The end of 2007 - sad farewell to Denver

Will I be sorry to say goodbye to 2007? Yes and no - it's another year closer to whatever awaits on the other side, but I avoided the major health issues I suffered in recent years and I am now blindly confident that my total lack of exercise, my 20-a-day habit, my fondness for saturated fat and my stressful work and home life will not prevent me living another 20 years at least.

After spending the last 6 years in Singapore, the longest I've lived in one country since 1968, the-grass-is-greener syndrome struck again. My family and I spent five months in Denver, Colorado. What a wonderful state! What a wonderful city!

Singapore's highest point is 164 metres above sea level - less than 500 feet. What a contrast with the Mile-High City. We took a long time to acclimate to the thin air. Water boils below 100 degrees C, so tea tastes lousy. We all had constant sinus congestion. My wife got altitude sickness and threw up when we drove up Lookout Mountain to Buffalo Bill's Grave.

But these were small irritants, compared to the breathtaking beauty of the Rockies. And there are so many more positives about Denver, like for example the architecture. The city has preserved its Victorian architectural heritage downtown whereas Singapore has stupidly torn down or Disney-fied pretty much all the areas that had character. (I'll post some pictures when I figure out how to do it).

There are a million things to do in Colorado, both out in the countryside, where you can rock-climb, ski, hunt, camp, fish, find dinosaur bones or just hike for miles in untouched wilderness, or indoors with a fantastic arts, music, theatre and club scene.

In Singapore - well, I guess it's livelier than it used to be but the main pastimes are still shopping and eating. And let's be honest - the Orchard Road shopping scene is crap compared to Hong Kong, London, New York, Paris, Rome - almost any major city. Luxury goods are no longer much cheaper than elsewhere, and you have to fight your way through huge crowds who can't walk in a straight line, close your ears to incessant competing noise from every store as well as promo booths along the street, just to deal with sales staff who must be the rudest and most ignorant on the planet. And while Singapore's tame press constantly congratulates itself on the country being a food paradise, the truth is most of the local dishes you buy at the food centres are garbage. More on these topics in subsequent posts.

In contrast, Singapore's physical infrastructure and bureaucratic systems are light years beyond the US. Getting a social security card or a driver's licence is an unbelievable ordeal. The US mobile phone service is a joke. The highways, bridges and surface streets are crumbling. And the airlines! United continues to vie with Northwest for the title of Worst Major Airline in the World - more on these to come, too.

For now, let me give you my author of the month - Lee Child. Movie of the Month - I am Legend.

Time to smoke a Marlboro Light and eat butter.

Byeee