I am in Singapore, which should hopefully explain any updates on the blog since the past few days :)
 
Singapore is a  pretty good city, though I haven't really seen too much of it yet. Been having a different kind of experience here - for the first  few days am on assignment with a foreign budget travel magazine, and have to write a feature on living in Singapore on less than US$ 30 per day. Which is no mean feat, since this city is EXPENSIVE ! The "shopper's paradise" reputation is because of the variety of stuff available, and not the prices...though I did spot my dream laptop -  the Sony Vaio - for Rs. 97,000, which is way cheaper than in India.
 
Am staying in a tiny, but extremely neat and clean, hostel called Backpacker's Cozy Corner.  My only grouse? It doesn't have attached toilets and  showers. Haven't stayed  in a place without these amenities ever since my student days, and though I am going to sound  like a spoilt  brat, would  never ever choose to do so again as long as I can help it!! Sorry to admit this  - but am dying to get over this assignment and move over the posher hotels.........can't  help it, I like my luxuries!!!!!!
 
Though am grateful for one thing - might have stuck to  the cabs and never discovered Singapore's excellent  MRT (Mass  Rapid Transport) system if I was  not forced to live on a budget. The local stations and the trains  themselves are far cleaner  here than even the international airport in Bombay...I am not kidding.
 
A few more obsevations about S'pore:
1. Haven't seen a cop in two days, but everbody still follows even the tiniest of laws...are they in plain clothes??
2. Where are the petrol pumps in this city????
3. All the women look as if  they should be force fed and made to put on some weight. None of them have even a millimeter of extra fat and they all look so polished all the time. Am not even going to try stepping into a clothes boutique... they will all just be stocking stuff for 26-inch waists :(