Is your city boring?

[chase]

I live in Singapore. I think it is somewhat boring. Not much music, art, archi, fashion and overall vibe. Not enough critical mass of art and music lovers for the scene to grow. Occasional pockets and niches but not much. 6.5 out of 10.

Hows your city?

post. www.post.fm

DESIGN. ART. MUSIC. LIFE.

[Matthew]

My city is London and it can be great - but god it can be awful too.

I don't mean to be rude about anyone else's city, but I have to agree with Chase - Singapore sucks.

It has everything cities should have - lots of shops, modern buildings, tons of great restauarants - it's even clean too - but it also has to be the most souless place - rather like Dubai.

Much as I hate crime ridden, rude and dirty London - these are at least things that give a place a bit of character - and at least london is always buzzing.

Maybe I don't know Singapore well enough - after all most places are cool because of the people you know, not because of the cool undeground shops...

[pharis]

I have spent most of my adult life in London and it has lots of culture, energy and ideas.

Matthew made a good point about places being cool because of the people you know, however, I constantly struggle to find anything sensible or worthwhile to do in Monaco when I'm there, regardless of whom I'm with. It gets my vote for being superficial and boring - even during the F1 GP weekend.

[I J F]

London is a great city, I wouldnt mind moving there at some point, I never seem to be bored when im in London. Toronto on the other hand where I currently reside can be a disaster. With our never ending winters, and limited entertainment and restrictions, it cant contend with many other leading cities. Eventually it will change but for now, it needs work.

www.brani.com / www.carpeinternational.com

[fortuity]

hello fellow singaporean!

singapore can get quite suffocating. there is truly a dearth of creative energy. well, it doesn't help that economically, we're truly in deep shit coz we've reached a point where we can't compete the other parts of asia which are richer in terms of natural resource and cheaper in labour. what can i say buddy? the mncs are pulling out faster than you think. there's no money to fuel the arts! so now we have to kiss china's ass and hope that the dragon will play nice to the country that's made up mostly of chinese who can't speak chinese for nuts. no money no talk, lah! we are passe.

but i guess there are some things which make singapore not-so-boring:

- our shopping malls close at 10pm. (i almost died in australia and hawaii.)

- because shopping is a national past time, we get one whole month of christmas in orchard road! talk about consumerism!

- we get such a HUGE variety of foreign film fests. i've been binging!!!

- the streets are safe at night. (so i can go watch my 9:30 pm movies and still take public transport home)

- oh. even though our beaches are pathetic, we can see the sea. ;P

urm ok. that's all i can think of at the moment.

[fortuity]

oh. and you know why singapore is souless? one of the many reasons is coz so many of the old buildings with so many shared memories are being razed in the name of urban development.

we had the national library at stamford road with the dinky lil coffeeshop "S11" next to it. had many good times there when i was in college.. discussing the latest play i watched in the blackbox of "the substation" nearby over some smokes and a $1 teh-ping.

to be fair, we still have some hidden places with soul... like little india with it's funky smells... bits and pieces of chinatown (parts that have yet to be converted to tourist traps) with an alarming number of forgotten old folk lazing around... and pulau ubin with its ghostly abandoned kampongs and funky temples. also, don't forget to meet the kiasu auntie tropes available at all hawker centres, mrts and buses near you!

[dickhead]

Quote:

I have spent most of my adult life in London and it has lots of culture, energy and ideas.

Matthew made a good point about places being cool because of the people you know, however, I constantly struggle to find anything sensible or worthwhile to do in Monaco when I'm there, regardless of whom I'm with. It gets my vote for being superficial and boring - even during the F1 GP weekend.

--- Original message by pharis on Nov 23, 2004 10:38 AM

Monaco, specifically Monte Carlo is the playground of the Rich and Famous. A place for these arrogant assholes to meet and rub shoulders once or a few times a year and to feel good about themselves because they know they belong to the exclusive club of their own and that they own some of the most expensive properties in the world at monaco. It's not a place for city-minded folks to dwell in. Even those rich cocksuckers can't stay there for that long a time in one visit.

I hate everything and everyone.

[Tisswat]

I live in Amsterdam. Don't think many visitors will call this place boring. Aside from the obvious legalised substances and red light district, there's plenty of scenes, subcultures and exciting hotspots. I love the free-your-mind attitude that many people share. Art and parties in squatted buildings, floating drive-in cinema's (for boats), loads and loads of theatre, museums and weird things to see and do.

I guess it's a fantastic place to go looking for your own identity: any lifestyle goes and there are plenty of people around to share your ideas with - whatever they are. It's all about live and let live here.

Still, it's tiny. Amsterdam has just over 700.000 inhabitants. And eventually you see those same faces everywhere.. Although I love the fact that it is both kind of a metropole and a village and that you can travel by foot throughout the entire city, I have to get away every now and then. Maybe just to remember why I love this place.

Reporter: "What do you think about western civilization?"

Gandhi: "I think it would be a good idea."

