Longans and Lychee Martinis

Remember when I wrote about the rambutan, or hairy fruit? In that post I noted that the rambutan is part of the lychee and longan family, at which point faithful reader Emily noted that she wasn't sure what those were either.

Well, today I had both fruits which are native to Southeast Asia. I wasn't exactly a newbie to the lychee. Tim and Nicole introduced Brian and me to lychees upon one of our first visits to San Francisco's Chinatown (obviously I did not live there yet!) before we were married.

A longan, which means "dragon eye," is similar in both shape and taste. I bought some at the nearby fruit stand a few days ago and finally decided to dig in this morning. Typically I don't like to work for my fruit. This is why I'm a big fan of seedless grapes, pears, apples, peaches - things you don't have to peel and might slice at best. It's also why I typically cut up my fresh fruit at home and just store it for as long as it will last (remember the post about Brian eating the entire pineapple?), just to get some variety.

Anyway, I digress. So I dug in, and longans are sweet and juicy. They have a high water content so they're refreshing, and once you get the little peel under your finger nail, it's pretty easy to eat. Much easier than a rambutan, as you can imagine. Here's what the longans looks like at very different stages of my breakfast...

Then tonight I met my new friend Whitney at the St. Regis for happy hour, where we had lychee martinis. I didn't take any photos there but here's one I found online. Yum!

Jet Lag, Schmet Lag

Fair warning: today's post isn't that interesting, but I like to blog lest my most faithful blog reader - Granny K. - think that something happened to me overnight. Rest assured, I am alive and quite well. I haven't had a single bit of jet lag, actually. It's so weird. I'm holding out hope that my journey doesn't come back to bite me tomorrow. So far, so good.

The highlights of my day included food, as usual. Ali and I grabbed dinner at a nearby pub in the shop houses I highlighted the first week I was here. And for lunch I went out with a few coworkers and had a yummy feast. I'm actually not sure what kind of food it was. Malay perhaps? Anyway, it was good. Cabbage in coconut milk (better than it sounds, admittedly), green beans, pickled cucumbers/cucumber salad, and some kind of greens along with rice.

The best part? WATERMELON JUICE! It was so good and tasted just like you'd think - a big juicy, watermelon. And no seeds, thankfully.

Pics from Halfway 'Round the World

After more than 56 hours of round trip travel in the last week or so, I arrived safely back in Singapore last night around 11:30. It's currently about 8 p.m. and after a full day of work I'm still awake with no signs of collapsing soon. Perhaps I might have successfully avoided jet lag? I have a feeling I'd better not boast yet...tomorrow could still come back to bite me. But while I'm feeling chipper, I thought I'd share some of the photo highlights from my awesome week in Kentucky.

It wouldn't be a trip to Kentucky without a photo of Jake, front and center.

On Monday I visited my friend Sara and her two adorable children, Julianne and Joseph. She's such a grown-up!

After I saw with Sara, I had lunch with Granny K. and Poppy. Then after Brian arrived, we all had dinner with them Wednesday night.

On Thursday, the Great American Ball Park became another notch on Brian's baseball bat. This was my kind of baseball game - the Reds won 7-0 and the game only lasted 2:07. Even Dad had a good time.

Here's Brian in front of his latest conquest of sorts. We parked on the Kentucky side and walked across the river. It was really nice, actually. And so fun to hang out with Brian after not seeing him for three weeks - even if we were at a baseball game!

On Friday, the Paris girls had manis and pedis to kick off the festive weekend.

After the rehearsal, Julia, Tabitha, Lauren, Amy and I relaxed a bit at the R.D.

Since the R.D. was in downtown Paris, we only had three options for going out that night: the Pool Hall, Creekview Lounge, and The Cue. We chose The Cue. I had no idea it had this whole back room that was much more nightclub than it was pool bar. And since it was ladies' night, we didn't have to pay the $5 cover to get in (I couldn't believe somewhere in Paris had a cover!). This photo does not do the experience justice, but some things do not deserve to be published on the blog. Jason and Brian loved it. I'm not sure I'd go that far, but the Paris girls (adopted Paris girl Amanda is pictured above with me) had a good time.

Just minutes before the wedding, here we are with the bride-to-be!

Mr. & Mrs. Todd Martin in front of their Nina cake. Yum!

The first complete Paris girls photo in six or seven years. Sarah Fight, Sonia, Julia, Rachael, Lauren, me, Tabitha, Amy, Sarah K.

