The Good Samaritans

I went.  I saw.  I conquered. 

 

In other words, I LOVE Singapore. 

 

I'll put up photos and stories as I go, but seeing as it's the day after I arrived back in Japan, I need a little down time.  At the same time, I simply cannot wait to tell you just a little tidbit about what I first noticed.

 

Singaporeans are fantastic.  They are friendly and they go out of their way to help you.  Actually.  It's what we all dream to embody as a global (national, local... ) community. 

 

I flew into Changi Airport, and had decided to take the metro to my hotel.  I'm a train fiend in Japan, and the Singaporean lines seemed (and are) relatively simple.  A train came, and I was unsure whether or not to get on.  An old man approached me, asked me what station I sought, told me to get on, where to transfer and even which side of the platform to transfer to.  Boom, so helpful.

 

My husband and I are coffee shop hunters (see our well-intended yet temporarily neglected coffee blog here).  Not only does it get us great coffee from various cultures, it allows us to see the back alleys and undiscovered coves of a city.  A local feel, if you will.  We were hunting 40 Hands Coffee and definitely walking in the wrong direction.  As soon as a confused look even crossed our faces, a woman was at our aid and pointing us in the right direction, which happened to be the opposite way.

 

I could go on with approximately 37 more stories about how I benefitted from the help of strangers in Singapore, but I guess that would be overdoing it.  Moral of the story: go to Singapore and realize that we can all do better.