Our Travel Blog

Storms, hackers, kitty kats and the cost of foods

Thursday we had another downpour. Despite thunderstorms always being in the forecast we've only seen one, but we've had a few short term downpours. This time I finally remembered to go look at it in the atrium of the building (along with all the other children)... mostly because it was raining so hard I could hear it coming down in the hallway.

Jess went to the gym and "hacked" the video screen on the treadmill. He can't pass an interactive screen without messing with it. And he brought home my long term visitor pass with him - woo. Now I can officially... I don't know what.

We had dinner at Laffio's, but still wanted a snacky snack. We remembered seeing some amaaazing looking soft serve down the street, so we headed over to Stateland Cafe. Guys... Popcorn and Cookie Butter infused softserve (not mixed). Jess had the buttered popcorn, and I had the cookie butter... obviously. These flavors were made just for us. We'll need to go back, because I'm dreaming about this ice cream. And at $6SGD it definitely beats the $16SGD pint of cookie butter core Ben & Jerry's we bought.

Jess' scoop of ice cream looked like a fox... so he took a picture. AND we saw another kitty cat on the way home.

Friday we went to Singaplural 2016, which will be in it's own blog entry, but after that we were exhausted (a lot of walking, and it was fairly hot). Jess had been craving a burrito for a few days so he was searching Yelp for options. He found a Baja Fresh!

We attempted to take an Uber, but our driver hit a cab literally half a second after we shut our doors. She told us to stay put while she went to talk to the other driver, and we were like "uhhh... I think we'll just take a cab."

We got there and what a strange experience. It was almost exactly the same menu (but more expensive), but they had a fairly large alcohol selection, actual dishes, and the employees did not wear uniforms. $61.05SGD at Baja Fresh! That translates to roughly $44USD, so I guess it's not *that* bad when you factor in that we had margaritas, but she also discounted one of the drinks by ~$7.

After Baja we went next door to a German themed restaurant that was super cheesy, but I wanted a beer and a slice of black forest cake... and I got both! Pretty good... but neither place is worth going back to.

We decided to walk back home so we could stop at Cold Storage (the grocery store) on the way, and because it wasn't really that far (we were just tired and hungry on the way there). On the way we saw a couple neat little art shops (both were closed, it was late), and a bunch of bars. Very interesting to see different areas at different times of the day. Some places you will drive by in the day and it looks like nothing, but there are large crowds and lots of lights at night.

Saturday we had sushi at Ion Orchard (another mall)... there was a short wait to get in, and the ordering system was different from what we're used to. A lot of the rolls came in sets of 2 and 4 pieces, but turns out they were large pieces. We ordered *almost* too much food... but it's difficult to let good sushi go to waste, so we definitely stuffed ourselves.

They also had some really really good tempura sweet potato, made with Japanese purple sweet potato... yum! They also have tempura pumpkin here... we tried that at Todai and it was so good -- sweet and crunchy!

One thing we definitely weren't expecting here was to get a slice of kraft singles on top of our sushi. Typically when something is labeled with "cheese" at home it means cream cheese. Nope... we had sushi with american cheese. Oh my... what a weird taste. Good thing that roll came in two pieces and not 6 or 8!

I also couldn't pass up Each A Cup. We shared a bucket of Winter Melon Tea (which is delicious, btw, and a new favorite). If you have an international food market near you see if you can find Yeo's Winter melon tea... comes in a 1.5 litre bottle. It's definitely not a flavor we were expecting.

Friday evening we sort of went to Gardens by the Bay (which will also be in it's own blog post) because I really wanted to see and photograph the Singapore Skyline. I started feeling fairly ill, so we didn't do everything we planned.

Sunday I woke up late (like 11am) and was just feeling really unrested. We went to the pool and got some sun, and the pool water felt like the perfect temperature for once, not freezing. We spent about an hour and it was really nice outside. When we got back to the room we watched tv for a bit, then I went back to bed for another couple of hours. Turns out, I think I maybe had a 24 hour bug or something. I ended up not feeling so well that night.

So once I got out of bed again I really didn't want to leave, so we ordered pizza in from Alt Pizza. Delivery wasn't as good as eating it there because the crust got a little soft (It's really crispy there), but it was still really tasty. Check out their awesome pizza boxes. We watched some more Netflix, and then went back to bed.

I felt a little better again this morning, and I headed over to Suntec before lunchtime to do some clothes shopping before meeting Jess for work. He got new jeans, and I got some light pants for our adventures in Bali (YEA, that's happening!).

We've taken notice that when you shop here the employees follow you very closely (like closer than we follow each other), and they explain every little thing to you, and often try to make an upsell with a prepared speech. Very strange, and it can make for an uncomfortable shopping experience, especially if you're just browsing.

