SINGAPORE-LA!

December 2010

We arrived in Singapore around 1am and found out that Air China (worst airline ever--you couldn't even control the air the planes were so old) left our bags in Beijing. But we were so happy to be in 80 degree weather and be able to find places to eat at 2am in the morning (since everything in Geneva closed at 7pm). We stopped at a Kopetiam, which we thought was called "Carpe Diem," basically a small version of a hawker stall that was a block from the hotel/apartment. One of the stalls was called "The Lamb Shank Redemption"..haha!

We arrived with the friendliest faces greeting us at the Pan Pacific Serviced Suites. The hotel was so baller--giant pool, gym (where you could dock your ipod and each machine had its own TV), therapeutic spas, a libary, sky gardens, housekeeping everyday, and free delicious breakfast every morning. We are going to be so spoiled for the next few months!

They even gave us a welcome basket! How cute!

The beautiful sky gardens!

We went to bed around 5am and had to wake up at 9am for a tour of Singapore, where we stopped by Little India (and saw a wedding!), Arab Street, and the Botanical Gardens before our tour guide fell sick. She got very quiet, and I thought we said something to offend her, but she was just not feeling well.

So the tour ended early and Allison had booked a forest zipline adventure after that. It was basically lots of ropes courses with ziplines (we were the oldest unchaperoned people there). Anyway, around 3-4pm is when the jetlag started to hit, and therefore I didn't really listen to the safety instructions. Here is what happens when you try to zipline jetlagged (watch until the very end--my rib hurt for about 2 weeks afterward but it was worth it for this awesome whiplash video).

ZIPLINE FAIL (PS. that is me on the zipline)

We found out that our hotel was connected to a mall called 313 Somerset, which housed Zara, Forever 21, and a Uniqulo (dangerous!) and was then on a street called Orchard Road which had about 50+ more shopping malls. Singaporeans LOVE to shop! And every single mall has a GIANT delicious food court with every type of food you could possible want--Indonesian, Korean, Chinese, Taiwanese, Indian, Thai, Japanese, Malaysian, Singaporean for big portions around $2-5. I read in a guide book that Singaporeans are all typically skinny but they also have a little gut because they love to eat so much! I love how Singapore is such a mix of all types of cultures--Malay, Indonesian, Hokkien, Chinese, etc. and English is the first language that is the common one between everyone and for the most part, everyone lives in harmony like this! Singaporeans have an unofficial language called Singlish where you end things with "...la" and instead of yes/no, it's "can" or "cannot." You also call the cab drivers or basically anyone over middle aged that you don't know, "auntie" and "uncle."

ION mall--HUGE!

The number of food stalls (not including ones that sell dessert) just at the ION mall. Every meal caused me a great deal of anxiety, as I have a lot of issues with making decisions (especially when EVERYTHING looks so good).

NIGHT SAFARI

Allison and I hit up the acclaimed Night Safari one night. It was pretty cool--the animals are pretty much right there (no fences), except for the dangerous ones where they hide the giant ditch that's preventing them from attacking you on the trolley. The coolest part was probably the bat cave, since they're just free-flying around so sometimes they'll hit you while they're flying from one place to the next. This British dad convinced Allison that she had been pooped on by a bat...it was dark we couldn't actually see but he was really convincing! Allison also tried the fish spa, where these tiny little fish come and eat the dead skin off your feet...she screamed and laughed and caused a commotion among all the little kids who were also doing it.

Flamingoes!

Fish Spa

Hawker Stalls

One of the most popular food options among locals are the "hawker" centers. Everything is cheaper than a food court, and you can get a taste of local Singaporean food like chicken rice, mee sua (noodles), oyster omelette, carrot cake, etc.

Our feast, including some BBQ stingray!

SENTOSA ISLAND

Not sure whether I was coming back to Singapore, I tried to do a lot of sightseeing that week before I went home for Christmas. I spent a day at Sentosa Island, basically a man-made beach

equipped with a Universal Studios and every fun thing a kid could ever want to do. There is fake surfing, a luge (no snow though), a giant zipline, aquarium, and even a place where you can pretend to be an acrobat (safely). I did some reading and and got some sun on the beach and also visited the Southernmost point in Southeast Asia (how they determine that, I have no idea).

Peacock crossing?

Southermost point of Southeast Asia

My dream world, right on the beach!

PULAU UBIN

I also spent a day at Pulau Ubin, a little island on the northeast side that is relatively untouched by all the new construction of modern-day Singapore. The weather here is so fickle...it was blue skies when I left but once I got off the bus, torrential downpour of rain. Once it died down a little, I rented a bike and rode around this beautiful island, but got bitten by around 20 mosquitoes :( On my ride back to the ferry dock, I met some nice firemen who got us lost 3 times, even though they "knew where they were going..."

What started as a beautiful day...

Fresh coconut juice and "carrot cake" for only S$3 while I waited for the rain to die down

Bike riding on the island.

The random stall where the old man/owner gave me some unlabeled liquid to rub over my mosquito bites...I was skeptical, but it worked!

CHINATOWN & BUDDHA TOOTH TEMPLE

Another highlight of Singapore is the Chinatown here, with its beautiful temples. The Sacred Buddha Tooth Relic Temple was absolutely beautiful and housed an amazing museum on the 3rd floor (where Buddha gives you the story of Buddhism in first person, aka, "Hi, my name is Buddha...I was born...) and the world's largest enameled prayer wheel on the roof (along with 12,000 mini Buddhas).

Some old men playing checkers outside the temple.

Inside the Sacred Buddha Tooth Relic Temple during a ceremony

OTHER FUN THINGS AROUND SINGAPORE

One of my favorite things about Singapore is how clean and orderly everything is. This is hugely because of the government, as they fine you for everything from eating/drinking on the metro, bringing Durian fruit (a stinky fruit) on the metro, selling chewing gum, not flushing the toilet, etc. They also have all of these signs (the above being my favorite) to teach people to be more polite and courteous on the subway--make sure to queue/let people off first, and give your seat up to the elderly, handicapped, pregnant ladies.

Our feast at Long Beach (at Dempsey), known for its Singapore staple, Chili Crab! We got this in addition to the Black Pepper Crab (Chili Crab was definitely better though).

View of Singapore!