Initial thoughts on Singapore

I have been here all of almost two days so not by any means an expert but it is a very interesting place. Doing serious research on economic performance here and their focus on human capital for talks later this week. My first takeaway is that I will never complain about the humidity in Boston again. Wow, dripping here constantly. Never felt humidity like this before and that is saying something as I spent my entire life in the Mid-Atlantic and New England regions where humidity is the norm.

The urban environment is quite green in that there are trees and grass everywhere. This photo is of Marina Bay and the three towers of the casino/hotel there. The top is a a park. This is a common site in Singapore as they have rooftop gardens on some buildings including one across the street from my hotel. Singapore is not green in the recycling sense as there is no sign of any efforts. Not sure where all   the garbage goes however.

The people are friendly and cafe life is similar to Europe in that nobody bothers you and service is no speedy. But just relax and take it in and enjoy. At least that has been my philosophy so far. Favorite coffee place is Symmetry which is near the Arab Street area and the great Mosque. Best mocha ever and the food is tasty.