Sunday Funday

Perhaps not Sunday Funday in the common sense of the phrase, but I had another great day in Singapore. After Skyping with Brian this morning (post on Skype coming later - love it!), I headed out for another day of adventure and exploration. On today's agenda: Chinatown, Little India, the pool and a few things in between.


As I was taking the short walk from the CBD to Chinatown, I just happened upon this temple. I don't know the name of it, and the bottom part was under construction but I thought it was striking.

Here I am. Love the symmetry of the lanterns and the columns. Believe it or not, I bought several gifts in Chinatown today - that's something you aren't likely to hear me say in San Francisco!

This pagoda is on top of what I believe is called the Garden Bridge. It runs over a busy road and connects two sides of Chinatown.

This man is letting little fish eat the dead skin off his feet. Seriously. I kind of want to try it, but I'm not sure how sanitary it is since other people put their feet in there too. As I'm writing, I realize it's probably strange to be more freaked out by other people's feet than the fact that I'd be willing to let carnivorous fish nibble on mine. Hmm...

I can't remember what this green and yellow building is called. In addition to residences up top, it has a mall at the bottom (shocker). I can see it prominently from the gym in my building.

Doesn't exactly seem cuddly, does he?

Singapore's Chinatown doesn't have pink bags...it has orangey-red bags! Here's mine filled with dried kiwi.

For Hindus, the sacred cow represents the symbol of life, which is why Hindus do not eat beef. These sacred cows overlook the Sri Mariamman Temple in Chinatown.

These carved wooden doors were on the Sri Mariamman Multi-Purpose Center next to the temple.

After Chinatown, I took the MRT up to Little India. The atmosphere there was very different. Not nearly as touristy, though I noticed an increased percentage of merchants actively inviting Westerners into their stores or restaurants. The Little India Arcade shown here is not a place to play games. It's a redone shophouse with stores, a food court, and yet another 7-Eleven.

This is the beautiful and ornate Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple, which is dedicated to the Hindu Goddess Kali, the manifestation of anger in the face of evil. The Temple is often open to the public in the mornings and late afternoons, but unfortunately it was closed off while I was there.

I had lunch at a place called Banana Leaf that came highly recommended in my travel book (despite the fact that it's empty inside. And sorry, Josh, I looked for Samy's Curry but couldn't find it in person or on my BB). The lamb biryani was delicious, but the cucumber salad had too many onions. If I look hot, it's because I was. It was sweltering today and there weren't as many indoor malls in Little India. Now I'm starting to realize why they seem to be on every corner in Singapore.

Despite how hot I was, I wasn't so hot that I couldn't raise my arms up on the MRT like the girls in the deodorant ad (check out the reflection carefully). There weren't many people on the train so I thought I'd have a little fun. If the MRT didn't have "air con," it might have been a different story.

Once I got home, I went to the pool for a couple of hours. Two things happened at the pool. First, I realized why people tend to get out there in the late morning: the afternoon sun only shines on one portion of the deck so people are packed in there really tightly by 3:30 apparently. I scored a chair though, don't worry. Also, I met another American named Ali. Her fiance is going to be in the U.S. this coming weekend so we may go travel somewhere together. I hope it works out! We're meeting for dinner later this week.

After the pool I decided to go for a run. Call me crazy - and perhaps I am, no one else was running - but it seemed like fitting way to wrap up my first weekend. It's not as humid in the late afternoon, and there was a breeze along the marina. On my run, I saw the Merlion statue up close for the first time. (I can't take credit for this photo though as I didn't run with my camera.) The Merlion is basically the tourism mascot for Singapore, the Lion City, and there were lots of people in the area.

Don't judge, but I had a Subway turkey sandwich (hot Asian food was NOT appetizing after the run) and some fresh fruit from the nearby stand for dinner. The pineapple is from Malaysia, the pears from China and the rambutan is from Thailand. In many languages, rambutan fittingly means "hairy." You just peel it and eat around the pit. The rambutan tastes similar to a lychee or a longan. Yum!

