Friday, November 14, 2008

if i married singapore...

If you were a city, what would you be?

If there is a place that best represents your ideals, your aspirations, your personality, your deepest thoughts and longings, which place would reveal your true self?

For my wife, she can only be Singapore...


Asked why, of all the places on earth she's been to would she choose Singapore, a tiny island state which was a bastion of British trade in the colonial days, her definition is simple - she loves ORDER.


Like the city, my wife is a neat and a control freak. The kind of person who color codes all her reports in post-its, who arranges CDs alphabetically and zones things in any way imaginable.

Everytime I drive through Changi Airport to the city itself, I am amazed how even the bougainvilleas on the plantboxes by the freeway look like they have been ordered by the government to exude the same shade of pinkish purple that is almost crazily the same everywhere. The streets, the subways, the signs... they are all pristinely accurate, planned and placed to a tee as if they know the answers before you even ask for directions!


An amalgam of the west and the east, the past and the present, Singapore is a city of contrasts, of parodies, of ironies, of yin and yang colliding in a beautiful frenzy.

A perfect representation of my wife. Ask her what she wants for Christmas and you'll lose your mind.



Always hot, sexy and voluptouos, but that warmth she exudes is her biggest draw...


Her personailty is as colorful as a peacock gracefully hopping on the beaches of Sentosa...


A beacon of a hundred lights, Singapore and my wife can light up a path in the darkest corners of life's chapters...


She is very cosmopolitan... a city who is moving forward in every direction and urbanizes faster than our credit card can catch. Coincidentally, shopping is also the national past time of Singapore, which is also the full time profession of my wife.



Glitzy, boisterous, flashy and opulent, Singapore snags herself like a woman who has reached a certain level of sophistication that not everyone can understand but everyone wants to become...



Ruled by rules, controlled by controls... best of all, Singapore is such a "fine" city...


33 comments:

Felix said...

I want to live there! :)

Ganun ba talaga when you get old (I don't mean you or your wife ha), you just like everything calm!

Ako, I love Berlin! :)

the spool artist said...

Oo nga, siguro sobrang nasawa kami sa unpredictability at gulo ng Manila before... dito naman sa Cambodia, you have all the calm but kulang sa shopping... that's why she loves Singapore that much! hahaha...

wow, Berlin is such an orgasmic city for artists and designers! Ako siguro if I were a city, I am Barcelona!

Borneo Falcon said...

Singapore is a nice city indeed but the living cost could be unbearable, at least for my standard

lucas said...

singapore is such a beautiful and amazing city... just like your wife :)

ang sweet mo naman kuya loven. does your wife read this blog? hehehe!

i just love the way how you used pictures to tell a love story... brilliant :)

peace out!

the spool artist said...

@borneo falcon: you hit the spot! i don't think i can afford to live in singapore either! that's why i'm better off here in cambodia... i think singapore is a wonderful city if you're visiting... living there is another story!

@roneiluke: thanks... yup, she does read my blog but only comments anonymously! she's been giving me all sorts of excuses why she doesn;t wanna keep a blog! hahaha.

Gilbert Semillano said...

Masarap mag pinta dyan, ganda ng lugar! If I were a city, siguro I would be Amsterdam :-P Nice shots, Loven!

the spool artist said...

Wow.. Amsterdam is such a forward-thinking city... and not to mention it's the home of the best European painting masters! Would love to check out Amsterdam someday!

Thanks Gilbert!

eDreGiN said...

-your wife's right... it seems everything is in order sa Singapore...maaaliwalas ang lugar nila, so clean but then again me buts! Hehehe...

Anyway, if I were a city, seguro PRAGUE ako.... :=)

fuchsiaboy said...

bwahahahaha nabasa na ba to ni Faith? Yeah, im all for shopping!

hmmmm...actually di ko alam what city best represents me. Maybe I'm too complex to be pegged to one city. Hmmm...maybe Paris? but I'm also New York and Tokyo and Antwerp.


Basta alam ko di ako Manila at ang immigration!

the spool artist said...

@edregin: Aba! Prague!!! Very gothic and vampirical ka siguro ano... hahaha. Prague is such an old world European city that it is simply not hard to fall in love with its charm... pero i heard it is also cutting edge and very modern as well...

@fuchsiaboy: hindi pa siguro nya nabasa... wala pa kasing anonymous comment eh! hahaha...

if i were to describe you as a city, don, you definitely have to be Malabon - dahil bumabaha ka sa creative juice... o di kaya'y Marikina - the home of MMDA Chairman Bayani Fernando who is the most fuscia-est person in the world after you...

Irene said...

Hello, and thank you for stopping by my blog and commenting.
Your photos both in this blog and your cambodia one are amazing. Such a diverse country.

the spool artist said...

hi irene! i enjoyed looking at Greece through a different set of eyes through your blog! Cheers!

RedLan said...

whatta fine description about your wife described as Singapore. Maganda yung taong. I can't think of what city I can describe myself. hehehe. Malinis talaga ang Singapore kahit hindi pa ako nakapunta dun, sabi nila. Iba ang approach mo sa pagkuha ng mga pics, kakaiba talaga!

GingGoy said...

nice,safe place for photography. love the citylights

Anonymous said...

I love you lah!

Anonymous said...

I love you lah!

chezza said...

I lived there for two years and still want to go back everytime...I've explored all the nooks and crannies there too. And I lurve chicken rice and the Singlish dialect is cool too! Auntie lah! love chicken rice lah, so how? can or not?
ha!ha!ha!....

the spool artist said...