Jess will be home soon, and then he's going to the gym. Time to research what's for dinner, I guess!

Ketchup - caught up

Okay... so this is the last one to catch up! By the way... ketchup is different here, and we like it.

Sunday we went to Chinatown. It was a great idea before we left the apartment, but once we got out there we remembered how hot it was and it turned into a pretty short trip. Our intention was to go to the Chinatown Visitor Center and ask someone where to eat, but on our way we drove past Food Street and decided we would eat there.

We ended up getting way more carby and hot soup food than any two people could eat on an extremely humid and hot day, so we ended up not eating it all. I decided, based on this experience, that I do not like Laksa even though it sounded like a great idea. It ended up tasting like a bland and fishy version of Tom Kha, my favorite Thai soup. But the satay here was soooo good... 80 cents per piece (SGD) - 58 cents USD!

After lunch (and a lot of sweating) we wandered through a huge hawker center. Some things smelled amazing, but mostly we had no idea what was there, and what was good. It was really overwhelming, and there's a chance we may not be able to eat in a hawker center unless we have someone to help us. There were dozens and dozens of food stalls, and they were all completely foreign to us.

After wandering through the hawker center we walked into the temple in the photo above. We promptly got kicked out because of the sleeveless, low back, short dress I was wearing. Oops... I read the rules of temples before coming to Singapore, but since this was an unplanned trip I didn't even think about it. They had a bucket of fabrics for people to cover up with, but they looked like thick itchy pieces of burlap, and I was hot and grumpy, and could not understand ALL the things the woman was kicking me out for... so I didn't want to be kicked out a THIRD time when I didn't understand her again.

We will probably go back later one evening, when we're not as hot and sweaty and grumpy. and I'm wearing appropriate clothing.

Monday I met Jess for lunch and we had Alt Pizza again because it's delicious. Jess had one of the best burgers ever made, and I had a blue crab and Old Bay pizza.

That evening Jess went to the gym after work, and I made french toast for dinner. I've been craving french toast and we can't seem to find a breakfast place that is actually open for breakfast! I went and purchased non refrigerated eggs... that we did not put in the fridge this time. Last time we bought them we put them in the fridge and every single one cracked. Oops.

Tuesday I met Jess for lunch. Nicole was having Thai for dinner, so we went to Bali Thai because it sounded delicious! I had pineapple fried rice with chicken floss and fried fish. Yes... chicken floss... I still don't really know what it is. Jess had some sort of honey fried chicken. And we shared some chicken satay... because we love satay.

I got some milk tea while I made Jess take the long way back to work... he still doesn't understand the layout of the mall, so it's easy to trick him. And I was able to trick him into walking to Toys R Us with me because I *finally* had 3 old dollar coins to get my little egg baby from the vending machine!

Let me explain... a while ago I saw an article about a dessert that "poops" custard, and I guess it's supposed to resemble an egg. So I was *extremely* excited when I got to Suntec City Mall and saw these little guys in the vending machine, as well as bigger plushies in a toy store. Turns out, this cafe is in Hong Kong, so I will most likely be experiencing this little guys in person in the near future!

Take note of the motorbikes on the sidewalk in the picture above. That's a thing that happens here. I've almost been run over and backed into more than once. They park them on the sidewalks (mopeds, motorbikes, motorcycles), and occasionally drive them on the sidewalks to avoid traffic lights.

Tuesday evening we cooked dinner again. We made chicken, which was a mistake in this kitchen. The trash smelled god awful until Ruby picked it up this afternoon. I've decided that was probably the first and last time we'll be cooking chicken in this kitchen. The under sink/trash area smells like all kinds of disgusting things now. I had Jess purchase a box of baking soda on the way home to try to fix it.

For dinner tonight we went to Krave, which was on our list early on but we never made it. I was happy when we sat down and a tailless cat immediately tried to also get inside to grab a bite. After being shooed away a few times he eventually just laid down outside the door.

I had some really delicious chicken with peanut sauce and rice balls, Jess had some pretty good steak with fantastic fries and 3 mayo sauces. Yum! We almost got more fries to take home, but opted to visit the mini mart for more ice cream instead.

On our walk back to the apartment building this little guy literally scared me, because I was not expecting a little creature to be laying on the sidewalk.

Let me take a moment to explain this to you... before today, in the entire time we've been here, we had seen ONE stray cat, 4 dogs on leashes (3 small, 1 medium), one lizard, and a few flies. After encountering two more stray cats tonight, we then saw a rat after leaving the mini mart at our apartment building. Apparently Singapore thinks we've been here long enough to start bringing out the dirty parts (refer back to the weekend post where we encountered the "ghetto" and the hobo... really not that bad. There was *some* litter on the ground, and one homeless person).

