this area. I proceeded up the street passed small stores that were just beginning to open for the day. There was also a resturant that was getting a fair amount of business. I was sweating profusely the whole time because of the heat. I took pictures of the hotel, a Hindu temple nearby. Then an idea came to me to sit down on the nearby bench and take my journal and start writing about all the things that came to me, such as the jungle sounds that were very pleasant. The tropical birds in the trees sounded like some jungle sound CD's I have at home. There was the low buzz of insects in the underbrush.

After walking around the hotel area for a little bit I ventured over to the beach. I believe this is the uppermost part of the Island of Singapore. Maylasia sits on the other side barely seen in places. I sat on a park bench under palms trees and took pictures of a few ships and some other things that caught my interest. I wrote in my journal. Then I walked back over to the hotel and checked out, then went out and got into a taxi that was parked on the other side of the street. I told the driver that I wanted him to take somewhere where I could take some pictures of some temples. He suggested Little India. So he took me there and I took pictures the whole way over. I think I got a few good pictures. He was extremely nervous. I don't know why. We had a little bit of a conversation. He could speak English a little, but had a hard time expressing his thoughts in it. So I kept my questions as simple as I could.

After this he took me to the airport where I am now. I found this internet cafe at McDonalds. I bought a coke and was able to use the internet. This is a very friendly place. Everybody is friendly. They seem to go out of their way to be kind to you. The city seems very prosperous. There are very large building all over. It's clean. The taxis are all clean. There are people all over cleaning the streets with brooms made out of twigs and clipping the weeds out of the ditches.

I'm afraid I don't look like the typical American businessman. I'm wearing my traveling shirt with my camera in one pocket and my journal in the other. Right now my face in unshaven since I don't have my suitcase with all my shaving gearin it. It will be waiting for me in India which is my next destination.

All the street signs here in Singapore are in English. When I got into the taxi, the radio was on and American music was playing. All the kids in school learn English. It is very easy to get around since English is spoken everywhere. Everything is modeled around the American way of doing things.

Well, I will leave off writing for now. I'm going to wander around the airport a little and try to find a CD of some Singaporen music and maybe some postcards. I'll write more when I can.
Until next time, God is true and great!