Meanwhile, back in Florida....

Beanie and Basil are in heaven! Just look - happy dogs. I miss them so much!

Darin's birthday weekend - posted by Maggie

Today, Monday July 31st is Darin's 40th birthday. So the entire weekend was a celebration, packed full of new adventures.
Cultural Training - Singapore 101The weekend started off with a local Singaporean named Keith that came to out aparment to train us in Singaporean culture. It was a lot of fun and we learned so much about the culture here as well as some interesting historical factoids. Here are a few examples:
4 million people live on the island of Singapore
1 million of those are expatriates (25 % of the population)
Singapore is only 41 years old
Only 10% of Singaporeans hold a university education
Always present your business card with two hands, and accept someone elses with two hands (don't bend it or place it quickly in your pocket or wallet!)
You feet are considered unclean - never use your foot to move an object or touch another person.
Your left hand is also considered unclean. Never hand anything to another person using your left hand.
Later on, Keith took us for authentic Chinese Dim Sum in Chinatown. Dim Sum means "small pieces going straight to your heart". The servers push little carts around containing small dishes (like "tapas") and you just nod when you want something. We had spring rolls, salad, shrimp dumplings, fried fish and more. It was delicious! For dessert they offered us a dish made from bird saliva! I declinedand had the mango pudding instead.
Sentosa Island:On Sunday, Darin and I went on a special excursion to Sentosa Island, described in magazines as " an island resort that's just minutes from the Central Business District, yet a world away from the bustle of the city!".
We arrived via cable car (that moves horizontally for the most part, not up or down) from Mount Faber (which isn't really a mountain but a hill covered in rain forest - very pretty). The island is full of entertainment and attractions such as Underwater World, The Merlion and Cinemania. But we mainly wanted to go walk on the beach and go to the famous Spa Botanica at the Sentosa Resort and Spa.
The had a nice lunch on Siloso beach and then headed to the Spa. It was absolutely breathtaking. Set amidst the lush rainforest, we were led to an outside pavillion where we could hear peacocks and falling water whilst enjoying obscenely indulgent pampering with a 90-minute massage. After that we had a mud bath where you cover your entire body and face with mineral mud. We felt relaxed and rejuvenated, and went back to the city to have dinner by the river (yes, we washed the mud off before going back to the city).
See more pictures on Photoworks.com (link will open in new window)

Our Townhouse in Singapore - Posted by Maggie

Great news! We finally moved into a townhouse. It is in the Park Avenue Residences on Kim Yam Road, close to Mohammed Sultan Road.
The townhouse is on 3 levels - the lower level has a living room, kitchen, dining and utility room and one loo. The second level has the master bedroom with master bath and a guest bedroom with a full guest bathroom, the third level has another guestroom with full en suite bathroom. Loads of room for anyone to come and visit. And heaps of room for me to paint!!
This is a very nice neighborhood near Robertson Quay, on the famous Mohammed Sultan Raod which is a popular hang-out spot with expats and locals. The river is one block from our place. It is also near major shopping areas, Chinatown and Clarke Quay - all of which have abundant grocery shops, restaurants and bars. The Mohammed Sultan area is also the Art Center of Singapore (naturally, this is why I like it so much) with art galleries galore all around (one right across the road from our townhouse!)
--> See more pictures of our townhouse & neighborhood on Photoworks

Weekend in Bangkok, Thailand - posted by Maggie

This past weekend we went to Bangkok, Thailand for the weekend. We went to meet some friends of ours (Lydia & Alyson) who were on a Smartours /Friendly Planet tour of China and Thailand. They were at the end of their 2-week trip.
We met Lydia and Alyson in New Zealand in May - they were tour mates on the Friendly Planet tour we went on. They both live in Las Vegas, and the last time we saw them was in Tahiti when we said goodbye. And now we met them again in Thailand. It's a small world!
The tour guide, who's name is Boeing, let Darin and I tag along for two days in the bus along with the other Friendly Planet tour-goers. We saw a lot of temples and palaces. The most famous ones we went to were The Temple of the Reclining Buddha & Wat Po as well as the Grand Palace. It was a lot of fun.
I was surprised by how cheap everything was in Bangkok. A meal in a nice restaurant would cost around $4-6! It was very different from Singapore. We saw many stray animals (mostly cats and dogs) everywhere, and there is a lot of poverty too - more than in Singapore.
I posted some pictures on Photoworks.com - you can view them without having to sign up as a member:View our Tailand pictures now

