A Quick Note

I have eaten entirely too much Nutella. They have a lot of British food here, since Singapore was ruled by the British at one point, as are all awesome countries. So they sell "digestives," which are really yummy cookies that taste a little like graham crackers. Mom used to get them for us all the time, so when I saw a package of them I grabbed it. As we were munching on them back at the hotel, I stupidly mentioned that I bet they would taste really good with Nutella. So naturally, we bought a jar of Nutella. It is now almost empty, because I forgot how good Nutella is. So here's what I ate yesterday: two pieces of toast with Nutella. A starfruit, which I sliced up and spread Nutella on. I figured since peanut butter is delicious on apples, why not Nutella on starfruit? And then I had four cookies with Nutella. And then when Mike got home, he cut up another starfruit and I suggested we try putting Nutella on it and pretended I hadn't already done that already. Basically, my thinking now is that the faster I eat this jar, the better. If it's gone, I can at least control my impulse to buy more.

Discoveries

Sometimes this place just cracks me up, they have the oddest things here. I know it's only weird because I'm not familiar with it, but the unintentional hilarity remains. Let me share a few noteworthy examples.

We decided to go all out last night for our anniversary. That's right, we threw caution to the wind and said to hell with it...let's go to Pizza Hut. Yes, I know it's a little tacky, but we've been craving greasy pizza, and dammit, we're proud of our fatty American food heritage. As we discovered, though, the Pizza Huts here aren't like the ones in the US. They're a lot nicer; they're dine in restaurants, more along the lines of an Olive Garden. There were actually people on dates...at Pizza Hut. They give you big menus and everything, which was where I discovered this monstrosity:

It's called the Crunchy Cheesy Bites Pizza, and as far as I can tell, it's cheese filled dough covered in cornflakes that you dip in melted cheese sauce. I don't really think it qualifies as a pizza, or even as actual food. I've since seen at least three commercials for this; someone is trying to sneak a piece but the CRUNCH gives him away, and then the creepy plastic looking family all laughs. We were really tempted to get one, but we don't hate ourselves that much.

So it was actually a fun meal, we got some garlic bread and a pepperoni and mushroom deep dish pizza, which was everything we'd hoped it would be. After that, we walked around the mall for awhile and window shopped. We passed by a KFC, which was advertising these:

Ah, the KFC Egg Tart. Sounds delicious, doesn't it? Except that it's egg, and, you know, made by KFC. Yikes.

We went into a DVD store to browse and see if anything was on sale. There's an action movie coming out here next week called Ip Man 2 which Mike wants to see, but obviously we'll be totally lost without seeing the first one. So as we were looking, I came across a movie that I really wanted to buy so I could prove I'm not lying when I describe it. It was called Battlespace, and the cover featured a woman who was dressed like Lara Croft, with the braid and gun belt and boots. But I guess the tank top and tiny shorts were too restrictive, because this woman was wearing a bikini instead. In the background there were several screen shots of what was clearly Casper Van Dean in Starship Troopers. Not just one, mind you, but like three of him, all from a movie that is NOT Battlespace. And then on the back of the DVD, there were yet more shots from Starship Troopers, and when I looked at the credits, they were for a Russian film called Prisoner of the Mountains. Directed by Sergei Brodov. And this was in the English movie section.

As if that weren't awesome enough, we decided to go into a grocery store we saw on the next level. I think we somehow stumbled upon the Singapore equivalent of Fiesta Mart, except this place is called Carnival! So everything in it is really cheap, but slightly off-brand. Also, the whole store stinks because they have a durian station in the middle of it where they cut and package the fruit. For anyone who doesn't know, durian is an Asian fruit that supposedly tastes really good, but smells like death. A lot of places won't even sell it, but this store had it out front and center. So we're walking through the store, trying not to breathe too deeply, and I notice they have some packaged deals on display. Now these are pretty common in the US, too, like when you see shampoo and conditioner in one big package, or two types of cereal together. But I had to stop and laugh, because this was a 2 liter bottle of olive oil with a squeeze bottle of ketchup stuck to it. I don't know what kind of meal this makes, and I don't want to know. Also, who needs 2 liters of olive oil? That's like half a gallon of oil. Unless you're drinking the stuff like apple juice, I really think that's a bit excessive.

So needless to say, this was pretty much the best anniversary ever. And certainly one we'll remember.

