After spending a month visiting family and friends in Australia, I decided to stop in Singapore for a few days with my Mum before heading back to Canada. I was excited at the prospect of not staying in backpacker hostels and the inviting smell of air pollution, humidity, spicy street food, incense and all manner of things mixed together that seems to define the vast Asian continent. As soon as you walk out the airport doors, it hits you and that feeling of familiarity and excitement comes flooding back. It felt so good to be back in an Asian country after so much time in the smog free lands of Canada and Australia. This may sound strange when one thinks of the cleanliness and anti-chewing gum laws Singapore is notorious for, but it appears inescapable evidence that try as they may, the tiny island nation is indeed sandwiched into southeast Asia and home to large Chinese, Indian and Malay communities.

I have visited Singapore before as a youngster and had pretty fond memories of the place. The food here is excellent. You can find the most authentic Indian curries in Little India, then head over to Orchard Rd for some high end Indonesian Satay, topped off with sweet tapioca from a street vendor in Chinatown. And its either ridiculously expensive or unbelievably cheap, no inbetween prices here.

My Mum and I arrived after a terrible experience with Jet Star at Singapore's Changi Airport, something quite ironic for my family as my Mum's grandad had been imprisoned in Changi Prison by the Japanese during the Second World War before being sent to slave away on the Thai-Burma Railway. Its hard to imagine the glistening windows and lush jungles housing grim P.O.W camps decades earlier, quite a telling reminder of the transformation the nation has undergone, but we didn't think about it too long. After being blasted with that Asian street smell and the intense mugginess upon stepping out the airport doors, we jump into a taxi and head into town to our hotel, a modern highrise affair with a sweet bathroom setup and a decent size pool area.

After settling in, we take a stroll and acclimatise to our new envionment and dive straight into some deliciously spicy Thai food at a neat little restaurant near the hotel. We then head to the the infamous Long Bar at the old colonial Raffles hotel to enjoy the cocktail the bar is renowned for creating - the Singapore Sling. The bar itself is pretty cool, its colonial grandeur preserved tastefully and the atmosphere buzzing with the sound of other tourists enjoying the famous beverage and chowing down on free peanuts (sadly no alcoholic writers moping at the bar to reminisce the Kipling years). Infact, the place is so busy that we are quickly shown to a table on the balcony and left abruptly with two menus on the table and a nice view of some chicken wire. Ten minutes later the waiter comes back and we order two Singapore Slings (are menu's even worth reading?) and told we weren't allowed peanuts outside. Apparently they have a bird problem. Our drinks arrive in full tropical glory, garnished with fresh pineapple and tiny paper umbrellas. I drank mine in about five minutes. Mum savoured hers a tad longer, but man are they easy on the palette. Would easily have ordered a second if the bill had not been hastily dropped off, leaving us to gasp at the insane price - $64 for two Singapore Slings! We hurriedly paid and left so as to avoid temptation.

The next day we lounged by the pool, myself enjoying the warm air before returning to minus temperature in North America. Spent the evening at the night market bartering with snaggle toothed old Chinese women over cheap clothes and unnecessary trinkets, and meandering the busy streets flooded with mask-covered locals and scantily clad tourists alike. Had an excellent dinner at Clarke Quay, right on the water with a view of the harbour and that stupid three-storey hotel with a boat on the top. I had Laotian Laab - minced chicken with generous helpings of coriander, lemongrass, ginger, chili, red onion and many more unknown spices all lovingly served in a fresh lettuce leaf. There's something to be said for being able to sit outside in the warm night air, crazy instruments being played in the distance and flavoursome food on the tongue with great company.

Our last day we spent again, by the pool, but also checking out some of Singapore's more upscale department stores (my Mum has a serious weakness for shopping) and taking a boat cruise in the harbour. The boat was a ridiculous recreation of a dhow, but with a modern 120 horsepower engine to make the most of tourist dollars. The harbour is a giant mess full of cargo ships, tourist boats and luxury cruisers surrounded by highrises and the stupid three-storey hotel with the boat on top. Nothing speacial really, but it was nice to be out in the sunshine.

Ended the evening and the trip with some Chinese food and the best mango tapioca ever, all for the economical price of $12. I might also mention the sense of relief you get when eating out in countries where tipping is uncommon and actually considered insulting.

As I said goodbye to my Mum at the hotel and caught a cab out to the airport before getting my flight to Canada, the taxi driver was sure to point out the glaring eyesore that sticks out like an ugly thumb on the Singapore skyline that is the Singapore Flyer, (a place we purposefully avoided because hey, its just a giant ferris wheel) and proudly inform me that the architectural marvel was 'even bigger than the London Eye! Biggest in the world!'. This mentality that bigger is better in defeating Western achievements really irks me. Singapore (and its definitely not unique to Singapore) has so much more to offer than ugly metal wheels. The pride of the small island should be on the cultural blend and its ability to simultaneously offer high end shopping and delicious eating at bargain prices, all encapsulated within that unforgettable smell in the air. As I walked into the airconditioned airport, I left that glorious smell behind and lingering in the nostrils until my next visit.