So, I’m back in Blighty. I’ve been catching up with myself for the past few days, putting things back in their appropriate places, digesting my experience of the past few weeks.
I’ve been lucky enough to do a fair amount of travelling in my time – Botswana, Malaysia, the US, Germany, Finland, up and down the UK – not as much as some people I know (Anna K, I’m looking at you), but considering that much of my travel has happened as a result of the fact that I push words around on pages and screens, I’m thankful for everywhere I’ve been. Of all the places I’ve known, Singapore is the country I’m always most excited about heading back to.
This time, my journey to Singapore had layered goals: to get away from the regular grind of London’s day-in-day-out to refresh, write, and reconnect with people I hadn’t seen since my last visit (2009). True to form, I also passed through a number of Singaporean schools (shout out to Temasek JC, Nan Hua High School, Cedar Girls Secondary, Clementi Town School, St Anthony’s Canossian, St Andrews JC) and had the opportunity to run a couple of workshops for local writers – both to push their writing, and their use of web-based tech to support their work.
I bought more books than I should have (books cost more in Singapore), ate obscenely well for a ridiculous amount of money (next to nothing), didn’t take enough pictures (but loved each and every response to my vintage Yashica), walked a lot (Dhoby Gaut to Chinatown, anyone?), ran a workshop in my favourite Singaporean bookstore (geek-crush! score!), met some amazing people and wrote. I also managed to pick up what I think may have been the last iPad 2 in the country.
I’m already planning my next return. I’d like to give my camera a bit more of a work-out. Capture more. And I’d like to engage in some focused writing inspired by the locale – maybe attach myself to a local community project and write in response. I’ve seen a fair amount of Singapore, but I still feel as if there are depths for me to explore. How do you engage with the reality of a place when you’re only passing through? And there are so many neighbouring countries that I have yet to visit. I skipped Malaysia this time round, so I’ll be keen to get back there when I’m next nearby. And that’s not to mention plans for travel to Japan, Australia, New Zealand…
Thanks to everyone that made my time in Singapore what it was – including Angela Cheong and the Fortune Travel crew, Pooja Nansi, Kay Vasey at the British Council, the ‘Finding a Fresh Perspective’ writers, Yong Shu Hoong, Miriam Nash, Kenny at BooksActually, William Phuan at the Arts House, all of the students who turned up at the Arts House event (including those who asked for the chocolate poem – I hope it was worth waiting for) and anyone else I may have neglected to mention. All in all, not a bad trip. Not bad at all.
(Image from an art exhibit on Ann Siang Hill, in a Fred Perry outlet, no less. Artist: Rage Goh.)