Apartment Hunting

Good news--we got an apartment! I'm so relieved we found something, I was starting to get a little stir crazy in the hotel room, and I think the maids don't like me. I feel bad, because I usually go meet Mike for lunch, but once I get back I'm usually so hot I like to relax and watch TV for awhile or play on the computer. This is inevitably when the maid decides to stop by, so I know I look like a lazy asshole every day. Also, they don't give us any dish soap, so I'm forced to leave the dirty cups and plates in the sink. I would seriously be more than happy, and much more comfortable, if I could wash them myself, but I don't have any way to do it. But no more! Hopefully we'll be able to move out by this weekend.

Getting an apartment here is insanely complicated, and I hate to be ethnocentric, but I really don't understand WHY it has to be so hard. First of all, rent goes up like every month, and everyone needs an apartment, so you have to kind of fight to get it. You can't just go to a complex and see what's available, you have to have an agent who scopes out places for you. Then you have to write a letter of intent to the landlord that includes a good faith offer, which is equal to the first month's rent. If the landlord accepts your offer, then you have to pay the first month's rent, deposit, a stamping fee (yeah, I don't know what the fuck that is), and then you have to pay your agent. Since I have an irrational fear of paperwork, this is all very trying for me. But success! The landlord accepted our offer for the first place we looked at, which was the one we liked, so now we have a home!

The place comes with quite a lot--it has built in cabinets in the bedrooms, two beds, a couch, a table and chairs, and some pots and pans. Thank god they have an IKEA here, or I think we'd be in a lot of trouble. Tack sa mycket, Sverige! I'm planning several large shopping trips to load up on cheap Scandinavian furniture. It's weird, we need all this stuff you don't even think about ever buying. Like hangers--I've never had to buy hangers before. It's just something I've always had, and I don't know where they came from. Or pillows; I've always taken pillows for granted. One has always been provided for me, I've never gone without a pillow in my life. I guess these are the things our parents supply, and then we steal them when we leave for college. Sorry mom, I didn't realize. I owe you one pillow. At least I'm not as bad as Peter, who took your microwave when he moved out.

Anyway, I'm very excited to get over there. Our camera isn't working right now, but we're going to get a new one sometime this week and I'll take some pictures when we move in. I'm guessing the place won't be cleaned before we move in, since the apartment attitude here is pretty much "you'll take whatever we give you and be grateful." I can't help but picture the landlord as Prince John from Robin Hood. The lion from the animated one, counting his stacks of gold coins. A-ha! A-ha! So I'll have to do a thorough cleaning, and then start the unpacking process. I'll get the guest room set up soon, and then everyone is more than welcome to come visit Hotel Wood. I'll leave a Mentos on your pillow and everything.

Gross romantic post

Sorry for not writing for awhile, but I literally haven't left the hotel room in about three days. I could describe the episodes of Seinfeld I've watched, but somehow I think it wouldn't be the same. I'm feeling a lot better, and Mike is slowly recovering as well. First Singapore sickness down! What an exciting moment for us.

More importantly, today is our one month anniversary! Can you believe it was only a month ago? The wedding feels like it happened last year, it's so weird. It went by so quickly, and I was in such a daze, that I feel like I can't even remember it that well. I'm so glad I have the pictures to look through so I can prove it really happened. I remember highlights, though, things that stick out in my mind. Like Katherine losing it when she saw me for the first time...she made the most hilarious choking and crying noise, like the one Matt Damon makes in Good Will Hunting. And I remember being really freaked out that everyone was going to be staring at me walking down the aisle, so I just kept my head down and kind of hysterically chattered at dad about Sigur Ros the whole time. Seeing Mike, of course; I could tell he was trying SO HARD not to cry, and failing. Once I saw him, I just couldn't stop smiling. It's strange, I thought I was going to cry the whole time too; I think I was so beyond tears at that point, I was so beyond happy. I remember Hillary's speech, and Adrian's later--I think those were the only times I cried. That really was the best day of my life, and I don't know if I can ever quite capture that feeling again.

To be honest, though, not a lot has changed since we got married. Although Mike has gotten in trouble three times for referring to me as his girlfriend. I don't know if that's normal or not, but the only difference I can tell is that now I wear a piece of jewelry. I think it's because Mike and I decided a long time ago that this was it, and we've been thinking of ourselves as married ever since. I still remember the first time he said he loved me; well, what he actually said was "I THINK I'm in love with you," which doesn't quite have the same ring to it. We were lying in bed in his apartment off of Oltorf, and it was almost 4 in the morning. He claims he added the "I think" because he wasn't sure I'd say it back. I think we were both a little scared; we'd been in such horrible relationships in the past that it seemed like this was way too easy. Someone you actually enjoyed spending time with and who didn't pick fights or cheat on you? There HAD to be a catch. It took us awhile to realize that the other person wasn't hiding a second family or a drinking problem; that a relationship doesn't have to be full of drama and chaos. I never thought I could be so comfortable with another person, and that I would ever find somebody my friends would actually LIKE. We don't exactly have low standards for boyfriends.

