the lonely isle

It's almost ironic: I have a day off tomorrow, and I have absolutely no idea what to do with it.



I'm thinking about going on a tour. But I'm not heading off on a jet
anywhere. Instead, I'm really interested in looking around this little
island I call home. After all, I've spent my whole undergrad life
exploring the sights of so many foreign lands; it's high time I spend
some time looking around my country.



It'll probably be cheaper too.



As a start, I'll be visiting the new national library tomorrow. My
initial impressions of the building - from the outside at least -
haven't been very favourable. Tomorrow's trip will confirm if I'm
right.



There's lots of other places I want to visit; after all, there's
probably interesting stuff at each station on the mrt lines. But as a
city guy born and bred, the main attraction has to be roaming the CBD.
I think it's going to be really fun poking around the area, checking
out the skyscrapers and shops, the river, the museums (when was the
last time you visited one in Singapore?) etc.



If you watched the national day rally last sunday, you'd have caught
the glitzy images of Singapore, 40 years from now. That was, to me, the
most exciting part of the whole speech. It's a promise of how much more
this lonely isle can develop, how much more riches we can create. I
believe that, as a city, Singapore currently boasts a rich trove of
culture and heritage, mostly hidden from the casual observer. I'm
looking forward to unearthing some of this treasure, and I can scarcely
imagine how much more will be created in the future.



It's not often that I write something that is so unstinting in its
praise for Singapore. But I do believe, after having seen so many
different cities all over the world, that our planners truly did a
great job setting down the shape of our city state. It's clean, safe,
efficient, and getting more interesting everyday. Spending days off
appreciating it certainly sounds like a worthy pursuit.