Edited by Tisswat on Nov 24, 2004 at 03:48 AM

[details]

Toronto, by far, is not boring... If you can't find something to do, you're not lookin'

[I J F]

I dunno maybe your right, I may not be lookin, but compared to other cities I find it a bit dull

www.brani.com / www.carpeinternational.com

[smurf]

Why is everyone so down on Singapore? I've never been there before, but it seems to me that the risk of caning should increase one's pulse a little!

Joking aside, I'm from Seattle and like any medium sized city, fun can always be had if you know where to look. I was in Tokyo a few months ago, and I'm going to NYC in a couple of weeks, but I've had as much fun in my home town as I have had in any megaopolis. Sure, bigger cities have more bars, clubs and shops, but how many bars do you frequent? My friends and I generally stick to 8 or 10 bars and I'm pretty sure that would be the case in a city with a hundred bars or a thousand bars. Of course, "the grass is always greener" someplace else, and that's what travel is for!

As for a big dull city, I hear that Dallas is proof that hell is full and the dead are walking the earth!

[fortuity]

hahaha.. the caning bit about singapore is really quite a myth. it's really quite difficult to get caned. besides, if you asked me, the fay guy who made just big news out of it deserved it. i'm proud that the govt stuck it their ground. afterall, the guy broke the law here. who is the american govt to go around sticking their noses in how a country is supposed to govern their people. i say go fix your own problems first!

if you wanna talk about bars/pubs/clubs..nightlife.. singapore is actually quite the place to go. we may not be ibiza but for a small island, we are quite a full happening joints.. at least compared to most countries i've visited. for example there's the world renown superclub, zouk, clubbing mecca of asia. international djs constantly fly here to spin for parties organised by different clubs. in fact, fantastic plastic machine just played at the sound bar last night. come dec 14 we're gonna have a helluva dance festival party with the likes of djs paul van dyk, timo maas and other international names. so i guess singapore is cool when you're looking for dionysiac revelry.

[dickhead]

Quote:

Why is everyone so down on Singapore? I've never been there before, but it seems to me that the risk of caning should increase one's pulse a little!

Joking aside, I'm from Seattle and like any medium sized city, fun can always be had if you know where to look. I was in Tokyo a few months ago, and I'm going to NYC in a couple of weeks, but I've had as much fun in my home town as I have had in any megaopolis. Sure, bigger cities have more bars, clubs and shops, but how many bars do you frequent? My friends and I generally stick to 8 or 10 bars and I'm pretty sure that would be the case in a city with a hundred bars or a thousand bars. Of course, "the grass is always greener" someplace else, and that's what travel is for!

As for a big dull city, I hear that Dallas is proof that hell is full and the dead are walking the earth!

--- Original message by smurf on Nov 24, 2004 01:19 PM

why not just include the whole of Texas? lol...hope there aren't any texans here.

I hate everything and everyone.

[sr20det]

is it true they have "soapsuds" parties in singapore? a buddy of mine told me he went to one and they dropped soapsuds on top of all the guests inside the club from the ceiling. then all the girls get buck wild. haha

"and we can find new ways of living make playing only logical harm"

[dickhead]

they're called foam parties...dun they have it elsewhere too?

It's mad fun I believe! I've seen pics of it in magazines...and I'm just imagining being with all the hoochie mamas going wild rubbing against their skin and just going crazy......oooohh.....beats wet t-shirt contests!

I hate everything and everyone.

[tomintoronto]

Boring can be pretty subjective.

Some cities can be boring to visit but exciting to live in and some can be exciting to visit but boring to live in.

I find that I can find something interesting in each urban area, the ultimate boring spot is the sprawling suburbs that are surrounding all major Canadian and US Cities. I will take any "boring" city over a lifeless, colourless, soulless, cultural wasteland of Ajax or Whitby (suburbs of Toronto).

Boring can depend on the interests of the person. For people that love shopping Singapore can be exciting (as is it's clubbing, however expensive). My hometown of Toronto is a very vibrant, cultural city however I think would appear very boring to the person who visits for 2 days and sticks to the "tourist trail". Some of my favorite cities are places that may have apparent charms such as Seattle.

cheers to all!

Tom in Toronto

hello everyone! love this site, lots of useful information and fun to read.

[pasey pase]

cincinnati, ohio... is dead. but we're trying. the new Contemporary Arts Center designed by zaha hadid is pretty fuckin cool. there are a few new clubs that are semi-decent. but that's about it....

[I J F]

Tom, I definately agree with you, those suburbs are almost like a ghost town, I live outside of the main core, although commute downtown daily. It is improving but I think we still have a bit of a distance to go until we are a major contending city in terms of being vibrant and energetic. Later dude

www.brani.com / www.carpeinternational.com

[Gabriel]

I live in Paris and it can be boring if you don't know anyone, but young people are very open and there's a lot happening here now, it's really changed in the last few years.

