A (Week)day in the Life...

For today's post, I thought I'd give you a glimpse into what my day-to-day life is like here in Singapore. Most days I hit the gym first thing so I can get that out of my way, but this morning I opted for a little more sleep (since I was out later last night). And then after my workout, I typically eat breakfast in the apartment.

Since I had a conference call first thing this morning, I decided to take breakfast into work and try traditional Singaporean coffee (called kopi) and kaia toast for the first time. I decided to stick to Western coffee because kopi is really strong and also rather sweet - not my cup of tea, so to speak. Kaia toast is two pieces of toast held together by a jam and a pat of butter. I was told to order it as is, at least for the first time, so I did. Then upon opening it I promptly took off 95% of the butter. It probably had two or three tablespoons on the four pieces. The jam/light butter/toast combo was pretty good actually. Much better than the dish on the far left pictured below.

I ordered a breakfast "set" because I thought that was Kopi Alley's way of selling the coffee and toast together for a cheaper price, kind of like an extra value meal... Apparently a "set" refers to kopi, kaia toast and soft boiled eggs (wait for it...) in soy sauce! Didn't I notice that I was carrying two cups along with my toast? Yes, I did. I just thought maybe I had accidentally ordered extra coffee alongside my "set" or something...at least until I opened it and asked a coworker what it was. It smelled gross, I'm not going to lie, and I didn't even taste it. I kind of regret it now - I should have at least tasted it - but it was not appetizing in the least. In fact, it reminded me of when pot roast fat starts solidifying in the juices. Isn't that what it looks like?!

Ok, moving along.

Here I am at my desk, getting ready for a full day of work. The view's not too shabby, is it? I love how much natural light there is. No need to turn on the overhead light unless it's raining really. Here are a couple of other photos of our office.

I also like the mosaic in the reception area.

This is the view from the kitchen. See all the ships out there? Some of them are just sitting, victims of the economy. Not sure if you can see it in this photo, but in real life you can see part of Indonesia from here.

I usually have lunch with a few coworkers, and today we went to a place called Happy Belly (no joke). It's in Tanjong Pagar plaza, one of the malls I wrote about earlier this week - very close to both my apartment and work.

Here's Sam with her fried fish. Right about this time, I was really glad I had ordered the chicken rendang, a dry curry dish often eaten in Malaysia, Indonesia and (I suppose) India. It was delicious, but also quite heavy. Many people here tend to eat their biggest meal at lunch and then something lighter for dinner, and I try to be mindful of this as well after a lunch like that. Tonight I dined on a feast of a bagged lettuce salad, carrots, cheese and crackers. It was perfect post-workout and pre-Skype session with Adrienne...light, easy, and oh yeah - vegetables!

All in all, it was a pretty good day. And even better, tomorrow is Friday!