Australia Part 1 - A Christmas Story Down Under

Another country in the books and more fun adventures to share with you!  In case you didn't catch on, I headed down to Australia for a nice Christmas break.  Usually in the US my company gives us from Christmas day through New Year’s day off but I have to follow Singapore’s holiday schedule which only allows Christmas Day off.  Luckily I saved up a couple vacation days to make for a nice 6 day trip. 

Christmas lights, War Memorial, and 3,000 page views

Let’s start with the latter, I've reached 3,000 page views on my blog!  Cool!!  Thanks for reading everyone!  I never thought my readers would consist of people outside of my parents, Niles, and my close friends so I am truly shocked at how many of you have stopped by.  Keep reading and I’ll keep posting my silly adventures.

This past weekend Ethan and I decided to head to Orchard Rd to view the Christmas lights.  Everyone has been talking about this being the spot in Singapore with the best decorations and I have to agree.  We hopped off the MRT at the Somerset stop, grabbed a quick bite to eat at Acid Bar, then walked up the street to take in the lights. 

Food Friday 14 - Hot Pot, Night Market Dinner, and Brunch

Happy Sunday!  This past week hasn't been too eventful on my end, hence the lack of posts.  I also knew that Ethan and I had some good eats on the ticket for this weekend so I figured I'd jazz up the food Friday post by waiting until Sunday to fill you all in.

This past week would usually be filled with Christmas cookies at work, last minute shopping, drinking eggnog lattes (if your Jack), and enjoying a light snowfall.  However here in Singapore the Christmas season has been void of any goodies at work (my waistline doesn't mind).  To help me keep in the seasonal joys, I've been trying to watch a different Christmas movie every single night.  It feels like I'm watching Christmas movies in July though with the weather and I still find it hard to get myself into the holiday mood most days.  But hopefully the little holiday Ethan and I have planned will make us feel more Christmas-y.

Alright so lets get to the food!

Food Friday 13 - A little bit of Malay, a little bit of Lebanese

Usually these posts will have just a week's worth of new foods, but seeing as I haven't posted in a while you all will get a taste of some things I've eaten in the past 2 weeks.

Thanksgiving Thursday, my coworkers asked if I'd like to order delivery lunch with them and I figured it'd be a good opportunity to try something new.  Plus it would probably fill me up more than my granola bar and apple (it's not easy to grocery shop when you're homesick).  They showed me the menu to choose from and of course I had no clue what I was reading because it was all Malaysian food and none of it had descriptions!  Luckily my friend Mary helped me out and I decided to go with nasi goreng pattaya.  Yum!  This dish is fried rice, not like the stuff you get from Chinese takeout in the US, with seafood and then all wrapped up into an egg omelet and topped with chili sauce.  It was surprisingly really tasty, though I did pick out the fish cakes because those are not my most favorite.  

#TBT - Throwback Thursday - Weekend Outing on Arab St

Scrolling through my email I realized I had written a blog post in the beginning of November and never posted it!  So I figured throwback Thursday could be a great time to catch up on this fun little adventure in Singapore.  Note- I have not edited this so keep in mind that this was written before my trip back to the US.  

The theme for this weekend was to keep things pretty low key as the previous weekend I was in Vietnam as you know and I wanted to get rest for more adventures to come.

Saturday afternoon, Ethan, Glenn, and I decided to head to Arab St.  I had heard lots of good things about the area but hadn't had the chance to go yet.  Well after one trip I was sold, and I look forward to going back to explore more of the area. 

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Part 3 Shopping and Tips for Travelers

Our second day in KL was pretty low key.  We took our time getting up and grabbing a quick breakfast in our hotel.  We stayed at the Nomad Sucasa which worked great as they provide suite style rooms that have 2 bedrooms.  In traveling with 3 people it can be difficult to find places that can accommodate a 3^rd bed (without a huge charge).  I highly suggest this spot if you’re looking for the same thing we were. Plus they were decorated for Christmas which was so nice!

After breakfast we gathered our things and took a taxi out to the airport.  The drive took around an hour and we were lucky enough not to hit any traffic.  We had left enough time to accommodate if there was any traffic so it meant we had lots of time to waste in the airport.  However, the new KL airport is very nice and filled with plenty of shops to keep you busy.  Glenn and Ethan were kind enough to follow me around as I compared nearly every purse in the whole airport before making my purchase.  I had ringgit to use up before leaving and since the exchange rate is not great it’s better to use up the money in Malaysia then to exchange it once back in Singapore. 

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Part 2 Petronas Towers

Whenever I go to a new place I like to do some research beforehand on tips for the area.  Lately I’ve been turning to travel blogs or trip advisor reviews because then you get people’s firsthand accounts of what they experienced and less of the general guidelines which can be a bit dramatic.  One thing that people continuously wrote about was that KL is EXTREMELY hot and humid.  I laughed when I stepped out in the afternoon and said, oh it’s so nice here!  Most reviewers were not from Singapore where we live on the equator and where cool temperatures mean low 80s, hah!  Not to say that it was SO much cooler than Singapore but I did notice I was much more comfortable than usual in Singapore.  And given that I opted to dress more conservatively than I usually do in Singapore as Malaysia is a Muslim country, I found myself able to handle longer pants and sleeves easier than in Singapore weather.

