Singapore Day 3, Final

I'm sorry to say that I'm going to make this post short, as it's late and Jeremy and I have been walking around all day and we have an early flight tomorrow morning to catch to Thailand, so I should be getting to bed. I'll let the pictures do the talking!

When we drove into the city from the airport I saw a Carl's Jr. and thought it'd be fun to have lunch there for nostalgia's sake. It tasted good, but man, the price was a lot more! It was 5 USD per hamburger! That's maybe 2 or 3 times as much as they cost in the US!





My coworker, Christina, recommended that we visit this bar which looks out at the entire city of Singapore. The drinks were a bit expensive even though it was happy-hour, but it was worth it for the view!



It's almost the Chinese new year, and in Bugis there was a large display with all the different Chinese fortunes for the new year listed. I was born in the year of the pig, but unfortunately, these ladies wouldn't let me in to read the English translation on the bottom of the fortune. So I just took their picture instead!



Whenever I travel, I like to get signs on the streets to get a sense of what was going on at that moment in time. Since I can't read Chinese, I can only imagine what it says. I see something about a teacher on there... haha.

That's just some of the highlights from the trip so far. Unfortunately, I'm tired and it's late. I have to pack and get ready for the second leg of the trip: Phuket! Night!

Singapore Day 2

Our second day in Singapore was a day for wandering and shopping. Jeremy and I wandered out onto the streets of Chinatown behind the lady running our hotel. We followed behind her complex maze into a Chinese shopping center (they're everywhere here [the shopping centers, not the Chinese (although, it's true, the Chinese are everywhere here [but they are really Singaporeans])]). At the shopping center we exchanged some of my money into Singaporean dollars. The current exchange rate is 141.20 Sing dollars to 100 USD. It'll be interesting to look back at the blog entry and see how the world's economies have changed...

At the market we noticed a lot of electronics. I had to stop and look at some cameras because Sang, the guy who manages my gym in Vietnam, gave me 200 dollars to buy a camera for him. He asked me to do this right as I was leaving the gym for the night. It really surprises me how Vietnamese people are so willing to trust foreigners like that; he just handed me 200 US dollars in cash, and he really doesn't know me that well! There is a sense that foreigners are trust worthy in Vietnam. I find this really surprising because it was the opposite in Japan. It wasn't necessarily in regards to money, but the Japanese saw foreigners are criminals and people who wouldn't follow rules of society. So there was definitely a suspicion from the Japanese. The Vietnamese on the other hand see foreigners as people who can be trusted and are often rich. I find this difference interesting, but I digress.

After looking at some cheap camera (Singapore is known for its cheap electronics), Jeremy and I went to Clark Quay to look around and find some famous Fish and Chips at Harry's restaurant on the river. My coworker's husband, also named Harry, enthusiastically recommended Harry's, touting that it was the best fish and chips he had ever had in his life. I have to agree with him. It was amazing fish and chips. So soft and flaking, flavorful, not greasy. Wow, seconds?

Jeremy about to enjoy a steak sandwich. I on the other hand enjoyed some famous fish and chips that knocked my socks AND shoes off!

Feeling fat and lazy, we thought it best to work off our calorific lunch by walking around the city. We walked along the waterfront and saw many lovely statues that decorated the walk.

First thing I notice is my tan line. It came from my sunny trip to Monkey Island last week. I'm standing on a bridge (I think it was Reading Bridge) in Clark Quay. It was so clean in this area. I mean, all of Singapore is clean, but it's surprising how clean it is at the waterfront. It wouldn't look like this in Vietnam where I live...

As I said, there are many interesting statues at Clark Quay. Columbia artist, Botero even made a bird for the river walk. What's that doing here?

This is one of my favorite statues that we saw in the area. It's a group of young boys jumping into the water. They are all life-sized and seem to really be falling. They're attached in very subtle ways that really make them look like they're falling.

I'm not sure that this is necessarily City Hall, but it's close to that area. We were walking around the Clark Quay area and just as we were leaving, we saw a large soccer field surrounded by skyscrapers.

We made our way up to Raffles City and did some shopping. The shopping is basically endless here. You can go in one underground entrance and then wander amongst some shops, and then come back up for air in a completely different part of the city! The thing that I found funny is in the most famous shopping area, Orchard Road, there are many famous international stores. Too many, in fact. In San Francisco, I remember seeing two Starbucks coffee shops across the street from each other. Well, in Singapore on Orchard Road, you can see two Louis Vuitton across the street from each other! That's not all, two Miu Miu, two Prada. Two everything across from each other! It's insane!