[warpppppp]

Las Vegas ..

lol

[snailweld]

If you don't look for something to do, any city will be boring. I live in Baltimore and there are plenty of things to do in this poor drug infested town. And I don't even drink. So if you are bored, maybe you should start something up and give more people things to do. It's those that got off their asses and did something that you have to thank for the little bit of joy that you may get from that great gallery, store, etc. IF YOU CAN'T FIND IT, CREATE IT!!!

[chase]

oooopps.. havent been watching this thread.

yes one thing is for sure singapore does have good clubbing. if you are into the music, zouk is the place. dont mean to overstate or plug. from the nubeats night (eclectic funk soul jazz broken nights) to velvet underground (africanism samba house). its got the best residents djs in jeremy boon who spins at both nights. one of the few things that keep me sane and occupied.

Actually I have been to some other cities around, which I think are worst off than Singapore, but I shall not mention here.

Yes its what you are looking for in the city and ones interests i guess. For me its the visual art. Wish it was NY where u can overdose at MOMA, Met, Whitney... In Singapore, there is only a Botero exhibition going on this month, which speaks for the bourgeois art tastes here. There is good art once the art aunction from Christies and Sothebies are in town. Great Indonesian art (Abstraction, Modern).

Not all cities are perfect, its all a compromise. I dunno i feel that on a level Tokyo does not appear have an arts scene. perhaps not enough time to explore. There is great music, though expensive, jazz and detroit techno is big.

While HK has great fashion and shopping but no art or music scene. Its just trance and prog raves. Shopping is damn good.

talking about starting somthing, feel free to visit my website post. .

http://www.post.fm

a true blue singaporean website on quality edgy and accessible art, archi, interiors and music. (PLUG!)

post. http://www.post.fm

DESIGN. ART. MUSIC. LIFE.

Edited by chase on Dec 7, 2004 at 05:58 PM

[Guest]

i found singapore to be one of the most over-commercialised and soul-less places on earth. everything literally facilitated and focused on shopping and consumption. with little or no culture to speak of, and any traces of uniqueness was suppressed for international trends. orchard rd was an embodiment of hell.

[Guest]

i found singapore to be one of the most over-commercialised and soul-less places on earth. everything literally facilitated and focused on shopping and consumption. with little or no culture to speak of, and any traces of uniqueness was suppressed for international trends. orchard rd was an embodiment of hell.

[kiteless]

i found singapore to be one of the most over-commercialised and soul-less places on earth. everything literally facilitated and focused on shopping and consumption. with little or no culture to speak of, and any traces of uniqueness was suppressed for international trends. orchard rd was an embodiment of hell.

[Guest]

yes thats true. you have to have someone show you on the other side of things. if not singapore is just another city. really there is a edgier side to it.

the government always speaks of turning singapore in some creative place, or renaissance city. noe there is a big arts push as it has quantitative spillover effects for the economy but really they got their facts and vibes all wrong.

[chase]

Yes thats true. I guess u need someone to show you around so as to dig deeper. There is an edgier side to things. Else its gonna be just another bland globalized bore.

The government here always talks about turning Singapore into some arts creative renaisance city. Now there is an arts push opening of a 60 million arts centre esplanade and some bourgeois Botero exhibition on now. Ats has a quantitative spillover effect on the economy. But the focus is wrong. Who is gonna fly down here to see pictures of nice and sweet pictures of fat rounded Botero art.

But these bureacrats have got their facts and vibes wrong. I dun think any government can transplant a vibe or atmosphere into a city.

post. http://www.post.fm

DESIGN. ART. MUSIC. LIFE.

[M4TM]

hong kong is quite boring - culturally at least.

the government is talking about a massive "west kowloon" development which is supposed to be a cultural center, but i doubt it will ever come to pass - or at least in its original concept. i believe they have been talking to the guggenheim foundation about coming here with a permanent venue, but there just doesn't seem to be enough interest here to support the arts.

there are pockets of starving artists here and there, but unless there is $$ to be made, most people here just aren't interested.

strange highs and strange lows

[trawler]

the nightlife in singapore is good but not that good, i have yet to see a place go off in the same way as in london or any other real city - that could be because there's hardly any drugs or it could be because there's a weird feeling of fakeness about everything here - you've got graf exhibitions but no bombing for example! also, this is a benevolent dictatorship - i'm not sure how relevant that is but i would imagine that the combination of relatively high living standards plus suppression of free speech leads to "disneyfication"

[gsep]

melbourne is pretty good going i have to say...we got great shopping, bars, a few good clubs, heaps of cultural shit going on..wickedly art on every street corner, flat and not so flat surface has been decorated...and little zones which have a speciality, nationalities, cultures etc...then of course we've got pretty lax laws, for partying, anything really, i mean this is australia...anything goes....although our continued americanisation aint so cool...(i know that like half of america is cool..pitty they dont vote)...the shit that goes on behind closed doors is always a worri, but hey melbourne has been voted most livable city in the world....thats not just for families....9 outa 10 party kids agree ...haha....enough propaganderous yabering (no i'm not sponsored by the tourism department)....come and check it for urselves....