Kuala Lumpur Malaysia - Part 1 Batu Caves

The truth this week is that I have fallen off my blogging wheel and need to get writing and posting so that I keep anyone who still reads this entertained.  Luckily, I went on another adventure this past weekend so I’ve got something to write about for you besides my feelings!

Saturday morning I was woken abruptly when Ethan was calling my phone…umm who does that at 6am?!  The answer is your friend calling to wake you up because you are supposed to be at the MRT going to the airport!!  It seemed that I very confidently set my alarm for Saturday morning for 6:30am instead of 5:30am…all I know is that I’m thankful I had packed my bag the night before (plus for an overnight you don’t need too much) and I was able to get out the door in 10 minutes without forgetting anything!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Yes you read right!  Snow in Singapore!!!

It was a brisk 29 degrees on Sunday and Ethan and I decided to venture down to the Christmas Wonderland at the Gardens by the Bay.  Ethan found the event while browsing online and it was described as having festive lights and a German market place.  When we arrived, we headed straight to the supertree grove where the marketplace was.  We were greeted with bright lights, Christmas songs, and cute little sheds with typical Singaporean restaurants and goods.

My first Singapore Dinner Dance!

First of all, thank you so much for all the kind and caring words from my last post.  Each comment was just another reminder of the great support and love I have from so many back home.  While I wish I could give you all hugs for your kind encouragement for now a shout out via the blog will have to do.  So THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!

Backing up to Saturday morning (not long after I posted my homesick post) I decided to go for a little walk around my neighborhood.  I realized I hadn’t done this given my close proximity to the subway and other amenities I don’t really have a need to walk around the blocks.  It’s funny how an area you might pass each day in a car (or taxi to work in my case) suddenly has a different feeling when you walk around.  As I made my way around a couple different streets, I spent time taking in the scenery and suddenly I felt much better.  Taking a moment to think about what makes this place special and different from my home helped me to find that relaxed and adventurous Laura I had lost for a moment. 

Happy Thanksgiving and the truth about life away from home

Happy Thanksgiving!  (Well a day late but close enough for me)!

Hopefully my 2 week hiatus from the blog has not been a total disappointment to my kind readers.  The good news is that it was for a trip back to the US.  While I wish the whole 9 days were spent just hanging out and getting to see my loved ones, I unfortunately had to give 4 and a half days of that to work.  Even so, I am extremely grateful that I was able to go home for a little bit and get some time with this guy!

Vietnam Part 3 - Thoughts on the War Remnants Museum and Cu Chi Tunnels

Saturday, after filling up on classic Vietnamese food for lunch we headed to the War Remnants Museum.  We started outside, looking at tanks/bull dozers/boats/helicopters/planes used by the American’s when they were in Vietnam.  Once our tour guide came over with our tickets we went inside.  I was surprised, but glad, to see that the museum was set up to allow everyone to view it individually.  There were a few different exhibits but we basically started at the bottom and worked our way up. 

Food Friday 12 - Vietnam Edition

Thank goodness Friday is here! 

Now hopefully you all have been reading along with the Vietnam posts and have been eagerly awaiting this week’s food Friday to get a sense of what I ate on my weekend trip (and of course this past week).  Well, thanks for waiting and without further ado, let’s get to it!

Vietnam - Part Two

For our one night stay in Ho Chi Minh City, we stayed at the Phan Anh Backpackers Hostel in the backpackers district.  It was a very clean and well-priced option for our short stay and I would highly recommend it!  We got a 3 person private room with our own en-suite bathroom.  The room was cozy but had aircon and a window with a nice view.  Best part of the hostel is free breakfast and a free drink at happy hour from 6-7pm!

Vietnam - Part One

Another country in the books for this traveler!

This past weekend Ethan, Glenn, and I flew to Vietnam for a quick (like really quick) trip to Ho Chi Minh City.  Why did we only stay 1 night you ask?  Well we couldn’t get time off of work to make it a longer weekend but we really wanted to get out, plus there were great deals on flights so we said why not!  Even though it was a short trip, there is plenty for me to discuss so expect a few posts! 

Food Friday 11 - Lunch

Happy Food Friday!

This week I was on a bit of a tight budget which meant not a lot of room for going out to eat.  So I decided the best way to fulfill my food Friday blog post for my avid readers was to give you all a glimpse of what work lunch looks like!  Lately I have just been bringing leftovers for lunch as, to put it nicely, my body doesn’t respond to the canteen food as beautifully as I would like.  But this past week I decided that it would be cheaper for me to get lunch at the canteen (café) for about $2.00 – 2.50 a day. 

