All about People

The amount of people in Asia is well documented. India is on it's way to surpass China as the most populated country in the world. When we were in China last year, I remember commenting to Joe that it wasn't as crowed as I thought it would be. Well, that's because I wasn't where the people are - I was in the tourist areas (which were busy too).

My subway ride in the morning, is extremely busy. It's not as crowded as I hear Tokyo gets (where they have "people pushers" who push people onto the train), but I often don't make it past the doorwell. This has advantages, in that you can feel the air conditioning better. But of course, I have to stand. Luckily it's only an 11 minute ride. I often don't get a seat, and if I do, nine times out of ten, it will be a woman who offers it up.

The morning train ride is the same in Toronto as it is in Singapore. A busy train, but eerily quiet, as people aren't quite awake enough to talk on the cell phone, and no one is traveling with a friend. It's amazing how quiet a large group of people can be.

I was once walking around at lunch and described the amount of people around as "Boxing Day sale". It's that crowded in the malls, all the time. Fortunately, there isn't the desperation factor that you have at Boxing Day sales (nor the big winter coats!) but it's that many people - all the time.