A Week on the Other Side of the World.

Singapore Skyline
Originally uploaded by jonsirhendrey.

After an "active" week at work, and one day of complete veggery, I'm posting photos and blogging. I plan to do some walking today and take more shots.

Singapore is a fascinating place. Its combined land area is less than 270 square miles, but it's as developed as any American city you could think of (perhaps a bit more so, if I may be so bold). It's fourth in the world currency market, after London, New York, and Tokyo. Of all the countries in the world, it ranks twenty-fifth in the UN Human Development Index - above Portugal, South Korea, and Cyprus. (The US is tenth.) Billions of dollars in development and financial projects are pouring into the country every year.

I risk becoming a statistic-spouting drone here in response to a psychic burr that's been stuck in my mind since I agreed to come here. Not to knock my friends, but their reactions after I mentioned this trip may as well have been choreographed down to the last question - a few variations, but otherwise the same litany:

1. Where was that again, near Japan? (Sure, like Iceland is near New York.)

2. Didn't they have that coup? (No, that's Thailand.)

3. Don't they hate Americans? (What a sad commentary that is. I think most of us expect anyone outside the U.S. to hate us. And for the record, I've experienced nothing but unfailingly courteous people here.)

4. Didn't they cane someone/throw someone in jail for chewing gum/practice a command economy/have no economy? (In short, yes, no, no, and how freaking crazy are you?)

I found myself becoming the de facto ambassador of Singapore to Texas, trying to educate some people as to where I was going to be for the next few weeks.

Asia in general, and "Asian Tiger" countries like Singapore, are truly our inheritors, much as the US was the inheritor of European political and economic revolutions extant when our nation was born. I recall a passage from "The Red Badge of Courage" about the flame of American liberty being born from the fires of England's; one could say much the same for the economic prosperity that's sweeping this part of the world. The 20th Century was, as is so often mentioned, "The American Century". It's hard to imagine that fifty years from now, when these nascent powerhouses exert the influence that they're gathering to themselves now. I hope that they learn from some of our mistakes as well as our triumphs. (/soapbox)

I've posted a plethora of photos (and you do know what a plethora is, don't you?) on Flickr of my trip so far - mainly Downtown Core shots, but even those IMHO are interesting - the juxtaposition of the old and new here is striking. Unfortunately, storms yesterday reduced my adventures to the gym and a couple of malls, but I'll make up for it today.