So my lunch idea for food Friday actually hit me on Wednesday and so my recount starts there.  Let me first explain that Wednesday was a rough day for me…ok really this whole week was rough.  Without getting too much into it, I’ve been a bit frustrated at work, people were coming to work on my apartment which meant I had to sleep in the hot un-airconed 2^nd bedroom, and knowing that my trip back to the US is only a couple weeks away now made me just yearn to get back.  The truth is, as great as Singapore is, there are times that I just wish I could walk out my door and wish I was home.  Most days I’m not down about missing home but I just get little bits of oh if only I could grab a dunks on my way to work or CAN I JUST GET A PIZZA!  So this past Wednesday my morning started out tough and I went to the canteen with my fingers crossed that there would be just ONE thing I could look at and know what it was.  Oh boy was I in for a treat!!!  Chicken nuggets without bones!!!!  I wish I were joking about how exciting this was for me.  No joke-la!!  Being able to have chicken without bones is such a rare find here and to have it be chicken nuggets, well let’s just say I was about as happy as when Mom would let us get the Kids Cuisine dinners when the babysitter came. 

Egg, chicken nuggets, and random green veggie

Buddha Tooth Relic Temple

Last Wednesday was Deepavali or Divali which meant we had a public holiday in Singapore (aka no work)!

I woke up to a cloudy day and had a quick chat with Niles, boy do I miss him.  Then the cloudy day quickly turned into a rainy day but that didn’t stop our group (Ethan, friend Tracey, Tracey's dad, and me) from heading to Chinatown to walk around.  We did the usual walk through all the different shops, managing to stay under the tarps overhead so we didn’t get completely soaked.  But to our surprise the rain still hadn’t let up yet.  Usually rain storms in Singapore will last for an hour or so then quit, but we’ve had a couple of these mostly rainy days which I guess means that it’s starting to turn to rainy season for us. 

          

 

Expo MRT and the MacRitchie Reservoir Treetop Walk

First let me apologize.  I finally came to a week were I did not meet my goal and thus did not post what should have been Food Friday 11.  The truth is I didn’t have anything new last week and on top of it just didn’t take pictures of my food to share with you all either.  But I promise to do better!

This weekend was a pretty tame one.  Friday night I had a nice run followed by a dip in the pool, which at 7:30pm was all mine as no one else was around.  Floating on my back, I kept staring up at the dark sky thinking how odd it is that it is night here and morning back home. 

Learning a New Type of English Laa

When I told my friends and family that I was coming to Singapore most of them asked about the language barrier.  Lucky for me, English is one of the national languages of Singapore and is widely spoken.  But I had kept hearing about this “Singlish” from friends and coworkers who had visited and wasn’t quite sure what to expect.  Basically what I knew was to expect to hear lots of la’s when the speak.  Hey!  I can say laaa says Laura.  Now that I’ve been here for 11 weeks I figured I had experienced enough of this silly language to give you all an education on how to speak Singlish and a glimpse on what my daily interactions include.

Weekend Recap - Chili and Black Pepper Crab and Cuba Libre

As you probably have noticed if you've followed along, Ethan and I have had quite a number of visitors joining us in Singapore!  Most of them were last minute trips and so it’s been good excitement being able to try new things with our guests as well as show them what we have come to enjoy here.

Last week Sucheta, a fellow co-worker from the US and alumni to our rotational program, came for work related reasons.  But lucky for us (and her of course) she was able to extend her time here to get a couple extra days to explore.  Later in the week, Ethan’s close friend and one of my former roommates Tracey came!  She was able to get a full week off to come and explore!

Food Friday 10

Well folks its Sunday and I have missed my deadline for Food Friday but I can't deny you all the pleasure of hearing the tasty eats I tried this week.

So this week's eats to share with you come from my meal with Bekah, my highschool friend who came to visit last weekend, and her friends.  If you check out my last post you'll see that we spent the day sweating walking around the botanic gardens.  Later on that night we met up with Bekah's friend's friend and his wife who are both Singaporean natives.  They took us to a local Indian restaurant which I was a bit hesitant at first seeing as my last experience was when I ate fish head curry.  For all those who have been reading my blog since the start (thanks by the way!) that meal of fish head curry happened in my 3rd week I was here aka a long time ago.  Thankfully this meal was delicious and the spices didn't upset my stomach this time. 

6 Year High School Reunion

It’s now been 10 weeks since I landed in Singapore and it seems that time has just flown by, especially since I’ve had a few visitors to look forward to coming and spending time with!  First Niles was able to come for just over a month, then it worked out for Amber to make a quick stop between finishing teaching in Thailand and heading back to the US.  And most recently a friend from high school reached out to me to let me know she’d be stopping in Singapore for a few days with two friends and wanted to meet up!

Bekah and I went to elementary school together, though didn’t get really close until we started spending 45 minutes together every day for 7th period in the bassoon section of our high school concert band.  That’s right!  I used to be a bassoon player and after reminiscing with Bekah on Sunday, we both agreed that not only would our fingers not remember where to go or which of the 5 left thumb keys to press but our cheek muscles would definitely not in shape to play a bassoon.

