But here is the very cool thing about this place, as I wandered around my favorite nightspot, Clarke Quay tonight, with an old friend from New Zealand and some of his work colleagues. One of these guys said to me "I didn't realise how cosmopolitan Singapore is. Look around you, there is every culture here". And he nailed what makes this place really hum.
Although, I really didn't have the heart to tell him, as he gawked in awe at the gaggle of SPG's (Singapore Party Girls - legs up to their armpits, wearing a size Zero scarf which they loosely call a dress, super slick hair with not a strand out of place, licking their glossy lips as they eye up the poor unsuspecting pasty new arrival from the UK who is thinking...."Aye Up Lads - I think I'm in here"....my friend - all you are in for is a great dent in your wallet, and ultimately, your pride), or the local boys in their baggy pants and bad boy rapper swagger (it works for P Diddy, it definitely works for Jay-Z, it does not work for the kid who probably works as an office clerk by day, and turns into "Bad Boy for Life", rolling with his homies from Jurong East in the fast paced world of inner city Singapore), that this is not the real Singapore, and to be honest, a white girl from the Antipodes, will probably never find out what the real Singapore is like.
But this blog is going to be more than just Singapore - it is about Asia. And no, it won't be the raw, gritty scribblings of a back-packing traveler who takes pride in the number of days they went without a shower and how they lived off $50.00 and a plate of boiled rice a day. This will be more about normal expat life - without the plethora of maids, clubs and pimms on the balcony.
So welcome - to Lisa in Asia!