Singapore Art Museum & Chinatown - Posted by Maggie

I visited the Singapore Art Museum recently to investigate what kinds of Asian art is in the collection. When I got there, I was prepared to pay the $3 entrance fee (that I read about in a guide book), but they handed me a floor plan and said the entry was free. Naturally, I was pleased about this.
The map was very hard to figure out, even though the museum itself is very small - 2 story building in a u-shape (compared to the likes of MoMA and the Met, this place is a mere spec of dust). There were 2 temporary exhibits of local Singapore artists. Works ranged from photography to abstrac and figurative painting. I wanted to see more, but the rest of the exhibits were under construction. This is probably why the entrance fee was free.

After the Art Museum I walked down to Chinatown. There are many street stalls selling everything under the sun. There are also tailors everywhere that will make you custom clothing in your choice of fabric. In the US you would pay top dollar for custom made tailored shirts. Here, you can get one for about SG$40-80, which is about USD$30-60!! So for Darin's upcoming 40th birthday, I got him 2 custom made tailored shirts made out of fine silk and quality cotton. (He knows about this gift because he had to come with me to get measured ) I hope they turn out nice.

Club Street in Chinatown is a hip little street with unique and quirky little shops dotting the street. Also known for it's vibrant night life, this street is the place to see and be seen at.

Bollywood Veggies: Organic farm in the coutryside - Posted by Maggie

Yesterday Darin and I went on an adventure to the countryside in Singapore. We had to take a train for 40 minutes to get to Kranji, a rural town on the north side of the island. Once there, we still had to get a cab to Bollywood Veggie farm.
Our first cab driver said he had no clue where it was, even after we gave him the address. The second cab driver we asked said the first one lied. He just didn't want to take us there because he would have no passenger coming back. This, we have found out, is "taxi diplomacy". Drivers would pretend that they don't know where the destination is, and tell you to get out of the car!
Anyhow, the second cab driver was a lady, and she gladly took us right to the farm. Only 10 minutes from the station.
Bollywood veggies is a farm that groes organic fruits, vegetables and herbs on a lovely 10-acre farm run by nature lovers Mrs Ivy Singh-Lim and her husband, Mr Lim Ho Seng. We ate at the farm's restaurant "Poison Ivy Bistro" - they served very tasty dishes using produce straight from the farm!
I had the banana & coconut curry, and Darin had some lemongrass chicken and a dish that came with all sorts of things on it - about 70% of which were edible.
We had a fun time!

Ok, this was very disturbing - Posted by Maggie

Guess what I saw today. OMG, brace yourself for this. I had to come back to the hotel to lie down in a fetal position after this experience! They have these food stalls everywhere - selling all kinds of food - from "western food" (looks like grey chicken nuggets), to indian and thai food, and dim sum & dumplings and such (see the Fish ball entry below). Well, one place looked interesting - I thought there were little breads on display and then I saw a jar on top of the counter, and I couldn't figure out what was in there. At closer inspecition, I saw that the label said "Marinated Duck Chins". And that is exactly what they were!! It was literally the lower half of a duck's beak (in the u-shape) with a piece of skin attached to it, and the whole thing skewered on a stick. Serious. I am not kidding!

I was so appalled by this that I started looking around frantically to see if there were any other (westerners) people around who see this. I needed some kind of acknowledgement that this was real (and very disturbing). Of course there was nobody who even blinked an eye, and I actually saw someone ordering some. I fled immediately, feeling sick to my stomach, and came straight back to the hotel.

Lucky for me, there are tons of indian (vegetarian) food everywhere, but I swear - there is only so much vegetable curry, rice and roti one can stand.

Do I write about food a lot? I guess it's because you can't even throw a chop-stick in the air without it landing in a restaurant or food stall around here.