Something to Celebrate

Happy Birthday to this guy!

Friday was Ethan’s birthday!  To celebrate we met up with Singaporeans Melissa and Glenn at Hood bar in Bugis +.  Ethan and I hadn’t had dinner but were more in a munching, snack type mood so we shared bacon potato croquettes and truffle fries, yum!  Glenn ordered some fried calamari which was good, though I was skeptical of the moving dried fish pieces on top of it.  Lucky for us the bar had a happy hour special where pints were $10!!  So cheap to find here in Singapore, and I wish I was joking that seeing $10 pints of beer really makes me think I’m getting a bargain.  No joking-laaaaa.

Food Friday 9

Here we are once again.  Another week down and another post to recap the Singaporean pastime of eating.

Let me start by saying that this past week I took things pretty easy.  While I loved having guests to help fill the extra space in my apartment for a solid 6 weeks, I have taken the time to unwind after work and get some me time.  As a natural extrovert, I highly enjoy talking to and spending time with people.  However, in the past few years I've had a lot of time living on my own and farther away from friends and family.  One of the biggest lessons I've had to learn is using alone time to recharge me.  So the past few days I've taken the quiet after work hours to go to the gym, cook my own dinners, and just plain relax.  It was a wonderful and fun 6 weeks having guests and there are more to come, but I appreciate getting some time to recharge.

Reasoning for the above paragraph?  To better explain my lack of a variety of dishes to post about.  I kept it reasonably easy this week, meaning I made a huge batch of rice on Monday that lasted me through the week and required simple additions of veggies and tofu to make complete meals.

Enough’s enough, let’s get you all to the real point of this week’s post, the eats!

Supertree Grove

This post doesn't exactly follow sequence with what I've been up to but I realized I didn't talk too much to a fun night Amber, Ethan, and I had at Gardens by the Bay during Amber’s visit last week so I thought I’d share with you now.

Garden’s by the Bay is located just next to Marina Bay Sands, that big building with the ship on top that you've seen on my blog more than a few times now.  The gardens have two conservatories which you have to pay about $30 sgd to go into both.  I highly recommend them as they are cool experiences (especially the cloud dome) but if you’re on a budget, walking around the gardens proves to be just as interesting due to some unique pieces.

    

 

"I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike"

Happy Wednesday folks!  This past weekend was a holiday weekend which meant no work on Monday wahoo!

Saturday I sent Amber on her last trip before her journey home.  It was so nice having her here for a while but man did that week fly by!  And now she’s en route back home after 5 ½ months of being in Thailand.  It was nice to catch up and also to have someone to chat with about life on the other side of the world.  While our experiences are a bit different we could completely relate to the emotions and feelings you go through being far away from home and in a foreign place.

Sunday, Ethan, Glenn, and I planned to go to Pulau Ubin, a small island off the east coast of Singapore.  We were hoping to spend the day biking around the small island and checking out the nature.  Unfortunately, we weren’t the only ones who had that in mind for Sunday.  When our cab dropped us off we were greeted with a queue worthy of those long hot lines in Disney World.  With close to a 2 hour wait in front of us and then having to wait with all those people to get back before the 12-person ferries stop running at sunset, we decided to save the trip for another day (and make note to get there earlier).

Food Friday 8

Happy, happy Friday everyone! Well happy Saturday.  I apologize for the late post but it was Amber's last night in Singapore and so we stayed out late and when we got back near midnight this girl was ready to go right to sleep.

This week’s post had me extremely nervous as Thursday night rolled around and I had yet to try anything new this week PLUS I had barely taken pictures of any of my meals.  Talk about the stresses of being a blogger, hah!  Luckily, Glenn (the token Singaporean friend of my travels here in Singapore) knew just what to do.  Amber, Ethan, Glenn, and I had planned to go to Chinatown Thursday night for dinner so I could introduce my intense love of xiao long bao from the Noodle Man to Amber.  I know, I know if we all had a nickel for every time I talk about my obsession with XLB aka steamed dumplings on this blog we’d all be rich (and you could all afford to come to Singapore and eat them with me).  But I am happy to say that Amber is officially in love with them too and completely understands my obsession or she has an awesome poker face.  Hey I’ll take it as a win for team XLB!

Amber's photo skills

                

 

Above photos courtesy of Ethan

A Friend Comes to Visit and Singapore Botanic Gardens

Laura and Amber at Marina Bay

Saturday morning my friend and former roommate from my semester in Utah came to visit!  Amber has been teaching English in Thailand for the past 5 months and had a few weeks after her teaching ended to travel around.  Lucky for me her travels have included a week stay in Singapore!

Food Friday 7 - Century Egg

Well here we are once again recapping what Laura (and friends) ate this past week.  Lucky for you all I did not eat any heads, feet, or organs this week…though I did ingest part of a century egg YUCK!  (google it because if I write it I might get a bit sick).

For this week I want to focus on 3 meals because let’s be honest here, I’m sure you all don’t want to keep hearing about my undying love for xiao long bao (aka steamed dumplings) which I of course enjoyed on Niles last visit to Chinatown, Monday night!