A Fun Day in Photos

Happy birthday, Mom and Momma Neal! Though in many ways I wish I could have spent the day with you in the U.S. (today was when we would have left for the Grand Canyon with Mom and Dad), I had an awesome day touring Singapore with the Managing Director of our Singapore office, Ed. See for yourself!

First stop, Orchard Road - the Fifth Avenue of Singapore. Honestly, I've never seen so many shopping malls in my entire life as I have in the last four days. I'll write more later about the malls, but for now, just know that Orchard Road is where the serious shoppers go.

Orchard Road seems like a never-ending stretch of shopping centers and upscale hotels. The two pictured here are just the beginning, but from what I saw, among the nicest.

This is Holland Village, a walkable little enclave with guess what...more shops and restaurants. I've been told a lot of ex-pats frequent the area. We also went to another area called Dempsey Road but I didn't take any pictures there.

Then we went up in the Singapore Flyer, Singapore's answer to the London Eye. According to my travel book, it's the world's highest observation wheel. I've noticed that Singapore is all about design and being the biggest/tallest/first. To me, it looks like a giant Ferris wheel!

Here's Ed as we're going up in the Flyer. He's lived in Singapore about four years and has done just about everything. What a good sport to take me out sightseeing like a tourist today...especially because today was a scorcher!

Here I am at the top of the Flyer, with the CBD on the left. You can't see our office building or my apartment from here, but they're in that general vicinity.

After Ed and I parted ways, I headed back to Clarke Quay to check it out in the daylight.

I know it's cheesy but I want to take one of these boat rides. It bet it's kind of like the Bay Cruise if you've never been to SF.

And even though there was a big food festival on the bridge...

...I chose to have nigiri from a Japanese supermarket that came highly recommended by Jacob for dinner. It was delicious!

And then I successfully took my first MRT (mass rapid transit) ride tonight on the way home from Clarke Quay. It was super easy, even for me. It's also very clean, and the stations are air conditioned (not just the trains). Puts the NYC subway to shame.

Clarke Quay

Why did I wake up at 7 a.m. again? At least it's getting later each day, but come on, body...it's Saturday!

So here I am, blogging from the comfort of my bed, overlooking the pool and watching My Big Fat Greek Wedding playing on my laptop. Unfortunately I don't feel like my witty thoughts have woken up yet so this post might not be that funny, but hopefully fun nonetheless.

Last night I met up with Jen Watts' friend, Jacob, who has lived in Singapore for the last three years. We went to a place called Clarke Quay (pronounced "key"), a huge dining/shopping/entertainment stretch along the Singapore River. This area was the commerce hub back in the late 19th Century, but they've since shut down this part of the river outside tour boats and now it's busting with probably hundreds of shops and restaurants and thousands of people. Jacob said it's kind of like taking someone to Fisherman's Wharf - that the locals don't really go there - but that it's fun to take someone who's never been before. And it was.

This shot barely does it justice, but gives you an idea of the overall atmosphere. Singapore is beautiful at night and Clarke Quay is no exception. This is on the left side of the river, and there is a parallel path on the right as well. Outdoor seating lines the entire strip.

The obligatory photo by Hooters Singapore. Yet another awesome American influence on the outside world. Great...

No, I am not super insensitive. This bar is either outside an old hospital (or maybe it's located by a medical clinic? I can't remember the details). Well, either way, the seats at the tables were wheelchairs and the outdoor couches were hospital beds!

We chose to sit at a normal table with normal chairs. Cheers!

Singapore Day 2

I've always been a morning person, but yesterday I woke up at 4:30 a.m., bright-eyed and bushy tailed. Of course, I had gone to bed at 6 p.m. the night before, but needless to say my circadian rhythms are still catching up.

