Conspicuously Caucasian

In both trips this year to Singapore, I had the eerie sense of sticking out like a sore thumb -- I was conspicuously Not From Around Here. In most of the other places I've traveled, I could, with a little effort, blend in with the natives. In Europe or Australia, if I dress like the natives, I look like a native. Of course, as soon as I open my mouth, I'm a goner, but I can quietly blend. Not in Singapore! I am obviously not from the neighborhood.

I don't mind being different (I certainly was in high school, and I was from the neighborhood). However, in Singapore, I'm a target for all sorts of commerce attempts. I can't walk past a store front, even in the tony parts of town, without someone trying to sell me something. I'm not only conspicuously Caucasian, I'm American, and therefore both gullible and rich! I can't get the locals price around here for anything. Just another example of how travel broadens you, and why I like travel so much because it provides perspective.