In a blink of an eye six months have gone by in Singapore. We finally got around to making a trip to the famous Singapore Zoo last week. I must say, it lived up to its reputation. The zoo is a huge, sprawling, 28 hectares of lush, densly forested land, with hardly a cage in sight. Animals were free to roam in their spaces in this perfectly landscaped environment, carefully cordoned off from each other and from the public, and given the illusion of freedom. That pretty much sums up my feelings of living in Singapore.

That may sound like a negative remark, but its not. Not entirely negative anyway. Its actually a pretty great place. The day to day life here is nothing to complain about. Beautiful clean streets lined with huge healthy trees. Clean air, good food, well stocked supermarkets. Great apartments. Civilized, honest people (some locals may disagree, but if they’ve spent any time in China or Hong Kong like I have, this place is practically the pinnacle of civlised society in comparison).

Maybe its the perfectness of it all..the lack of rough edges. The lack of threat. Or maybe its the daily sameness of the tropical weather. Something about living here makes you feel like you’re living the same day over and over again sometimes. Why is it that even in places where we feel completely stable and safe, we sometimes seek a little bit of danger or grittiness?

The bone chilling cold of winter in Beijing. The look of urban isolation and paranoia on the sullen faces of random passerbys in Hong Kong. The crazies and drunks roaming the street of the Lower East Side in New York. What is it about these sorts of things make us feel alive?

Life and work are going reasonably well. I’m finally at a place where I’m not constantly thinking of moving. Life really is all about timing. To be honest I doubt I would have liked living in a place like this 10 years ago. But these days I can certainly appreciate the quieter side of life.