Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Bombay vs Singapore - The Showdown

Here comes another long overdue post on some travel! Remember, for funsies, we're going to do it in a VH1 celebrity show down format. For consistency, rounds have been kept similar to the Bangkok showdown. Secret question: guess which one's Bombay?


Round 1: The streets
Singapore has the most immaculate sidewalks and roads I've ever seen in the world. Singy wins easily.

Round 2: The food
While Singapore does have excellent Asian restaurants to lead Bombay cuisine, it's shame that all of them are in malls. Bombay edges-up for a win on ambiance.

Round 3: The traffic
Singapore's amazing streets and people that follow traffic rules makes for a generally easy win--even if level of competence among drivers is often questionable.

Round 4: The taxis (wouldn't be a Repat journey urban competition without this round)
This should be an easy win for Singapore given standard taxis there have air conditioning and engine power greater than 10 hp except the problem is that it's impossible to find a cab in Singapore. You can generally only pick them at designated stations that are located far apart and come complete with long lines. Bombay FTW.

Round 5: Being able to chew gum
For all of it's government's hot accomplishments, there are many things that you might take for granted elsewhere that you just can't do in Singapore (e.g. gum, non-hardcore drugs, etc.) Bombay might have a little too much personal freedom but I'd take that any day over too little.

Bombay wins this time around (3 -2), but before we feel too bad for Singapore, I get the feeling that Singy really doesn't care what other people think of it. Residents are healthy, wealthy, and more or less happy even if they have to give up certain liberties to achieve it--a bargain they've come to accept.

3 comments:

  1. singapore is a tricky city to assess! so pretty but almost too perfect. when i went, i thought it reminded me too much of disneyland, and then i read this article in the NY Review of Books that described it as "disneyland but with the death penalty" - perfect, no?

    i did love the mix of artsy/colonial buildings and the arab quarter tho! did you eat sting ray and chilli crab?!! there's a place that's supposed to have good chilli crab in the village that you need to try w/me! altho i guess for you the plane ride to singapore is quicker than to ny...

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  2. Iny, I love that description of Singapore (DL with DP--wow that sounded really dirty).

    YES! Can we please go on a food adventure? (I've come to appreciate chilli crab after moving to Asia). But yeah, the village is a little far. Can we meet half-way? Like in Hong Kong?

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  3. okay, maybe all that bombay heat has skewed your sense of distance. but HK is not halfway b/w the west village and india. not. even. close.

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