What do you do at 4:30 in the morning? Martha Stewart comes on at 5 a.m. on one of the two English channels available on basic cable. BTW, TV here kind of sucks (which is fine for the most part, since I don't plan to spend the next three months sitting at home watching TV).

After that, I decided to go to the gym. Might as well get in a workout after practically a full day of sitting before that, I figured. Since Singapore is really close to the equator, it generally gets light and dark around the same time 365 days a year - apparently around 7 a.m. and 7/8 p.m. Most of my work out was in the dark (literally - the person already in there on the treadmill hadn't turned on the lights, and not being the first one in there I felt kind of bad doing that, so I just watched NewsAsia and kind of watched the sun come up.) The gym is on the 31st floor, and here's a snapshot from just outside the gym. I didn't want to take one inside the gym and have the other people working out think I'm weird (I know I wouldn't want my photo taken working out!) Cloudy, not not a bad view, huh?


My Singapore manager has been very flexible in letting me get settled though I did go into the office to take care of some administrative details, have lunch with my manager here, brainstorm a few ideas and take a conference call with our client here. It was nice to meet some of the people I'll be working with over the next few months, though several people were out of town.

After work I walked around a bit, did a little more food shopping, and took a few photos of things I found interesting in the Central Business District (CBD). These are by no means representative of all things Singapore, but they struck me as I was walking around and I thought you'd find them interesting, too.

I'm not sure what these are called here, but I'd call them row houses. And literally, there are rows and rows of them. Most of the first floor units are restaurants, stores or bars. (UPDATE: I asked a colleague. They are called shop houses.)

O'Bama's Irish Pub! I have to go there at some point.

7-Elevens are everywhere. Seriously. So are American fast food chains such as McDonald's, Burger King, Carl's Jr. and Subway.

Bridal stores are also really prevalent in this shop house area. Not sure if you can see the signs but there are four in a row here, and I walked past an area where eight of the nine stores were bridal boutiques. I wonder if there is really that big of a market?

Here's the fruit market where I bought some apples and clementines. So much cheaper and better I'm sure than what's available in the supermarket.

Look out, Singapore!

Yesterday I arrived safely in Singapore after a nearly 20 hours of travel time, most of which was in the dark. When I landed in Hong Kong for my layover around 5 a.m. Wednesday, it seemed as if Tuesday almost never existed.

It hasn’t taken me long to learn a few things about traveling abroad. First of all, apparently my idea of a personal item differs from that of Singapore air. When traveling across the U.S. I almost always carry on a small roller as well as a large LL Bean canvas bag, which if squished just right, will actually fit under a seat. Oh, and it can also hide my third carry on, a purse. Upon check-in at SFO, I was quickly told that there was no way I was taking both of those things as carry-on items and, oh yeah, they’re both overweight anyway.

I’m a nervous traveler. I don’t mind flying itself, but I get really anxious every time I have to wait in line to check bags, go through security, or anything that makes me feel in the slightest that I just might miss my flight.

Brian and I wheeled the two large suitcases, mini-roller and large canvas bag over to a side area where I opened up the roller and removed the few things I needed to carry on my person (i.e. jewelry, diploma, etc.). Having already committed to checking the mini-roller (for a fee), I also had to cut the weight of the LL Bean bag by about half. Second key learning: apparently some airlines have weight restrictions on carry-on items! Oops. I was SO glad Brian was there to help me or I would have freaked out on some Singapore Air staff. Here I am with the much lighter LL Bean bag, just before I got all mushy and said good-bye to Brian.

The flight to Hong Kong was relatively uneventful. I slept a lot, watched two movies, ate two mediocre meals at completely odd times, and started a new book. When we landed in Hong Kong, we were given the option to get off the plane but were told that we only had one hour before we had to get back on. I opted to get off because a) I wanted to use a larger restroom and stretch my legs somewhere other than our plane and b) I thought the airport might be kind of cool and wanted to check it out.

