I just got back to Bali yesterday from a short trip to Singapore. I had been to Singapore before on a company junket, but that was a long time before I was living in Bali.

Singapore has a fantastic transport system with buses and an extensive subway system. It is easy to get from the airport to the downtown area and anywhere around the island.

The traffic is “normal” where people actually follow traffic signals and wait for pedestrians to cross. There is no rubbish in the streets and the sidewalk gardens are planted with well groomed tropical plants.

The first day I was actually thinking it might be nice to live there. Lots of shops and places to visit. The next day I took an early morning subway ride. It brought back memories from commuting daily on the subway when I was living in Tokyo.

I couldn’t help noticing that tired and distant look everyone had as they traveled to work. I remembered that feeling and it sent a shiver down my spine. No-one spoke to each other and people either tried to get a little bit of sleep or listened to music on their ipods. In fact most people I saw were listening to their ipods or were talking on their mobiles. Everyone living their lives in their own little world.

It was nice to be able to browse the huge bookstores like Borders and Kinokuniya and have a bit of change in scenery, at the same time I couldn’t wait to get back to Bali.