Anyway... We went to the mini mart at the basement level of our apartment building to get more Magnum ice cream bars. ...the third box we've bought, because we are now addicted. Each box has been different! And we spent $16 on a pint of Ben & Jerry's.  Oops. And we got some blueberry pocky.

And I figured I would take another picture of the disturbing cigarette labels... because why not? Enjoy looking at that again.

The stuff my mom's dreams (and some people's nightmares) are made of

Saturday we went to the Mint Museum of Toys. Jess complained the entire walk over there, but to be fair it was unbearably hot out there. Unfortunately the AC was not blasting in the museum, but it was good enough.

Five levels of glass cases jam packed with old toys, most of them from 1930s-1960s. This post may encourage my mom to take a trip to Singapore just to see this collection. I got so excited about taking pictures of everything, my phone died before we got to the end.

The entire collection is owned by one man, and is the largest collection of it's kind in southeast Asia, with more than 50,000 pieces of vintage toys and memorabilia from more than 40 countries.

First up... SPAAAACE. Take notice of the super rare squirt gun, worth $3,500 USD. And all. the. Daleks! EXTERMINATE.

Next up, characters and superheroes. First issue Avengers and Transformers comics.

More characters, and lots of dolls. My mom would have died over the amount of creepy creepy old Snow White stuff they had. Take note of the extremely racist memorabilia, and the super creepy early stages of Felix the cat. I also learned that I love a little dog named Bimbo.

And collectibles... I was sad by this point, because my phone shortly after entering the room. I missed some Mickey Mouse, Beatles and Queen of England memorabilia... sorry. But look at all those lunch boxes!! I die.

We finished off the evening at Sushi Burrito. Yes, that was a weird experience. The ingredients were delicious... but it was the most complicated thing to eat. As soon as you take the first bite, the seaweed starts to roll out. And since no one believes in knives here, I found myself pulling it apart with forks by the time I got halfway through it. Delicious though. But unsatisfying for the amount of work involved.

Sushi Burrito was in a very strange mall. Everything was closed by the time we finished eating except the other restaurants, which were all outside, and the giant grocery store on the basement level. We almost did some grocery shopping, but opted for a potty break and just some candy.

I believe we also found the ghetto of Singapore. We ventured to two 7elevens outside, because I wanted tea. We didn't find the tea I wanted... but we did find an out of order Mashed Potato Dispenser, and the first and only homeless person we've seen here, sleeping on a bench.

Now we're almost caught up!

Not much happened

So the week wasn't very exciting. I started feeling better, so then I got really discouraged and grumpy about how awful I still felt (between the heat, the walking, my previous illness and the uncomfortable bed... I was *extremely* unrested). So we took it fairly easy this week.

I found a place called Mr Punch Public House. We ventured that way Tuesday evening, unsure whether or not we would have dinner there. We did not have dinner there... but we did have a couple beers and some fries while taking in the sites. Turns out Mr Punch Public House is inside the Mint Museum of Toys.

Since I showed interested in all the tin signs on the walls, one of the employees was very excited to show us around and up to the rooftop bar, which also had tin signs on the walls, and he suggested we come back during opening hours for the toy museum. He told us that they are all original signs, and I told him that my mom would be trying to take them off the walls... maybe that's why he followed us around.

After Mr Punch we decided to have some actual dinner foods at Vatos Urban Tacos. A few things have been so good that we've had to go back. This time we had beergaritas... my first, and I'm craving another thinking about it. Mine was a frozen orange margarita with a tangerine wheat beer... so so good. But at $28 each it's a one drink kind of restaurant.

Wednesday was fairly uneventful. I'm assuming I went to meet Jess for lunch (because I got a milk tea on my way home), and then this must have been the night I cooked dinner... spaghetti and meatballs. I know I've probably already said it too many times... but I'm really going to miss the abundance of milk tea when we get back home. I may have to open a Singapore inspired coffee and tea shop just to make up for it.

I also came home to 3 Expat Living magazines. They are mostly full of useless (unless you're actually living here permanently) information and ads... but a few pages of helpful tips.

On Thursday we went to the employment pass services center to finish up my long term visitor pass, which means I now have travel insurance just in time for me to not be sick anymore.

The following pictures don't really fit into any cohesive storyline, so excuse me while I break this down. First is a ...jelly cup thing that Jess had at lunch time. It contains cubes of jell-o like things floating in a tea-like liquid. Yum. Then there is another picture of the rainbow building that I still want to get a good picture of. Then a poster in the restaurant where we had dinner... Brewerkz, pretty good beer, okay food.

