Singapore Adventure: Day 1

Today was my first full day in Singapore. I got here around 1:30 am after a long 18 hrs of flying and a 3 hour layover in Tokyo. There were a few hiccups, but overall it was a pretty smooth trip. For example… the man in front of me at the security checkpoint hit me in the leg with his huge backpack and now I have an enormous bruise on my thigh (a great accessory when lying out at the pool). Also, I got jipped at the Amex Currency Exchange counter…totally my own fault. I gave the teller $140 ( two $20’s and a $100). For some reason she thought I gave her $60 and that is what she gave me change for. I was so tired I didn’t really look at the receipt and didn’t notice the error until I was getting out of the cab at the hotel. So I had to go back to the airport this morning to straighten it out. They are investigating it, but we will see if I get my money back. So I am out of $80…which sucks.

Ok, so aside from those two things, it has been a great trip so far. Even the layover in Tokyo was fun because they have cool airport stores and I ate these delicious frozen strawberries filled with vanilla cream. Even breakfast this morning was a fun experience. I had a tasty ham and cheese roll from the “bread cafeteria”. You just get tongs and a tray and then you can select your bread from dozens of little clear boxes. Next stop was Little India… It was very colorful and fragrant with open air markets selling fresh jasmine and all sorts of spices and teas. I also stopped into Mufasa which is a huge 24 hr. department store in the area. After that, I headed over to Clark Quay which is a waterfront dining and entertainment area with a mall. I had lunch at, where I tried healthy pasta made from fish protein. It really didn’t taste any different. It was topped with chicken, mushrooms, and cream. Afterwards I had some frozen yogurt topped with Kiwi. The food here is actually very good. It has Asian, Indian, American, and Malaysian influences. Below are pictures of Singapore's modern cityscape.



After the mall, I headed back to the Marina area where our hotel is. I walked through about 5 connected malls to get from the train to the hotel. After looking at hundreds of shops, I noticed key themes. They are obsessed with youthful looking clothing (on countless occasions I mistook adult clothing stores for kids ones because of the clothing styles and store décor).Also, they LOVE toast here. There are toast shops of every corner offering toast more ways than I thought possible. They even have adorable couture toast boutiques (think something like a cupcake store). There are also tons of trinket stores with adorable little keyrings, ink pens, gifts, etc. I have got to get a Monchichii while I am here. For those of you that remember...they are cute little brown thumb sucking monkeys : ) Below is a picture of the symbol of Singapore...the Merlions statue. The image on the right is of a large installation at the domed theater pictured above.



I have been taking the train around all day which is extremely easy. I didn’t get lost at all. Also, because of the heat, most buildings here are interconnected so you don’t have to go outside. It is so clean and organized here and everyone is generally very polite. There are tons of rules and fines here. Eating in the subway comes with a hefty $500 fine and eating durian in public (the national fruit of Singapore) is punishable by arrest because it is has an offensive odor. The government also mandates a city wide sale 2 times a year. It is actually going on right now, so all the stores are really bustling. I hope to find some good buys, especially because the dollar is strong here ( woo to the hoo!)

After a day of great culinary treats, I made a mistake with the fresh star fruit juice. It sounded like a great idea, but it’s a little bitter and weird as a juice. I also passed a place called Yuki Yoki where I was watching though the window as guest sat at their tables, boiling things and sautéing them in 2 pans inset into the table. It was like a new take on Korean BBQ. I was tempted to go inside and investigate, but the smell told me I was better off observing from the outside.
Singapore is a late night city…malls are open until 10pm and restaurants are open very late. So I am going to take a quick nap and then get ready for the evening.