and you call Miami a melting pot?

The cultural mix of people in Singapore is astounding. They say Singapore is 75% ethnic Chinese. Looking around I guess that sounds about right - definitely most people look Chinese. And most of those people are from southwest China, many from an island called Hainan. What about the other 25%? Malay would be the next largest group. I read that 15% of the population is of Malay origin. Malays are usually Muslim and the women sometimes wear a headscarf with the face showing. The next group is Indian. As for cultural places to see, there are a lot of Chinese temples and Indian temples, all of which are gorgeous, colorful and super-interesting.

Of course in addition to the nationalities already listed there are tons of people from other parts of Asia, a huge Japanese community for example, and also a lot of foreigners here for work for a few years since Singapore is such an important financial hub for Asia. You see tons of Australians, Brits, other Europeans and Americans. And a general mix from all over the world. Seems like people come here to shop and eat and there are plenty of places to do both.

There are temples that are well known, especially the Chinese and Indian temples in Chinatown. But the best ones for me are when I am walking along the street and all of a sudden I stumble upon a temple I had no idea existed. And that happens a lot.

Singapore has 4 languages - English, Mandarin, Malay and Tamil (spoken in southern India). Every official sign is written in all four of these languages. The way I have experienced it so far, Mandarin is to Singapore as Spanish is to Miami. Not exactly, necessary but extremely handy, especially when ordering food. I have begun an online Mandarin program. My children study Mandarin in school; the older ones 4 days a week. Today for the first time one of my sons was able to read a character in a sign.

If the buildings, the people, the language of Singapore represent this beautiful mix of culture imagine what I and many others consider the best result of all this mishmosh... the food! I haven't even begun to describe the amazing flavors that are a result of the people who have populated this island. My palate thanks me every day.