Disturbed in Sing

Durian fruit and glutinous fish balls - Posted by Maggie

So far Singapore is fun. It is a bit overwhelming - feels like living in Manhattan surrounded by multiple cultures that speak english with heavy accents, who shop and eat a lot. Sort of being in a perpetual Chinatown...

The food is good, but most of the time I don't even know what I am eating. And I still have to get used to the weird smells, like durian fruit. It smells like rotten fruit doused with petrol, but tastes pretty sweet (almost like a guava) and it has prickly thorns on it. Buses and the subway have signs prohibiting the transportation of durian fruit. You can read about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durian

As a globe trotter, I have seen (and sometimes eaten) many weird dishes. ("Globe trotters" actually sounds like a dish you'll find in a restaurant here in Singapore: "I'll have the curried globe trotters with a side of glutinous fish balls". Serious, they sell "glutinous fish balls" here - it looks like ping-pong balls served in a soup with noodles). Here is a picture:

Today I also saw chicken feet, and soup made from the slug-like sea cucumber and something called seafood porridge. The porridge part is actually just rice in a broth of some sort.

Bon appetit!

Made it to Singapore! - Posted by Maggie

he flight was pretty harsh and very long, and we still have a bit of jet lag. Yesterday we fell asleep at 5pm and woke up at midnight - confused at first and unable to sleep any further.

You won't believe the shopping here!! It is like a never-ending shopping mall. There are high-end labels like Prada, Gucci, Valentino, Longchamp, BCBG etc. and there are other brands like Marks & Spencer and Mango (from Spain) and there are also heaps of fleamarkets and vintage clothing stores. Even an IKEA and a lot of other home furnishing shops. Wherever you go there is a huge mall, there are literally shops everywhere, and there is also specialized areas such as little india and little china etc.

I was really surprised by how many trees there are everywhere - the climate is very tropical and there are apparently more tree species in Singapore than the entire US! The city itself is spotless. The sidewalks are very clean, you will never see any trash anywhere. But so far my biggest quest has been to find rubbish bins. There are none on the street. You have to carry all your empty water bottles and other debris with you for a long time, until you spot a rubbish bin - usually hidden away in a corner where you least expect it.

They Hyatt is very nice - they have an excellent spa with a whirlpool, steamroom and sauna and an excercise room, and we are centrally located just off of Orchard road which is the main shopping street.

And the food!!! there is every single cuisine you can think of here. Food is very cheap (and good) but alcohol is very expensive. You pay about $8 for a glass of beer.

Darin and I rode the MRT (subway) out to the Dell office yesterday to see how long it will take him to get to work. It took us about 50 minutes from the hotel. The MRT goes everywhere and is very clean (no pee smells), but is a bit crowded. Much like London's tube with very clear directions etc.

We've also scoped out an apartment so far and it was really nice - very comfortable and nicely furnished. But it was too far away from the MRT so it would take us really long to get anywhere. So the search for housing continues.

Long Bus Ride - Posted by Darin

Today we decided to take the MRT to the Dell facility in Jurong East. It took nearly an hour door to door from the Grand Hyatt on Orchard Road.One thing I learned about riding the bus. They don't stop at a bus stop unless someone is at the bus stop waving at the driver or someone on the bus has pressed the button. Another thing I learned is if the bus is at a stop letting someone on, and you stand up and try to exit the bus, they don't open the rear exit doors unless you actually press the STOP button. The nice thing is that all the public transit systems use the same smart cards, so you can "badge on and off" of trains and buses throughout the country.I may wind up losing weight here simply because it takes so much effort to eat the food. If you get shrimp and noodles, the shrimp still has his eyes, tail, anus, and everything else that a cook normally removes before serving a meal. This has the effect of reducing my appetite somewhat and slowing my food intake considerably. Now a curry puff is right up my alley. Grab one of these babies in your hand and start eating. No preparation necessary. However, being a fried meat pie, curry puffs will have to be a rare treat, lest I wind up in the newspaper as "Fattest American in Singapore".Tomorrow is my first day in the office and I have tons of stuff to do.