Reason a) accomplished, I headed back towards the terminal to re-board the plane. The attendants sent us somewhere else, at which point we had to go back through security! Thinking about how little time we supposedly had (refer to previous paragraph about being a nervous traveler), I got nervous. The good news was that there were other people from our flight in line, but there were people headed to another Singapore flight there and it was just confusing. Anyway, I finally made it through – sans by Bumble & Bumble travel size hairspray, which I’ve always known is slightly over TSA standards but no one in the US ever seems to notice or care. Third key learning: Security in other countries = better than the TSA. (Editorial side note: after reading this, I am not sure why this surprised me so much.)

At this point, I was really regretting my decision to get off the plane. But once I got to the gate, I noticed that the departure time was 8 a.m. – another two hours away! This was in line with my flight information but after being told we only had one hour, I wanted to make sure I didn’t miss that connection! At this point I relaxed a bit, grabbed some coffee at the only open place in the airport (see below), and watched Bloomberg news while I waited to re-board. Fourth key learning: relax! (Not sure how this one is going to sink in, but it’s worth the self-reminder.)

Luckily the HKG-SG leg of the flight was uneventful, I quickly sailed through baggage claim and customs, and soon enough was on my way to the apartment I would call my home for the next three months. I really like it.

This is my living room. Isn't it awesome? The greenery outside the window is landscaping for the pool, which is on the same level.

Here's another angle. Very modern and cool.

My kitchen, with its glass doors. Brian, see the box of Quaker Oat Squares?

Notice that there are only about 8 hangers in the closet. Um, that's not going to cut it. ;)

Check out the view from my loft/bedroom! Too bad I didn't enjoy it last night. I was in bed by 6 p.m. (or 18:00, as the clock reads here). I was also up at 4:30 a.m. today...

This morning I learned by trial and error that one must first turn on the water heater (via a switch) if hot water is desired in the shower. This is a mistake I will never make again.

This area by the front door seems like a lot of wasted space to me, but apparently buildings like this are required to have bomb shelters. I think it makes for a good shoe closet.

Can't wait to test out the gorgeous pool!

Packing Progress

Traveling lightly has never been my strong suit, so why anyone expected that I might start now remains a mystery to me. So many people have (wisely) advised me to pack lightly, that I can buy things there, that I will never need all that stuff. They are correct, I'm sure. But have they met me?! Clearly they have never been on a vacation with me, let alone a three-month journey on the other side of the world.

I'm more of a tell-me-what-the-baggage-limit-is-and-I'll-come-in-half-a-pound-under kind of girl, as you can see.

See the clipboard?

The one thing I hadn't planned to take but am now carrying on? My diploma! Apparently it's important to Singapore's Ministry of Manpower that I'm educated, and that they verify my education first-hand. Watch out for me and my big Bachelor's degree! For the first time since I graduated, I'm glad I never framed that thing.

Bon Voyage!

As many of you know by now, in just four days I'll be Singapore bound! I've accepted a wonderful opportunity to work in our Singapore office for the next three months. I'll continue to work for the same clients, just in a slightly different capacity for the Asian markets as opposed to the U.S. Everything has come together so quickly in the just last few weeks. And as Jen would say, the clipboard has been in high gear!

As I prepare for the trip, I continue to experience a wide range of emotions - everything from excitement, enthusiasm and joy (this is going to be an AMAZING experience!) to anxiety, nervousness and a little sadness (though if we're being honest, I think Brian is excited about the amount of uninterrupted baseball he can watch while I'm gone).

I'm looking at my Singapore adventure as a great opportunity for broadening my life experience, furthering my professional development, and (hopefully!) providing great benefit to my clients and my company. Plus, Brian and I will travel to places we never imagined at this point in our lives when he joins me for a few weeks this fall. I'm really looking forward to that!

So I'm resurrecting the blog from a Facebook-induced sabbatical to share stories, photos and whatever else comes to mind when I'm gone. Please stay tuned, comment often and most of all, keep in touch...

...just not by calling my cell phone after Monday. ;)