Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I actually think if Penang were to secede from Malaysia at the same time as Singapore, and ruled by the same visionary like Lee Kuan Yew, it will be almost like a twin of Singapore now, with the same core demographics and a shared legacy. On top of that, Penang has verdant hills, and that reminds you of HK in a way, sans the expansive skyline the latter is famous for.
But in a way, Penang is where you can imagine how Singapore is like decades ago.
^ Yeah i mean sometimes people talk about Singapore being clean as if it's a bad thing . As if Asia has to be dirty to be authentic.
It's not that it's too clean. Everything is too ordered and rigid. It takes away from the authenticity of the city/culture. Singapore has not held onto its roots, other than preserving the shells of old buildings. Like I said, Main Street Disneyland: Just the shells of small town american buildings, not actual people or culture. Catered towards consumerism, not heritage preservation.
It's not that it's too clean. Everything is too ordered and rigid. It takes away from the authenticity of the city/culture.
You could also term this as civil and efficient. It's not much different to any other Western city in terms of regulation, though I rarely hear people questioning the lack of authenticity in Western cities.
Quote:
Singapore has not held onto its roots, other than preserving the shells of old buildings. Like I said, Main Street Disneyland: Just the shells of small town american buildings, not actual people or culture. Catered towards consumerism, not heritage preservation.
What exactly are it's roots? I mean Singapore took off as a British colonial business which attracted people who sought to work for a share of the pie. The same can be said for Hong Kong, these cities have always attracted entrepreneurial people and by the nature of their foundation/development, the people of either city are not strangers to change.
Something about Singapore makes it and many of the people I've met from there remarkably dull to me. It's not a bad thing, but generally I find there is little in more outre interests among people from there and they seem to have a great love for the overly bland and sentimental. This also pans out in the experiences of friends of mine working for Singapore's top-down driven culture industry where the government is trying to back the development of a creative and media culture for export, but apparently it's been tough going trying to steer things towards anything worthwhile. Of course, this is a generalization, but it's what my impressions have been. I do love Malaysian and Singaporean food though, which is I suppose one good point.
Can't agree more! They're probably the type of people who would rule out Japan from the "authentic asia" list.
Do you really think so? I think Japan, though it is an extremely organized and generally very clean country would still be considered very authentic. The thing that Japan culture isn't though is sterile and it has an incredible array of cultural products idiosyncratic to the country. Hong Kong, too, has a kind of a peculiarity to it. Singapore on the other hand oftentimes actually feels not just clean, but sterile.
^^^ interesting. I can actually barely remember what I ate in HK, it was 6 years ago, but I don't remember being impressed. I remember liking the food in Sichuan ALOT though, some of the best food of any kind I've ever had. Well Chongqing but close enough. Both countries import most of their produce so maybe Singapore just imports the higher quality stuff? Western food in Hong Kong tends to be really expensive, have you noticed, I remember a steakhouse where they charged $80 a steak!
My first and last trek to Hong Kong was back in 2006. I went with my dad and three of my friends. My friends are from Hong Kong and I went to elementary school with them, middle school, high school, and eventually college as well. My dad had a conference there and asked if I wanted to go, no way I'd pass up on that chance and some friends were looking to visit but we were only 15 at the time so needed an adult for sure-- to which my dad volunteered.
The food there, at the time I was only 15 so I didn't realize much but later on after wondering and seeing food in other places came to the conclusion that they don't have much of a "foodie town" vibe and they don't treat that as a priority there the way they do shopping.
I think because Singapore sits at the crossroads of Asia (South Asia, East Asia, Oceania, Southeast Asia) that it gets more of a variety in imports-- so it has more selections to work with than Hong Kong in general.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Trimac20
Houston reminds me a bit of Perth 10 years ago. It's cheap, has the energy-info tech industry, lots of money coming into it, very new. The bubble will burst some day, but it's in it's golden years now. SF is probably too expensive for a lot of Asians. I think as Asia gets more prosperous and the US declines it will become less and less attractive to immigrants. Many will probably start to favour Australia and Canada as well.
The thing with it is that this isn't even it's "fast growth" period yet. That's expected to start right after 2015 when the Panama Canal extension is complete, the Key Stone XL Pipeline is complete, the United States economy recovers largely more so, when Obama's healthcare reform takes effect (it will impact the medical industry there), and the United States becomes the largest energy exporter in the world. 2014-2030 will be Houston's golden age and when most city leaders and economists predict it's largest leaps. It's also the same time period when it's two theme parks (Earth Quest Adventures & Grand Texas) will be complete, the Buffalo Bayou Master Plan will be complete, streetcar system, high speed rail, Space Port at Ellington Field, and NASA Robotics launch.
After the cutbacks into Space Exploration, NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston has been working more on robotics and they're gearing all their funding, NIH, and sponsorships for that and combining it more with Houston's medical industry (which along with Boston & Bay Area is a co-anchor for nano-technology). They're moving towards alleviating medical and life conditions for people with paralysis: Tony Stark may be fiction, but this Iron Man-type suit from NASA is the real deal (video) - Ideas@Innovations - The Washington Post
The city will slowdown eventually as all cities around the world do but it's most critical years are between 2014-2030-- when everything comes together for it. Everything it's been doing for the last 25 years was to set it up for this time period in many ways.
One thing that will always lack will be the transit system. Houston's done an absolutely laughable job at that and while it becomes less mediocre over the years in transit-- it's long long long away from finding a soul there.
