reflections in singapore dec 22-jan 3

come here if you want bars, shops and restaurants

merry christmas crew in singapore, thank you grandma for taking me as your travel companion to singapore for christmas!!! =)





singapore

prior to travelling, i hardly had an opinion of singapore, what it's like, or what i would find here. you know how sometimes you have friends that go places and they come back and are like, wow! i went to (_insert place here_)! and it was (_insert adjective here)! i had such a good time, i saw (_name that sight here_).
well, singapore never struck me as a place to visit, and now i know why......

singapore
the southeast asian tropical concrete jungle of bars, shops, and restaurants.
the ultimate consumer culture paradise spot.

phew
i made it (30+ hour flight)
88 year old grandma too {thank you grandma for bringing me to asia for christmas}
after i packed all night long and survived the airport shitshow (too long of a story)
i breathe in warm humid air into my lungs
the color green again
ahhhhhh
it feels so good to finally be friends with nature again
after having to wear too many layers and taking refuge from the bitter cold
i am alive again
i'm more like myself when i'm less restricted by exterior conditions
(aren't we all?)

all the public transit signs are in four language: chinese, malay, english, and tamil (south indian language). accordingly, the country is a mix of these 4 different ethnicities. my favorite parts were the cultural neighborhoods like little malay, chinatown, little india.
i can't believe how clean this city is
no spitting, no littering, no this no that, many rules rules rules
when consciousness expands people need less rules
of course i won't litter
the earth is sacred
there is no "away" in "throw away" anyway
the dark facets of city life hidden from our eyes

dear fresh fresh tasty fruit
i missed you from costa rica
you could grow right here but you don't
you're probably from malaysia or indonesia
except for those gross bright red apples from the US
are city dwellers going to eat concrete and paper money when we can't ship food from everywhere anymore
when fossil fuels run out when the soils are barren and full of too many chemicals and fresh water runs out and can't grow anything anymore
where does food come from
where do we come from
forget about beaches in singapore
a metal cesspool of shipping center

o spiky, stinky, sweet durian, king of the tropical fruits
your pungent nectar creeps through the alleyways
i am so happy to meet you again
dear reader
don't you dare bring our friend durian on any sort of public transportation here
unless you want to be shunned and forced to pay an unreasonable amount of money

something missing about this place
nauseated at all the flash flash go go buy buy vroom vroom shop shop shop
don't these people ever feel crazy too?
my insides quietly scream at me to listen
go meditate! go do some yoga! find quiet somewhere, anywhere!
this place is really hellish
[everywhere cities in some way or another]
do humans remember what life was like before this concrete was here?
too conditioned disillusioned that we have collectively created this madness

patterns of civilization
paving over what Mother Earth made
millions of breathing living beings sharing limited space of our Earthship
all sacrificed in the name of human civilization
flash dazz sparkle and pizzazz eventually becomes trash
humanity too busy to recognize the emptiness under it all
everything material disintegrates
back into the Earth we all must return
my heart breaks
worldwide amnesia
forgotten inner spirit realm
i'm so sick of this material world of temporary
so little people take the time and energy to realize the spirit within

looking for quiet somewhere
overwhelmed by incessant city noise
no escape from it
the sun has gone to sleep for the night
i get off the subway stop by aunt lien and uncle laurence's place
i shuffle down the concrete path
cricket cricket cricket
soothes my sore ears from the city racket
the jungle reveals itself in small patches
the bulldozers missed it somehow
oh how i missed you too, dear rainforest
i can breaaaaaaathe again
my body collapses into the moist ground
totally unafraid if there was a creature (like a snake!) underneath me
whatever, body
i'll shed this one when i don't need it anymore
it's not who i really am anyways
just this piece of Earth home that i am responsible for taking care of
be here now

i close my eyes and remember
the raw jungle night sky
it's not that the stars aren't there right now
they're underneath the light pollution
collectively too clouded in our minds to remember
what's there the whole time
[same with our deepest innermost self]

i lived in you, sweet rich Jungle, for a period of my life
no cars no artificial lights sometimes electricity but not really
where you let these hands pluck the treasures produced from the breathing tree beings
and fed this body with those succulent sun ripened gems
how is it that Mother Earth continues to feed us despite human [her children] abuse
dumping chemicals wasting water monoculture concrete chop chop rainforest
i don't even care about my million bug bites [there, in the jungle]
i'll take a billion more [no malaria please]
in exchange for the missing element
spirit
life
how do i communicate unexplainable experiences
Earth, you are so sacred
providing food and shelter for infinite life forms
the most biodiverse ecosystem on this planet
thank you for giving me air to breathe