Many people are amazed that I am a North American working in Singapore as a tourist guide. My answer to their questions is that I just love Singapore.
I studied tourism while in my country but while on vacation in Singapore I fell in love with the city state. I prolonged my stay. During my prolonged stay I got to meet great people who were able to show me much more about Singapore that I hadn’t discovered before. I decided to prolong my further. As I continued to explore this beautiful Island while I enjoyed the beautiful weather and beautiful tourist attractions, I met a woman who hypnotized me and here I am still in Singapore.
Singapore is a beautiful city that you would love the very first time you land here. One of the things that really captured my fancy was the many cultures that thrive side by side in this state. Unlike many other tourist destinations in the world where tourists are exposed to one main culture, here you are able to intermingle with people from many cultures such as the Indians, Malays, Chinese, people from the western hemisphere, Arabs and Africans.
All these people are settled here making a living mostly through trade. Singapore developed mostly due to its strategic positioning as an island where many boats from different far away countries could come and trade their goods. This culture continues today.
When I came to Singapore, I was able to quickly adjust to the country due to the predominantly spoken language. English. Language is a major factor for uniting different communities. The fact that English, the most widely spread language in the world, is a national language here, makes Singapore an easy place to live for anyone who understands it.
After a few months since coming to Singapore, I had learnt quite a lot about life in Singapore. I had also learnt some of the basic things that one needs to learn to survive in a strange land. For instance, I had already learnt how to make my way around using the public transport. I could comfortably use the MRT and I could use the buses and the taxi services.
In a few months I had also learnt how to easily get a house for rent in Singapore. Apart from knowing all the kinds of hotels to meet anyone’s budget, I had also come to know of other local accommodations that were often cheaper and would give the visitor a more complete experience of life in Singapore.
Finally when I got to meet my Malay wife, I was able to get the complete package of what Singapore had to offer. Incidentally, my Malay fiancé (then my wife to be) was also in the tourism industry. She had gone extra lengths to enlighten me about all the other hidden treasures of Singapore.
They say that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. My wife introduced me to some of the exotic cuisines in Singapore and she took me to some of the best buffets in Singapore. Combined with her delicious cooking, she and Singapore had eventually won my heart.