I remember one night we were at a restaurant, and I was slightly drunk, and I made Mike pinky swear that we would always be together. And then I remember telling him to "remember this moment, this is the moment we promised!" I feel that would have more impact if I could at least recollect where and when that was. To be honest, it might have happened a few times. I also seem to remember being drunk at the Mediterranean Fest and yelling "I'm going to MARRY you!" Proud moments, to be sure.

My point is, in my deranged mind, I married Mike a long time ago. I'm glad we made it official, though, because at a certain point, introducing him as my boyfriend just didn't feel right. But saying "this is my serious boyfriend who I live with and pinky swore to be with forever" doesn't really go over that well at parties. I don't know what I did in a past life (cause it certainly wasn't in this one) to deserve a guy like Mike, but I'm so happy that I found him. He's the sweetest person I've ever met, and he can always make me laugh. Marrying him was the easiest and best decision I've ever made.

Enough with the treacle--I promise no more sappy posts after this one.

Read at your own risk, I'm ill and planning to describe it

I'm writing this from my deathbed. I would say you guys can have all my worldly possessions, but you already picked through them. I think Peter even did a second sweep of the garage, like a greedy vulture pecking at the carcass of our kitchenware. But anyway, back to the dying. I either have a mean stomach bug or something I ate disagreed with me to a violent extent. I woke up in the middle of the night with these horrible, shooting stomach pains. They won't go away, no matter how many times I have to rush to the bathroom. I couldn't sleep, so now I'm exhausted as well as in pain, and I have no idea what the Asian equivalent of Pepto Bismol is. Uhhhhh. I feel like I'm in Oregon Trail...Emma has died of dysentery! Someone in my wagon always died from that; probably because all they had to eat was 200 pounds of buffalo. Anyway, it's been a rough night.

We had a good Friday, though, before the disaster struck me. I met Mike for lunch and we had roast duck and crispy pork, which was really good, but thinking about it now is making me feel nauseous. One of our agents called and finally had some apartments for us to look at. So I met Mike back at work and we waited for the guy to show up. It started raining, and he called saying he would be late, so we walked over to the food court to grab something to drink. I got an ice tea tarik, which I can already tell is going to be one of those things I get obsessed with but will never be able to find once we move back home. It's so delicious, it's insane. It tastes like a combination of black iced tea and chocolate milk, which I know sounds weird, but trust me, it works. When you get drinks here, they put them in these little plastic slings so you can carry then around. It's kind of like plastic bag handles, but without all the bag nonsense. I'm not really sure why they do this, since it seems a lot easier to just hold one's cup, but it's kind of cool. It's like a drink purse!

Our agent finally made it and we got to see some places. There are basically two types of apartments you can get in Singapore: a 300 square foot box of a room, or a two bedroom two bath. There seriously isn't anything in between. So we saw four places, which are all actually pretty similar...I think the complexes were designed by the same company, because the floors and cabinets are exactly the same. We liked the first one the best, and it comes with the beds and a couch. Plus, when people start coming to visit, we'll have a place for you to sleep! The floors are all wood and tile, and the kitchen is small but manageable. It's also really close to Mike's work, so he can probably walk there. People here tend to keep their apartments pretty warm, since the AC costs a lot. We're going to need to stock up on fans for sure.

It was kind of weird, because there are people still living in the apartments we looked at. I felt kind of bad, barging into people's homes and wandering around, but I guess that's pretty standard here. The first place we looked at is actually being rented right now by two guys who work for ILM, so that was pretty cool. But the other places were a little awkward, especially the last one. The landlord's agent met us there, and he was trying to show us everything with no regard for the tenant's personal belongings. See this window covered with pictures of this guy's sons? Hey, it slides open! What's that ripping sound? Oh well! Also a couple people had live in maids who I guess tend to hide from people in the kitchen. But then you go to look in the kitchen, and it's like AH! Where did you come from? Why are you being creepy?

We're supposed to go look at a few more places today, if I can drag myself out of bed. I'm sipping some Sprite and I will attempt to eat some toast in a bit. I would like to point out how unfair this is, since I don't do anything during the week and had plenty of time to be ill then. But no, I have to get sick during the weekend when I want to spend time with Mike. And I don't think making me toast and watching me curl into a ball and groan counts as quality time. Sigh.

Rainy days

There are two monsoon seasons in Singapore (according to Wikipedia), from December to March, and then from June to September. I guess we're still in the tail end of the first one, because it's been raining every day for the past week or so. It's really regular, too; it's sunny till about 5, and then it rains for about two hours before it stops again. I don't mind the rain, it cools things off, but it always starts when Mike is trying to leave work and it delays him a bit.