To Asians and immigrants in general: They come to Houston for the high income, relatively (as you mentioned) affordable housing, being around an already established diverse community, being in a city connected to all points of the world by airport, and for the energy, nano-technology, medical, cancer research & treatment, seaport, and growing technology industry there.
Bay Area is very expensive for sure but they've been drawing talent by their technology industry, venture capital, startups, and creative class all this time. What's shocking is, it's one of the few areas in the United States that's actually seen immigration grow during the recession when other places in the country were cutting back.
The weakness of the Bay Area is a strong sense of cultural clash, there's a lot of NIMBYism, what takes New York a few months to build takes over 10 years in the Bay Area and it's not even promised that it'll get approved in the first place.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Trimac20
So you find the Asian lacking in Seattle? Interesting. I've heard it has good Japanese food. So which food in the US has the best South-east Asia cuisine IYO? LA, Houston, SF?
I've actually never been to Seattle but I have a few friends that have told me for the Chinese heritage they have, the food largely doesn't deliver to that level. Some tell me that nearby Vancouver beats them easily on that front-- however I wont formulate my own opinion till I actually try it out myself. Usually I'm a strange person, I tend to like things most people usually don't like. I've been to Vancouver and the Chinese food there is extremely hard to top, especially the Indo-Chinese fusion restaurants.
For Vietnamese it's most probably Bay Area & Houston by sheer quality, Orange County would get my nod too. Otherwise the rest of the country is a bit of a step down from there.
I would assume Los Angeles & Bay Area take it for Cambodian food, Laon food, and Myanmari food.
Indonesian is probably Seattle, Los Angeles, Houston. Places where you can get a good fusion option between the delicacies of seafood and the spices in pepper, sauce, and vegetation.
Thai food, which is my favorite food-- I've had it the best in New York & Houston. I've been traveling through the country, going on Yelp, asking everyone I know to recommend me Thai food that would meet my strict standards on the quality barometer and all fall short to the place I tried on Madison Avenue in New York & Bangkok Chef in Houston. Hell, cant even find other places in Houston that live up to Bangkok Chef's standards and it ticks me off because 4 times a week I have a strong craving for their food but I'm on the other side of the country now. I've been looking, looking, exploring, hell the reason I went up to Boston a few months ago was primarily to try their top rated Thai restaurants first and foremost and I always come back home disappointed. I always spend so much money on Thai food, in the last month I've spent nearly $270 for one person in multiple Thai restaurant and I've been disappointed so much. However for good grade Thai food I'm absolutely sure Los Angeles is up there as well.
I'm visiting New York once every month now, going there to get the Thai food, get a lot of extra ones, put it in an ice chest after spending a day in New York and driving back to Washington DC with at least a weeks supply of Thai food.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Trimac20
I met a Kashmiri man in Penang, interesting experience. He said something about us being kindred spirits and meeting in the afterlife... lol
Hahahahahaha, they're very spiritual in Kashmir. It's a very strict place for meditation and living a peaceful life. People there from what I know are largely animal loving, pray, and meditate to an extreme.
Last edited by Trafalgar Law; 01-20-2013 at 04:13 PM..
Hahahahahaha, they're very spiritual in Kashmir. It's a very strict place for meditation and living a peaceful life. People there from what I know are largely animal loving, pray, and meditate to an extreme.
From what I know, Hindus are a minority in Kashmir - the state of Jammu and Kashmir is 66% Muslim and 97% Muslim in Kashmir alone. Not sure how spiritual they are, but all the news about Kashmiri people are separatist activities and terrorist attacks. Kashmir certainly has a scenery worthy of paradise though - too bad the evil side of humanity wrecks it.
From what I know, Hindus are a minority in Kashmir - the state of Jammu and Kashmir is 66% Muslim and 97% Muslim in Kashmir alone. Not sure how spiritual they are, but all the news about Kashmiri people are separatist activities and terrorist attacks. Kashmir certainly has a scenery worthy of paradise though - too bad the evil side of humanity wrecks it.
Haha, yeahh I had meant the Hindu community.
The areas of Kashmir that are disputed between India & Pakistan are very hostile. The Indian government wants it to control the flow of the Indus River (Pakistan's largest source of fresh water) while Pakistan wants it for the opposite reason.
It's an ongoing struggle there but the Hindu's that do live there live a life of meditation and peace. It's a shame it's such an unbalanced place due to extreme terrorism.
The areas of Kashmir that are disputed between India & Pakistan are very hostile. The Indian government wants it to control the flow of the Indus River (Pakistan's largest source of fresh water) while Pakistan wants it for the opposite reason.
It's an ongoing struggle there but the Hindu's that do live there live a life of meditation and peace. It's a shame it's such an unbalanced place due to extreme terrorism.
Jammu and Ladakh are probably safe havens for minorities (a Hindu and Buddhist stronghold respectively), not in Kashmir though. I have read about Kashmiri militants launching attacks and genocides on Hindus to expel them from their land. Sad.
Jammu and Ladakh are probably safe havens for minorities (a Hindu and Buddhist stronghold respectively), not in Kashmir though. I have read about Kashmiri militants launching attacks and genocides on Hindus to expel them from their land. Sad.
It's very peaceful from what I've been in the parts of Kashmir near Punjab.
I feel sorry for Kashmiri's, their land is claimed by India, China, & Pakistan and it's been disputed land for quite a long time and most likely always will be.
The Hindu's there though are very disciplined, they live quite a healthy life where family & religion is all to them.
The terrorism in the region goes ignored by the Indian government, although they maintain a presence there-- they let terrorism prevail by ignoring it.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
. As if Asia has to be dirty to be authentic.