Korean BBQ

Per request of Niles, we enjoyed some Korean BBQ for one of his last dinners in Singapore.  We chose a buffet style restaurant which meant all the delicious beef bulgogi Ethan could possibly eat!  Our grill included: bacon, marinated chicken, beef bulgogi, onion, and garlic.  As they were cooking, we enjoyed some sesame noodles and (not in the picture) some pancake type think?  Think scallion pancake – esk.  Once the meat and veggies were cooked, we took them off the grill and started assembling our lettuce wraps.  My favorite way to chow down was in this order – lettuce, white rice, sauce, meat, and maybe a piece of kimchi.  Yum!

7 Weeks and Goodbye for Now

This Wednesday marked 7 weeks since I landed in Singapore!  It’s incredible how fast time passes by yet I feel like there is still so much more I’d like to do while I’m here.  Looking at my first few blog posts it’s amazing to think of how far I’ve come from the shy, nervous girl in a new country.  Some days it feels like I’ve got the whole Singaporean life down and others I still feel completely new.  I guess it’s a good thing to be comfortable in a place where you are still stretched out of your comfort zone.

Today (Thursday in Singapore time) has been a rainy and surprisingly cool day.  The sad part of me would say that the weather is mimicking my emotions.  This morning I brought Niles to the airport.  For those of you who have been following along, Niles was able to have a nice long stay with me.  In those few weeks we had so many adventures together and I am so very happy that we could share this time with one another.  We’ve been in a relationship for a few years, most of which has been long distance.  His time here with me in Singapore was the most time we’ve spent living that close to one another in almost two years.  I wish I could tell you the secret to keeping a strong relationship with lots of miles in between but there isn’t really much secret to tell.  Some days it’s easy and others feel like it’ll be forever until I see him again.  This morning as I went to work I turned around to kiss him goodbye but he wasn’t there.  This afternoon I’ll arrive back from work and open the door but his smiling face won’t be there to greet me.  It’s tough but I have to keep moving forward.  Each day without him is another day closer to be with him.

All dressed up on the MRT!

Singapore Grand Prix Formula 1 Race and JLo

Sunday started off on the rocks for me.  My stomach had been churning since the bumpy and jolting ride home on the MRT Saturday night.  But Niles and I decided to take it easy Sunday morning and early afternoon as we had big plans later in the day.  When 4pm finally rolled around I was still not feeling my best but trudge downtown and was sure glad I did!

Niles and I excited for the race to start!

For three nights, the roads around the downtown area are completely shutdown to host the qualifying races leading up to the grand prix night race on Sunday.  We got tickets online and our passes were for zone 4 walkabout which meant we had a great area of the city to browse concerts, get food and drink, and an array of options for where we could choose to watch the race.

Chinese Gardens and Dempsey Hill

On Saturday in the late afternoon, Niles, Ethan, and I took the green line farther west than any of us have ever ridden before.  Our destination was the Chinese (and Japanese) Gardens.  Of course once we got off the MRT it was starting to drizzle and none of us had an umbrella.  It wasn’t raining too hard to we continued our walk through the gardens.  On our way to the entrance we saw 3 games of cricket being played.  Bonus points to whoever can tell me the point of the game and how it all works!

Food Friday 6 - Singapore classic

It's that time of the week again, food Friday!  Ok so I need to get more on top of this because technically its Saturday morning in Singapore and for my viewers in the US I've only got 2 more hours left of your Friday.  Time to type fast!

So this past week wasn't full of too many exciting dishes so this week I'm going to stick with just a couple new foods I tried.

                                          

 

Hopefully you've read my Bali posts and saw some of the cool foods I tried there.  I don't want to re-hash  my love of the volcano cooked banana sandwiches or the smooth Luwak coffee so I'll let you all go to those posts on your own.

Let's talk snakeskin fruit!  This fruit grows near the bottom of the tree and is nestled in some pockets of the tree.  Why is it called snakeskin?  Because its outer shell has the same shiny, scaly feeling as actual snakeskin!  For those of you who fear snakes like this blogger, it's a creepy but great way to feel a snake minus the whole venom/constricting stuff to worry about.

Weekend in Bali - Part Three Luwak Coffee

Have I made you fall in love with the sunrise yet?

It was 8am when we finished our hike and had you asked any of us at the time we would have told you it was well into the afternoon.

Our driver guided our tired group into the car where we took a 40 minute drive to a Bali Coffee Plantation.  Though I was tired and did end up taking a few snoozes, it was light out on our car ride so there was so much more to see.  The roads were still bumpy but didn’t bother my stomach.  I learned in the days of early Saturday practice in college that exercise is the greatest medicine.  Niles and Ethan would disagree, though they both made it all the way back to our resort without getting sick.  Driving in Bali is something that will never make my bucket list.  The narrow 2 lane streets have bumps that require cars to come to a complete stop every so often and steep hills that I still am not sure how trucks make it up.  It is definitely a place that “anything goes” as long as  you stay on the left side of the road (most of the time).  Luckily Ardi was a safe, reliable driver and we were in a nice car.