@redlan: I'm sure you'll enjoy Singapore kung nandoon ka... the proliferation of art and artists is rather impressive... as an artist, you'll be inspired there!

@tutubi: yup, you're right about singapore's safety record! and it is also a photographer's paradise... their well preserved heritage and ode to modernity is rather interesting!

@palangga: wabs you too, lah!

@chezza: really? wow, we'll let you know if we have another trip down there so we can ask for good tips from you! hahaha... can can lah!

KRIS JASPER said...

Must be a beauty... pero everytime I hear Singapore, I tend to associate it with Flor C. slash hanging.

Sharon said...

Lovely how you describe Singapore!!One of my fav cities in the world, along with NY&Paris(these two I have yet to set foot in:P) I think I'd love to live in Singapore, it ressembles Mauritius a lot...small island, multi-cultural... except that it's cleaner, neater and has much much more to offer for shopping haha

Luis Batchoy said...

I dont wanna marry a city... I wanna marry THE city! Hehehee

the spool artist said...

@krisjasper: oo nga, di rin mabura sa memory ko and hanging ni flor contemplacion sa singapore!

@sharon: thanks! well,singapore's biggest edge is really shopping! hhaha... wow, i'd love to check out mauritius if given the chance!

@luis batchoy: or better yet, marry the mayor of the city! you'll be the queen of the city pag nagkataon! hahaha.

kouji said...

slick images. :) don't quite know if i love that place, but i do respect it. :)

Sreisaat said...

Hi SpoolArtist.
This is sweet!! I am sure your wife is so kilig!!! I should go ask my husband what city he thinks best represents me *lol*
I have never been to Singapore. Yet. I have no particular itch to go there either. I dunno, maybe because of my unfortunate encounters with some of its citizens (here and abroad) made me averse to going.

eDreGiN said...

-Hmmmm (I can relate to ZJ's comment)...my holiday in SG went well sometime Jan 2006 pero I dont know ...I dont fancy to visit the place again...I had bad experiences outside the country of its citizen ...so I guess yon ang rason kung baket wiz ko feel masyado ang SG...most of the citizens Ive met here and abroad (not in SG mismo) eh mga nakakabwisit as if sila ang me ari ng mundo...eh anhirap pa naman intindihin ng english nila dahil sa the way sila magsalita, nakakahigh blood lah!

Luis Batchoy said...

i dont wanna marry the mayor because the term is co-terminus.
PAg di na sya mayor wa na din. Ryt? Since ikaw ang nagpasimuno nito, sige aber? What city am I?

Anonymous said...

OO inaamin ko, I have love and hate relationship sa mga taga roon pero infairness infairmart infairview lahat naman ng lahi may kasamaan ng ugali eh sa atin nga di ba mas worst pa minsan.. pero na swertehan lang talaga ako na sa lahat ng nakatrabaho ko kahit there is someone na masama ang ugali.. ako talaga mas nalamangan ko sila ng kasamaan.. ika nga burn the bridge when you get there bwahahahah

escape said...

one impressive post to honor your wife! you're really good at this. if i am a country or an island, ill definitely be Bora Bora (in the French Polynesia).

the spool artist said...

@kouji: respect is the right word.

@zj: i hope that doesn't define your experience of singapore and stop you from going there... its hard to generalize a country by meeting a few of its people!

@edregin: i do have some bad experiences as well, but that doesn't mean everybody's like that... maswerte lang kayo siguro na yun ang mga na meet nyo! :-)

@luis: maybe havana best represents you... very poetic yet sulking in authority... a bastion of old world traditions, yet very much ready to open up to the world... the passion you put in writing is of the same parallel of the city's zest for dance, life and devil-may-care-if-castro-dies-tomorrow attitude!

@palangga: lol!

@coupdecoeur: merci, mon amis!

@the dong: thank you po... wow, i guess bora bora pefectly fits you to a tee! Teeming with adventure and simply idyllic! cheers!

eunice said...

woooo talking about Singapore now! As a Singaporean, do I need to say something now? hehe

So your wife must be good in management, and that's something I'm lacking of despite that I am born and raised in SG!

Hmm, yeah there are alot of "Fine" signs in SG, but frankly speaking, they are just signs (try them! =P), though we get parking summons easily LOL!

Living standard? Well, I guess it is still far better than many developed countries. If you live in Singapore, you make Singdollar. It's still not too bad. Yes we have poor people, but at least we hardly even see beggars around. So is that a good sign?

As for some comments here regarding bad experience with Singaporeans, I think such encounter may happen anywhere with any kind of people. And usually I think such bad experience arises due to lack of communication and different cultures.

Just some simple thoughts of SG. =D

eunice said...

Oh something to add on. What I like about Singapore is that even it's one of the smallest city state in the world, it's a safe and clean place to live in. Though the weather is hot, but it's free from natural disaster. It's an international hub and getting things done is also quite easy. Just some simple thoughts only.

pusangkalye said...

I miss Singapore too....and the fact that in there, everything is in order and people are disciplined.....

the spool artist said...

@eunice: you're right... a bad experience can happen to anyone in any place... and you cannot really generalize people... like the fact that not all french are snobs, not all new yorkers are hip and not all filipinos are domestic helpers...

you are actually a perfect embodiment of a true singaporean... cool, sunny and has a great zest for travel and life!

@salingpusa: i miss singapore as well! the food trip... the shopping frenzy... the magazines and books at borders... the convenience of everything!

i was supposed to go there spetember but wasn't able to... i surely want to go back!