A tourist in my own country

It's been 5 years since I've returned to Singapore. The last time I was here, I barely recognized Singapore as the country where I had spent most of my formative years. It had changed so much, become so much more modern, man-made, congested. The MRT system had been overcrowded with people at all hours of the day.

This time around, the government had caught up with the population boom. The MRT system had been expanded, and even the trains were wider than before. "A new MRT station being built every month" the advertisements boasted throughout the country. How was that even possible? But it clearly was. Just in the last few years, enormous buildings had popped up all over the country, changing the skylines and the landscapes by an incredible measure.

I had the good fortune to be exploring the city through the eyes of a first-time visitor, Lily R, friend, world traveler, adventurer. Over the course of 3 days, we hit up all the cool and exciting spots around the country, eating furiously the whole time in order to maximize our consumption of the local dishes. Orchard Road, Marina Bay Sands, Little India, Sentosa, Chinatown, Clarke Quay, Tiong Bahru, Holland Village, Marina Bay Sands (she really liked the lights), Telok Ayer Street, Chijmes. We had been on our way to our final holiday destination - Haji Lane, when we were waylaid by the rain. It came on with furious determination and did not let up at all. So we settled in comfortably at the closest bar and drank pints of beer while watching the Winter Olympics. Not a bad way to spend her final hours in this country before hopping onto her next destination - Australia (the country, and the continent).