Weekend in Bali Part Two - Volcano Trek

Our big (and only) excursion for our weekend was to do the sunrise trek up Mount Batur.  There are many companies who do this trek but after a bit of research, Bali TrekkingTours.com has the best reviews and so we decided to book with them.  They were extremely accommodating with our last minute booking.  Disclaimer: all these thoughts are my own and I did not receive any compensation for this post or my experience.   

We were picked up at our resort at 1:40AM.  Our driver, Ardi, informed us that it would take 2 hours to get to the starting point of our trek so I figured it’d be a great opportunity to get some more rest.  Well with my unsteady stomach and headache from all the fruity cocktails mixed with winding, bumpy roads of Bali, I didn’t get much sleep and instead wasn’t feeling too excited for this trek.  Luckily the 3 of us made it through the entire trek without getting sick (though I thoroughly suggest not drinking alcohol the night before and getting more sleep than we did).  With not much street lights it was very dark and I couldn’t see much on the drive which was probably a good thing because had I seen the size of what we were climbing I probably would have crawled into a ball and cried hah!

Weekend in Bali - Part 1

Well hello my dear readers!  We are back from our first trip a tad sunburned, but had a great long weekend.

  

Where do I start?  A 4 day weekend in Bali, Indonesia means either one longgggg post or a couple broken out posts.  While I’d love to have your opinions I think it would only prolong me getting out my review of the weekend so I’ve gone ahead and chosen for us.  The verdict- you will get a few different posts recapping various aspects of my Bali weekend.

Getting to Bali

Friday morning our crew headed to Changi Airport and arrived with plenty of time to grab a coffee and find our gate.  Well unfortunately our flight was delayed by an hour, which turned into us not actually leaving the ground until an hour and 30+ minutes after our initial departure time.  But no worries, we were headed for paradise!  We took a budget airline which means no drink service or snacks.  Not a huge deal as our flight was only 2.5 hours.  Upon landing in Bali (make note it looks like you’re going to land in the ocean but you don’t), we were greeted with a 45 minute wait to get through customs!  Once through customs and getting our visitor visa, we started the hunt for our driver.  We were greeted by TONS of other resort driver services and I immediately became overwhelmed with the amount of people around shouting at us, pointing, trying to get our attention.  Due to our flight being delayed our driver was not waiting for us.  We found our way to the information booth where they would call our for our hotel to get our drivers attention.  While we were waiting taxi drivers kept coming up to us and offering to drive.  Most got the point and walked away, but one was INCREDIBLY pushy.  Uncomfortable, annoyed Laura + persistent taxi driver = MAD, rude, you’re messing with the wrong person Laura.  I repeatedly told this guy to leave us alone and tried to ignore him but he just didn’t get it.  Thankfully our resort driver showed up, an hour later, and took us to our resort.

Food Friday (Thursday) 5

Here we go again!  Let’s take a look at what Laura ate this past week. Also I apologize for the earlier than Friday post as I will be headed out on my first trip Friday so you'll have to deal with these yummy eats until I get back!

In the same nut-free fashion, Niles and I made our own stir-fry noodles.  Nothing too fancy here, we used Chinese la mian noodles and spinach noodles.  I have to say I’m digging the whole fried egg on top style that Singapore has introduced me too.  Great way to get an added bit of protein!

A Brewerkz Sort of Weekend

This weekend was definitely the most low-key weekend I’ve had since being in Singapore, which I happily accepted.  It’s hard not getting overwhelmed with wanting to see everything and make sure to check off everything from those “best things to do in Singapore” or “things you must do before leaving Singapore” lists.  While 6 months seems like plenty of time to get things done, it also goes by SO quickly, as I’ve learned from previous rotations.  I spent the last 6 months exploring the Midwest (shout out to my Indy friends) and I feel as if there is so much more I could have done!

This weekend started out with our gang of three having a few things on our list to check off.  While some of them didn’t make our final itinerary, I feel like we had a great weekend anyway!

Food Friday 4 - No Nuts Please!

It’s that time of the week again…Food Friday!

I know that most of my readers have probably come to dread this weekly post but I promise you this week doesn’t contain any stomach churning items.  My goal each week is to capture some of my daily meals plus try 1 new thing each week.  I have stuck to my goal so far and lucky for both of us, my new food was something that my fellow westerners would enjoy as well.

                      

    

Chinatown Mid Autumn Mooncake Festival

On a side note- you probably know that my boyfriend is visiting Singapore right now.  While I am so very happy to have him around, his food allergies have made eating a sometimes stressful event.  My boyfriend is allergic to peanuts and tree nuts.  This isn’t such a big deal in the states as it’s a common allergy and people are very much aware of how to handle it.  But the nut allergy hasn’t really hit Asia yet.  As eating out is a common (and cheaper) pastime in Singapore I asked my coworkers to write Chinese on a piece of paper that we could carry around.  This is what they came up with:

An Afternoon on Sentosa Island

Sunday fun-day had our gang of three, Niles+Ethan+Me, headed to Singapore’s Sentosa Island.  This island is just to the south west of Singapore and offers a few beaches, attractions such as Universal Studio and an aquarium, as well as plenty of restaurants/bars.  It took us about an hour via public transportation to arrive which was too bad considering we didn’t have to deal with parking or any long queues.