Here we are with Mom and Dad. What a fun way to wrap up a great week. I'm so glad I got to make the trip home, even if it was halfway around the world.

Blog on Vacation

Tomorrow morning I leave for Kentucky, where I'm so excited to celebrate Lauren's wedding with the rest of the Paris girls, visit with my friends and family, and see Brian for the first time in a few weeks. It's unlikely that I'll blog while I'm gone since my parents still have dial-up (and in their defense, it's not their fault. They honestly cannot get high-speed internet in their area. Sounds remote, I know...). I arrive in Singapore late Monday, August 17, so I'll the blog will be back up and running later that week.

Here are some Paris girl photos to kick off the weekend right!


Back row: Amy, me, Julia, Sarah K., Front row: Lauren and Tabitha. This was taken after my bridal shower at Lauren's house.

Here's Lauren, the bride-to-be, front and center (literally, in the center, in the front seat) of Julia's old Volvo. This photo was taken when we were old enough to know better but still too young to care. Kind of like now. :)

Shuffling Around in Chinatown

Somehow the first two weeks have flown by, and last night it dawned on me that I didn't have gifts and souvenirs for everyone I'm going to see this week in the States! I suppose I thought I'd pick up the extras this past weekend, but we all know how that turned out in the end.

So I decided that I'd use my lunch hour (yes, most people here take a real lunch hour - outside the office!) to head back to Chinatown and pick up a few things. I know what you're thinking about Chinatown, but it really is my favorite gift area here (outside Orchard Road perhaps, but if you're buying in bulk, Chinatown is definitely more economical). I wasn't sure if I could do it in time, but it only took me ten minutes on the MRT to arrive and only a few more minutes to find the specific stalls I had in mind from my last visit.

I've already learned that if you see something you think you like in Singapore, buy it. Right now. This goes for grocery stores, street vendors and little shops. Had I known this two weeks ago, I would not have been stuck in Chinatown sweating my tush off in lined pants. I hadn't even this seemingly tiny detail when I got dressed for work. Lesson number two, check!

Pants-stuck-to-my-legs aside, I found everything I was looking for and made it back in time, so if you live in the Paris/Lexington area, you just might have a little gift coming your way.

Now, for what I wish I had coming my way...the cable guy. He was supposed to arrive between 6:30-8:30 tonight to install a few more channels but I haven't heard anything from him and it's 8:18. Singaporeans are notoriously late, but let's hope he makes it in the next 12 minutes.

2 Weeks!

Today marks the end of my second full week in Singapore. To celebrate, I went out with some of the girls I've met for drinks at the Axis Bar in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel (and actually, we never once talked about the fact that I've been in SG for two weeks). The hotel's near the Singapore Flyer, really close to the water and the Esplanade buildings, which are shaped to look like the local odoriferous fruit, the durian. More on that later.

Axis has a wonderful happy hour with delicious standard and flavored martinis on special, as well as a few free tapas. Just as we were leaving, a jazz pianist and singer began their act. We might go back in a couple of weeks - they sounded great.

Ilana, Ali, Whitney and me

What I really need to do is start packing to head back to the U.S. since I have to be at the airport at 5 a.m. on Saturday. This was probably my last night out in a while. I'm definitely not going out tomorrow because the cable guy is coming and installing more than two English speaking channels. Yay!

A green fish out of water

For a country as notoriously strict on litter as Singapore, it sure sucks at recycling. It wasn't until I visited Orchard Road a whole three days after I arrived that I saw any recycling receptacles. I've seen a few paper, bottle and can bins here and there on public streets, but my apartment doesn't recycle, nor does my office building.

According to a website called Zero Waste Singapore, here are the 2008 recycling rates for the following products:

- Paper - 48%
- Plastics - 9%
- Metals (non-ferrous) - 85% (I do NOT believe this)
- Metals (ferrous) - 95% (or this...)
- Glass - 18%

It may not seem like a lot (especially in plastics and glass), especially when the EPA estimates US recycled only 32% of its waste in 2005. (Side note: these are the most recent figures I could find in a quick search...if the EPA wants people to cite more recent statistics, it should use better search engine optimization tools.) Not surprisingly in contrast, San Francisco is close to reaching its goal of recycling 75% of its waste by 2010. I don't expect everywhere to be as eco-friendly as San Francisco, but the path of the bulk of my kitchen waste makes me a little "green" around the gills.

Yes, that's a trash chute.