Today I woke up early and went to the Ministry (of Magic) to collect our employment passes. They look pretty much like a driver's license, bad pictures and all. From there, I walked over to the bank so they could make copies. Our account is all set up now! It's kind of nice, I feel like we're making progress towards actually settling down. I just wish we could get our apartment already; living out of a suitcase doesn't really make me feel at home. Comfort food to the rescue! Once I got all that stuff taken care of, I picked up a Coke Lite and some Cool Ranch Doritos and then made myself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I sprawled out on our bed and felt very pleased with myself.

So Asia has a different region code for DVD players, which sucks. For some reason the only discs we've able to play are Seinfeld. We wandered around Sim Lim last night, which is the giant seven story electronic mall, but we couldn't find any DVD players under $65. I am SO not paying that much when our old one was like $35. So instead, I did some snooping online and figured out the code that unlocks the DVD player at the hotel room. AHA! Success! I am even more pleased with myself now, and feel kind of like a bad ass. That's right...I'm technologically savvy. I called Mike at work and he was very impressed with my abilities. I believe his exact words were "I am so turned on right now."

As you can probably tell from reading this, I have done nothing exciting today. But it's raining, so I feel pretty justified snacking and watching Arrested Development. I saw a Toblerone at the store down the street and I've been thinking about it for a couple hours. It might be time to venture out. Anyway, sorry about the lameness of this post, but hey...they can't all be winners.

People here are so polite. I'm not sure if it's an Asian thing, or particular to just Singapore, but everyone is so well mannered, to a fault even. Instead of asking you to move, or saying "excuse me," they'll simply stand politely behind you while you block their way and wait for you to notice. It happens to me a lot, since I'm usually staring at a building or map and not paying attention to what's around me. Makes me feel like a real asshole. I also keep forgetting that the roads are the opposite here, which means when you're trying to avoid walking directly into someone, you have to break to the left, not the right. It's very frustrating and feels unnatural, and I'm terrible at remembering to do that. I'd like to extend an apology to all Singaporeans, I will most likely at some point either block your path or run into you, possibly a combination of the two.

I mentioned earlier how much I like riding the subway, since everyone puts in their earphones and relaxes. It's not like riding an Austin bus, no crazy people try to talk to you or cough in your direction or throw things at you and yell to themselves. My ride yesterday, however, was disrupted by a pair of tourists, who decided to have a fight in the middle of the train. Now, you'd think they'd notice that everyone here is pretty polite, not to mention QUIET on the subway, but apparently that was no deterrent. I'm just grateful they weren't American, because otherwise I might have had to interfere so our country wouldn't look bad. They were speaking in English, but their accents were European--German maybe, or possible eastern European. From I what I heard, the woman was pissed because her boyfriend had done something with the passports. Instead of talking about it, like normal adults do, she decided to march over to MY area of the train and stand with her back to him. Now, this would have been fine, but then the guy followed her and started things up again. The conversation was one sided, and went something like this:

Why aren't you talking to me?.............Why aren't you talking to me?.....................I have your phone. Take your phone............Why aren't you talking to me?..............Take your phone. Will you talk to me?.....................Take your phone.....................Why aren't you talking to me?

It went ON like this the whole ride back, till I wanted to grab that stupid pink phone he was holding and throw it off the train. I mean, who acts like this?! Who isn't a 15-year old?! No one, that's who. People were trying very hard to ignore them and look the other way, except of course for me. I glared at them as loudly as I could, but to no avail. I was very tempted to pull a Vincent Schiavelli from "Ghost" and yell GET OFF MY TRAIN! I know I'm not actually from Singapore, and I have no right to feel insulted, but since people here are too nice, I feel I should be offended on their behalf.

Anyway, after that little episode, we had a very lovely evening. We decided to go look around the rather lazily named Arab Street. Yes, it is exactly what it sounds like: a street full of Arabic shops and restaurants. It was similar to Little India, but with a lot less people and not so hectic. There were a lot of fabric shops on both sides, with really gorgeous patterns and decorations. If anyone needs fabric...for some weird reason...this is where I will go to get it. Then there were shops that had things like cloth bags and wall hangings and jewelry that were really beautiful. I want to get some of the wall hangings to decorate our place when we finally move. We walked by the Sultan Mosque, which is really huge and breathtaking. I forgot to bring the camera, but I found a picture of it online which I am stealing because it's exactly the view we had. (UPDATE: I have replaced said picture with one I actually took.)

