Did you know that the import and sale of chewing gum is forbidden in Singapore? I'm dead serious.

My expression must have been extremely confused when Nellie was telling me about it last night. Not that I didn't believe her, but I just had to look it up. And yes, there's an actual ban of chewing gum in Singapore, the reason being that people used to stick it on things like chairs and tables and in places like elevators and mailboxes. Having experienced the absolute thrill of having someone's disposed gum stick on to my jeans at school (and other places) I got to say the ban does make (some remote) sense. It is still completely weird to me though. As is traveling from Singapore to Malaysia to get some gum.

With approximately 707km2 in area (and a highest point of barely 164 meters!!!), Singapore, independent since 1965, is one of the smallest countries in the world, and is actually an island city-state. It consists of one main island and many tiny (largely) uninhabited ones. Nellie, Chinese by origin but second generation Singaporean, tells me that because of its history of being a British colony, British English is the official language and the British edu system is being used. Oh, and obviously, they drive on the left.

So we sit down with Nellie at Altan, the beerhouse in the Old Bazaar and dive into our Skopsko with a side dish of (first) peanuts and (then) a selection of cheeses and cured meats. Ivica's in his typical mid-week Champions League madness so its just us girls. Nellie has had quite a day exploring the city and has (of all coincidences!) bumped into one of the writers of the Lonely Planet Western Balkans Guidebook in Skopje. She is fascinated by the complexity of the Balkans and our ethnic/religious/political/stupid issues. She tells me politics are a very quiet affair in Singapore and makes it sound like heaven. But then she bursts my bubble by saying that Singapore is entirely urban and with very little nature (although originally largely a tropical rain-forest area). I guess that's what you get when you put 5 million people together in such a small country which is, as a result, one of the most densely populated countries in the world. Wikipedia also tells me that 36% of all Singaporean residents are actually foreigners.

Nellie is exploring the city also today and then moving on to Ohrid tomorrow. Our stories are bound to continue over some more beer/wine/rakija (whatever) in just under an hour, as we're meeting next to the big, huge, enormous Macedonian flag at the main square to proceed with our journey:)

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