On Orchard Road there is a huge shopping center called Ion which has a really cool fountain outside. Jets of water would shoot out and different colors of light would shine through the water to make it look like it was glowing. It was quite spectacular. This little boy got nailed by a stream of water just after I took this picture. Hah.

After Orchard Road, and shopping until we couldn't take it any more. Jeremy and I made our way back home where I passed out due to exhaustion. I had the joy of having a stern word with some drunk Europeans (I think they were French) who were drinking all night long outside our hotel room. I didn't really get a full night's sleep and still feel a bit groggy. But, I'll manage to enjoy my last full day here before flying to Phuket for some downtime on the beach.

Singapore Day 1

It's 8am and I woke up today to the sounds of a bird that makes the noises of someone playing a slide flute, going from the lowest note to the highest note, and warbling excessively at each end.

I write from my hotel in Chinatown where everyone is getting ready to celebrate the Lunar New Year. This time it's the year of the tiger and there are a lot of celebrations on the streets buying rice cakes, dried meats, red and gold signs, images of tigers, lots of manicured potted plants, etc. It's a very clean and safe place full of great shopping.

Outside of my hotel there was a large Chinese auction full of goods for people to celebrate the lunar new year. This went on well into the night.

You could buy a lot of different dried meats in the market: sausages, steaks, and ducks with their heads still attached!



One of the Chinese staples for the new year: rice cakes! The people selling these cakes were shouting into their microphones and throwing free samples of their rice cakes to anyone who made eye contact with them. It was quite exciting. I had one flavored like ginger!



Another Chinese staple for the new year, dried figs!



In the night market of Chinatown, there are a lot of people selling fresh fruit for the new year.

There are so many foreign products here. I even saw a Carl's Jr.! I can't believe it. I don't know when the last time was that I ate at a CJ... Last night Jeremy an I shopped at a Borders and got a bunch of English books, including a copy of the Jungle Books, upon my mom's advice.

We found a great shopping center that has some REAL Japanese food at it as well as a store called Muji that I really miss from my time in Japan. Last on the list is a British clothing store called Top Shop / Top Man. We found a huge store here and are going to get some clothes my size! yay!

Other than shopping, my initial impression of Singapore is that people are racially mixed here, and I don't particularly feel like I stand out. English is the country's national language, and it's prevalent everywhere. The prices are the same as any big city in the US or Japan. No big shock there. It's very clean and modern. The trains are very easy to navigate and they cover the whole island. The trains are fast, and come on time. Unlike Tokyo, there are automatic gates which stop you from stepping in front of a train which many Japanese did to commit suicide.

I was really surprised to see the extent of all of the different laws and rules posted everywhere. My favorite one is no "touting", or soliciting, in the Chinese market. But Singapore is famous for that, right? Even the lady that runs my hotel has signs with rules posted everyone on it. "No Mugs water bottles to be place here PLS... TKS". All I can say is Singaporeans are orderly. Much akin to the Japanese, but this city is more modern and cleaner than Tokyo even yet. And of course, more Chinese. Haha.

When Jeremy and I ate dinner in the Chinese night market, we saw a sign glued to our table that read: "No touting and promoting, it's an offence my law, do not patronize." Singapore is full of rules!

Finally, I've been surprised by the fashion. Currently, the big thing that I see a lot of young Singaporean men wearing is: shorts that are above the knee, with shaved legs, and white loafers without any socks. I have to say the people here are generally good dressers and seem affluent. It's impressive. But, as Jeremy tells me, you're jailed if you're homeless.

Time for breakfast and more exploration!

Tet Vacation!

The Lunar New Year is almost upon us. This year, it is the year of the Tiger. Rawr! I just completed my first month's work at my new school, and now I'm back on vacation! The Lunar New Year, or as the Vietnamese call it, Tet, is the biggest annual celebration each year. My school is giving me two weeks paid vacation, and I'm celebrating by traveling to Singapore and Phuket, Thailand with Mr. Jeremy. We're leaving tomorrow morning and will be back late next week. We'll return in time to celebrate the three days of the Lunar New Year with his family, Chinese style. Chúc Mừng Năm Mới, that's "Happy New Year" in Vietnamese!

From on Top of the Roof

Jeremy and I ran upstairs last night to watch the sun set from the building's 21st floor. We brought out cameras with us and snapped some pictures of life down below us. This is what we saw.

Boats on the Saigon River



The View from My Building



Two Construction Workers Fighting on the Street

Jeremy Watches the Sun Setting