 

Just the Way You Look Tonight - Marina Bay Sands

One of the iconic buildings in Singapore is Marina Bay Sands, three towers that hold a massive boat atop.  This building is like no other in the world and it truly a unique and incredible sight that never ceases to amaze me.  And while seeing the building from around the bay is stunning to see, the real special view is from the 57^th floor on the “boat deck”.

Friday night Niles, Ethan, and I had reservations at the Chocolate and Cheese Bar

Food Friday 3: Heads and Feet

It's the post you've all been waiting for!  Not only is if Food Friday where I tell you all about the crazy things I ate this past week but this one especially include two dishes that will hopefully never be part of my diet ever again.

Let's start at the top.  Last Saturday I told you all how Ethan and I were taken out to a lovely authentic South Indian dinner in Little India.

3 Week Mark and Weekend Recap

It has been 3 weeks since I left the US.  Not technically 3 weeks in Singapore as I didn’t land until Wednesday August 6^th.  Whew just thinking about that flight makes me shudder.  30 hours of traveling with no leg room, no comfortable sleeping position, and airport food (well minus the delicious sushi from Narita Airport).  Don’t worry mom and dad, that doesn’t mean I won’t be making the trip back home in November and then February.  But until then I’ll treasure a good night’s sleep and a good meal. 

While I haven’t been extremely homesick these 3 weeks, I have been craving certain “Western” food.  Salads, grilled chicken, spaghetti and meatballs, pizza, mom’s homemade sticky buns, and Mexican food.  I think more of what I’m missing is the prices of such dishes back in the US.  Does Singapore have most of the items I listed?  Yes, with the exception of mom’s sticky buns, though most of these come at a cost and aren’t just on any corner.  Will I survive without these things for a while?  Most likely, though Mission Cantina in Amherst better have fish tacos, a margarita, fresh salsa, and guacamole waiting for me come next spring!

Why I love my Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

For those who may not be aware, I am quite new to this whole blog writing thing.  I know that usually people will write reviews on products or companies in return for some type of compensation but let me assure you that the following are all my own thoughts and opinions.  Chase has no idea I’m even writing this but if they perhaps saw my opinion and knew that I have readers from 10 different countries (thanks by the way) maybe they would be willing to help support some of my travels while I’m here in South East Asia. 

Here's the good stuff:

Food Friday II

I've decided that every Friday will be Food Friday on my blog.  That means a post all about the interesting food I ate in the previous week.  Along with this weekly post, I've challenged myself to try at least one new food a week to make things interesting.  With that, let's get week 2 of Food Friday going!

Ethan lands in Singapore!

While I’ve had my share of #lonelylaura adventures (and there will be probably more to come in my future), one thing I’m super excited about for my final rotation here in Singapore is that I’ll have a friend in the program with me!  Ethan is another associate in the same program with me and we have been buddies since day 1 of orientation, so it’s only fitting that we’re ending this two year experience together here in Singapore. 

Let me first start by finishing my Saturday.  That night my Singaporean friend Glenn took me to a restaurant in the Somerset Mall called Marche.  It was such a fun place!  We took the winding stairs down to a surprisingly HUGE restaurant filled with inspiration of the Swiss Alps.  We were given our table then started to make our way around the market type restaurant to pick what we’d like for dinner.  It felt a little bit like being in Berkshire Dining hall with various stations offering pizza, veggies, crepes, stir fry, and other goodies.  Following my Polish roots, I opted for the potato pancake (legitimately a pan sized cake) and chicken sausage YUM! This is definitely a spot that you could go to many times and never get the same thing twice. It’s also a place that offers a change in the daily Singaporean cuisine which I don’t mind.

My dinner and a cow!

Saturday in the Park I think it was the...

...16th of August

Today's adventure had me off to Pasir Ris Park, only a few minutes away on the subway for me.  Of course my leisurely walk had me looking like I just ran a marathon.  You've really got to love that hot, humid, stagnant air that doesn't seem to have a breeze no matter how close to the ocean you are!  I did my best to ignore it and enjoyed the park.  Pasir Ris Park has lots of walking/biking paths that stroll through mangroves and along the shore.  Here are some views I came across:

Food Friday

Friday at work was a short day for me thanks to my afternoon appointment with the Ministry of Manpower to get my employment pass allowing me to work here.  Of course it did not mean I had to skip out on my groups two hour lunch!  This week for Friday lunch my group took me to the Bedok area and I had my first taste of Chicken Rice, one of the infamous dishes of Singapore.  We ate at an outdoor Hawker Center and had quite the feast of food to dig into.