We've found a lot of our meals by looking around on Google Maps, or other apps and just clicking on funny names. Which is how we came across Coq & Balls. We said maybe we would go... but then Friday afternoon I read the story on their website and I was sold.

"The year was 2007. The place - the tranquil estate of Tiong Bahru. Once, a proud rooster ruled the grounds between Yong Siak Steet and Bo Bo Tan Gardens. The sole survivor of a witch hunt by the mighty authorities during the bird flu epidemic which decimated three of its brother roosters, this fine specimen of a rooster achieved celebrity status by the sheer strength of his will. Residents doted on him and cars screeched to a halt as he crossed the roads in his daily strolls. He even ate from the same bowl as a neighborhood cat notorious for its pigeon-killing sprees. His mysterious air of command was sure and absolute.

As time went by (as it always does), Bo Bo Tan Gardens was reclaimed by the authorities and the proud rooster was slowly integrated into local legend. Outwitting his foes and never showing fear, the Tiong Bahru Rooster is revered even till this present day. The story of the rooster has become a part of Coq & Balls as we continue to honor a local legend and embody all he stood for – always standing proud and showing some balls."

So we went.

We met an awesome bartender, Michael, and their happy hour drink specials were the best we've seen. $12 for classic cocktails (big list, too!) and Michael knows what he's doing. We stuck around and even had a full price drink after happy hour because they were the best alcoholic drinks we've had since we've been here.

We had a great conversation with Michael while we sat. He gave us a hand written list of restaurants that are open late night and 24 hours, and we gave him some suggestions of places to visit if he makes a trip to America.

We took an Uber back to our neighborhood and drove through Chinatown, which is all decorated for the Chinese New Year still -- year of the monkey. Monkeys everywhere!

We had our driver drop us off across the street and we grabbed burgers at Berg. Mine had BEETS on it. We were fairly toasty from all our drinking, so I don't remember much about my burger, but I remember it was delicious. Sorry there are no pictures. Maybe we'll try it again sometime when we're a little more sober.

Week complete! Next up... toy museum!

Marina Bay Sands

Okay, so I'm about to do a quick catch up of the past week and a half in a few shorter blog entries. I know you guys don't need a complete play by play anymore.

Last Monday I met Jess after work and we walked over to Marina Bay Sands to check out the view from the sky. There is artwalk on and along the sidewalks on the way over. I took a picture of my favorite little guy; one of the wings says "Humans can fly and never need to walk."

How encouraging. And lies.

The bridge over to Marina Bay Sands is called the Helix Bridge (formerly Double Helix Bridge). It is shaped like, you guessed it, double helix DNA.

Since this is Singapore, Marina Bay Sands obviously has it's own giant shopping mall. There is a comic book themed cafe, an awesome toy store, restaurants, cafes, a ton of expensive designer shops, a casino, and a skating rink right in front of a food court. The directional signs show English, Chinese and Malay (Jess looked this up, because we couldn't figure out why they had phonetic spellings on the signs).

Marina Bay Sands is three hotel towers with a big...ship on top. The "ship" has an observation deck, bar, restaurant, gardens, and a pool. We passed on everything but the observation deck. Jess needed to get a picture or two for his company newsletter... so that's why there are so many shots of just him. ;)

The oddly shaped domes and weird structures amongst the greenery is Gardens By the Bay. We're planning to hopefully get over there this weekend. It's open nearly 24 hours, so we can plan on walking through a lot of it near sundown. 

After the observation deck we had dinner at Todai, Japanese/sushi buffet. We have one at home in Fairfax, too! We filled up with lots of sushi, macarons and soft serve.

After dinner we made it all the way back across the mall/hotel, and out to the walkway/observation deck overlooking Gardens By the Bay just in time for what I'm assuming is a nightly light show. Excuse the not great photos... combination of phone shots, and handheld camera shots... I will definitely need to make another trip with a tripod.

After the light show we walked BACK through Marina Bay Sands while considering whether we should take an Uber or walk back. We walked so we could stop by Jess' office on the way back. We took a few photos inside Marina Bay Sands... the circular area in the photo down below is a bar, they have a bunch of bars and cafes like this in the centers of malls and open spaces.

The Helix Bridges (like pretty much everything else) lights up at night and looks amazing! Another place I'll have to go back to with a tripod.

Jess was amused that the projection on the Lotus shaped Art Science Museum seemed to be broken.

And there was some light up art back over near the boy with wings.

The night walks here are typically *so* much cooler than being out through the day, and I think we made a subconscious decision to stop doing so many things outside through the day.