Singapore City, Singapore

At the southern most point of continental Asia lies the tiny island-nation of Singapore. Covering roughly 683 square kilometers and home to nearly 4.4 million people, Singapore is Asia's most unlikely economic powerhouse.
In 1965 ideological differences between government officials led to Singapore being kicked out of the newly formed nation of Malaysia. With no real natural resources to speak of, and therefore seemingly few economic advantages, this small country had good reason to worry about its future. This is why it is such an incredible achievement that today the average monthly salary of a Singapore resident is $11,300 US. Roughly twelve and a half times that of the average Malaysian next door.
Stepping off the train and into Singapore was shock to my system. Gone was the relaxed, laid back atmosphere that permeates most of southeast Asia. Replaced instead by the hustle and bustle one finds in the urban centers of America, Japan, and eastern China. Crowds of determined, ambitious people speed-walking along at a stock-tickers pace.
The style here is beyond modern- an explosion of futurama. Everyone is wired into the communication grid with iPods, Blackberry's, PSPs, and LG handsets. Futuristic architecture lines the streets. It's like walking through a pop-up edition of Wallpaper magazine. The entire city gleams with iron and glass.
The streets are spotless. This is not an exaggeration. Singapore makes tidy Berlin look like a pigpen in comparison. Fines of over $1000 US are given out for spitting, littering, or eating and drinking on the subway. Graffiti is non-existent. Every lawn is manicured and every building appears freshly painted. A drastic change from the gritty, characteristic streets of so many other Asian cities.
In a grim foreshadowing of our own future, Singapore is dominated by a endless series of interconnected multi-level shopping super-centers. It seems nearly impossible, and at times almost unnecessary, to ever leave the infinite labyrinth of subways and shopping malls that connect this cities districts. These are not the kinds of malls we're used to at home either. With kitsch names like SunTec, and Vivo City, these monuments to consumerism are stuffed with fancy restaurants, art galleries, movie theaters, and in one case even a symphonic hall.
In the space of a scant few hours here, one can bundle up in a parka and moon boots to sled down a fake snow drift, then relax in the sun on the man-made beaches of Sentosa Island. It's unreal. That's what Singapore is in many ways, a kind of virtual reality. A blissed out Utopian bubble nestled smugly in a troubled region.
With all of the maddening distractions available to them, it's no surprise that most people here don't seem bothered by one party government rule, or their lack of free press. It's another modern day example of Bread and Circus.
We would spend two days here, doing the sorts of things we can't do elsewhere on this trip. Catching an afternoon symphony. Eating clean, raw fish. Seeing a Hollywood film in stadium-seated, large-screen movie theater. Enjoying the comforts of home.
Things are nice in Singapore, perhaps too nice. An eerie kind of perfection haunts its avenues and streets. Forty-eight short hours after arriving, we boarded a train bound north to Kuala Lumpur. As the carriage pulled itself along the track, crossing the white cement bridge that links Singapore to Malaysia, I could literally see the cracks in the pavement reappear. Leaning back, I smiled, returning to a world that I love not only for it's admirable qualities, but for it's imperfections as well.