From left to right: Bean sprouts, roast chicken, regular chicken, some animals liver (I didn't eat that) and tofu in the back right.  Everyone got their own plate of rice. 

Two Short Stories

I haven’t posted in a couple days mostly due to sending off the person I replaced here in Singapore,
checking out of the hotel, and getting moved into the condo I’ll be living in while in I'm here. So here are two short stories from the last couple days that I’d like to share with you.

Just like Popa Lake

One thing I love about traveling is finding little things that connect me to home even though I’m 10,000
miles away. At work I have been eating lunch at the canteen (cafeteria) with everyone in my group.
Lunch includes rice (big surprise there), a random green veggie (and yes, I literally have no clue what
kind of plant I’m eating), and some type of meat/protein. Now this meal doesn’t bring any reminders
of home or my mom’s cooking by a long shot. The part of the meal that puts a smile on my face is
the utensils. A fork and a spoon, no knives (well technically you can ask for one but I haven’t got the
slightest clue who/where to ask). And who does a fork and spoon remind me of? None other than Popa
Lake himself!

Popa Lake is my mom’s dad and someone who did things his own way most of the time including eating
meals with a fork and a spoon. To my knowledge my popa never traveled to Asia and I have no clue
where he picked up this Asian style of eating but low and behold that Vermont-born farmer boy knew
what he was doing! It’s taken only a few meals for me to realize how much easier it is to use your fork
like a rake to put food on your spoon and then the spoon is an excellent vessel to transport to your
mouth so you don’t lose everything through the cracks of the fork! It’s especially excellent when eating
rice. I mean come on, tell me you haven’t ever been frustrated trying to get those last few grains of rice
on a fork but surprise surprise they fall through the cracks!

As silly as it may sound, it’s a little connection to home and makes me wish I could tell my Popa Lake how he would fit right in with the locals of Singapore.

Cara Okay

To get home from work each day I will take one of the free buses work provides to a MRT stop and then
hop on the MRT for 1 stop and walk to my condo. It’s an easy way to get home after work and I have to
say its much more enjoyable than my previous traffic-filled commutes. Wednesday this week a woman
that works in another finance group here offered the empty seat next to her. As most people here do,
she asked about if I had been to Singapore, if I had siblings, if I was married (am I in Utah again??), how
old I was, and if I had any hobbies.

So in the mix of our conversation music was brought up and I asked if she enjoyed live music. She
replied that she liked to sing what they call here in Singapore “Cara Okay”. I had no clue what she was
talking about and figured it must be some local activity or maybe it was Choral Okay? So I admit I’ve
never heard of it and she goes on to tell me how she and her husband will go to Cara Okay and they play
music on a CD and sing-along. She then spelled out what it was because she was shocked I had never
heard of it. K-A-R-A-O-K-E.

Everyone here does speak English but with accents that have taken me a while to get used to. And not
to mention I’ve noticed Singaporeans will pronounce things differently than we do in the states. So I
explained that we pronounce it as Kerry-Okee (I’m not good with the whole phonetic spelling of things
so that’s as good as I got for this one).

Well those are my short stories for you all today. Tonight I plan to finally unpack my bags and get
settled into this new routine of mine. Pictures and recap of the condo to come once the hurricane of
unpacking has settled!

Gardens by the Bay

Monday I was off from work due to National Day falling on Saturday so they give you the following work day off. I spent the beginning of the day reading by the pool, walking around and finding a spot for lunch, and just relaxing.  Later in the afternoon I hopped on the MRT and headed to the Marina Bay area to meet up with friends.  I have to say not having any form of contact when I'm outside of the hotel doesn't phase me until I have to meet up with someone in a place I've never been before.  Luckily, I was able to meet my friends right at the MRT stop with no problem.

Gardens by the Bay is a beautiful place where you can walk around outside or go into the two observatories.  Our main goal was the observatories on this trip.  First we went into the flower dome.  I'll let the pictures do the talking:

 Marina Bay Sands in the background

After making out way through the flower dome, we went to the taller Cloud Dome. Upon walking into the dome we were greeted with a huge waterfall.

We then slowly but surely made our way up to the top of this "mountain" to the lost world.  It definitely felt like a mix of Peter Pan and Avatar in here.

We walked along that upper walk way and it was a bit shaky at times!

We took a nice walk down to the food court of the gardens for some dinner.  It was my first experience in a hawker-esk food court in Singapore.  A hawker center is basically a food court with all local vendors where you can have a variety of foods to eat.  The three of us shared chicken and beef satay with a peanut sauce (sorry Niles!), fried rice, bbq squid, and a green veggie.

Our meal, all very good!

To drink I tried a Singaporean beverage of sugar cane.  At first I figured it would be just like drinking sugar but it wasn't too overly sweet and had almost a mild kiwi flavor to it.  Though it's definitely a treat to be enjoyed in moderation while I'm here!

I will definitely be making a trip to Gardens by the Bay again as there is so much to see and it's such a beautiful spot to walk by the river.