Sayonara Singapore

I only have 5 days left in Singapore. It's surreal. I keep having goodbye drinks, goodbye coffee chats, goodbye lunches...and I'm not 100% ready to say goodbye.

Before coming here, I couldn't even point this country out on a map (often because a red dot covers it on every map). Once I got here, everyone told me - get out and travel. And I did, at least once a month.

When I went to one place, I discovered 5 more that I wanted to explore. There's so much to see, and it's hard to believe that only year ago, Southeast Asia was just some vague landmass to me. Not any more...and I am better off for it.

But as many places as there are to see, being in Singapore made me realize that I just need to hop on a plane to get there. Sounds basic, but I never thought that way. Now, if a flight is under 10 hours, it's a cakewalk. I guess you could say that over the past 13 months, the world became accessible. My "to do" list is now pretty big.

Luckily, while I will be moving back to NYC, I will be living in Japan for a few months each year as well. So, although I'm saying sayonara now, don't take it personally Asia - because I'll be back and already, I can't wait.

And for all the traveling I did, there were great times and discoveries right under my nose in Singapore. It's a strange mix of the absurd and the truly wonderful. It's in that spirit that I leave you with the TOP 10 REASONS I WILL MISS SINGAPORE.

#10 Clean, air-conditioned subways that run on time and have cell reception & working escalators

#9 Seeing Indian men hold hands/put their arms around each other while walking down the street. It's what Indian friends do.

#8 Reserving tables by throwing down a pack of wet naps. After you do that, you can walk away to find your food and no matter how long you take, nobody will dare take your naps or table. (I think I'll start this in NYC and see what happens).

#7 Changi Airport. It's beautiful, efficient and calming - it puts everything in the US to shame.

#6 Freshly cut mango that tastes like the nectar of the gods. The little Chinese ladies at the fruit stand anticipate my order every time: "Two mango, is it?" to which I respond "Yes, lah"

#5 Practicing my Singlish with the experts, lah. No can in NYC! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singlish

#4 THE FOOD. Although, I crave to have real pizza, pancakes and grilled chicken from back home, I largely prefer the food here. Best of all - good, fresh food is affordable and accessible. Chicken Satay, Roti Prata, Chicken Rice, Lahksa, Carrot Cake (the Chinese kind), Char Siew, Briyani, Chendel, Snow Ice, Sugar Cane juice, Dumpling Noodles and the list goes on!

#3 Being able to say things like, "Cambodia for the weekend."

#2 Drinking coffee from a bag! Or, as they call it in Singapore, kopi.

#1 Having the merlion as my national symbol. The merlion (see picture) is part fish, part lion and a whole lot of laughs