We were accosted outside a Moroccan restaurant and told to "Eat here! Couscous!" so we said ok and sat outside on the patio. They brought us this freaking delicious mint jasmine tea in an antique looking silver tea kettle and little glass shot glasses to pour it into. We got too much food, as usual, but to be fair we didn't know that "couscous" meant a giant plate of it with vegetables and lamb. So we got that, and a mixed grill kebab, and some hummus. The hummus was served warm, which Mike did not like one bit, but it tasted fine to me. We had a great view of the mosque from our table, and we got to hear the call to evening prayer. It felt like we were in a totally different city, which is one of the really great things about Singapore. People here tend to stick to their own, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. They're very friendly and accepting of everyone, but being insular within their groups or religions creates these little pockets of different worlds throughout the city. Luckily, they really don't mind if you wander into their world for awhile.

Sentosa

So yesterday we were finally able to make it to the beach! If you've seen the pictures, and I think most of you have, you'll understand how totally floored we were. It's probably the most beautiful place I've ever been, and every picture looked like it could be a postcard. Greetings from exotic Singapore!

But backing up, we started our day with calorie rich kopi (that's the coffee with condensed milk) and some surprisingly light walnut bread from the bakery across the street. I put on THREE, count 'em, THREE layers of sunscreen and donned my swimsuit. We caught the bus to Harbour Front and got off at Sentosa station. There's a special train that takes you to Sentosa, since it's actually an island. They built a kind of monorail that goes above the bridge, and then it has three stops on the island. From the rail, you can see the giant lion statue that towers over Sentosa; Singapore was originally Singapura, which means lion city. The first stop takes you to Universal Studios, which I'd actually like to go to sometime, but only about half of it is open right now. Apparently there's a Battlestar Galactica roller coaster, which is pretty frakin' sweet.

We got off at the beach front, and proceeded to have our minds blown. It was still pretty early, so not a lot of people were there. To quote the Counting Crows, it's been so long since I've seen the ocean...I forgot how much I love it. The view was somewhat ruined by a small army of tankers out on the ocean, but Singapore is a port city, so there are always ships around. Basically, Sentosa is dotted with other little islands, which are close enough to swim to but mark the cut-off of where you can venture. I was wondering why there were buoys with ropes strung between the islands, so I asked Mike. "Shark nets," he said, with a gleam in his eye. I'm pretty sure Mike's greatest goal in life is to hunt and kill a great white shark. He's pretty annoyed they're endangered. This is what happens when you become obsessed with Jaws at a young age.

We walked around the beach for a mile or so, just admiring the views. Finally we found a nice shady palm tree, and once we hit the water we didn't come out for hours. It's so warm, and the little islands buffer the waves. We looked for shells, got freaked out by seaweed, and swam to some of the smaller and rockier islands and walked around.

This was definitely the most touristy place we've been. I don't mean that in a bad way, it in no way diminished how beautiful the beach was. We saw a ton of Europeans wearing Speedos, which I'll just never understand. There were a lot of people from Australia there; I think it's only about a 5 hour flight away, so a lot of them vacation here. But I haven't seen that many white people in awhile, it was a little disconcerting. Also, not to sound intolerant, but I think it would SUCK to be Muslim when you're at the beach. I saw at least three fully clothed women in head scarves sitting with their shirtless husbands. They looked hot and not pleased, but I might be projecting.

What is it about swimming that makes you so hungry? I don't know, but we were starving after a couple hours. What's cool about Sentosa is they have all these really nice food and bar areas set up. They look like you'd have to pay to get in, or be some sort of snooty club member. But you just walk over, and sit down at the restaurant you want, or you can order drinks from the lawn chairs and gazebos. Mike and I agreed that burgers are the quintessential beach food, so we ordered two and some beers. It was more expensive than the food in the city, but it was totally worth it. I don't know if it was the view, the beer, the sun, or just being so hungry but DAMN that was one of the best burgers I've ever had. Huge and juicy, with grilled onions, mushrooms, and barbeque sauce. (I realize this blog is becoming basically a food journal, but that's just what people do in Singapore. They eat. And I like to eat too.)

After we ate, we swam again for awhile and took more pictures. We decided to end the trip with a walk over a rope bridge to the smallest and most southern island. They have observation decks you can climb up to look out over the sea. Looking out there, and looking back at the island, was a surreal feeling. The beach backs up to pure JUNGLE, and I mean screeching bugs, howler monkeys, and insane plants jungle. Just looking at this giant wall of trees and vines made me want to grab a machete and go exploring. I think it took looking at that jungle to realize how far away we are. Since Singapore is so westernized, it's easy to forget that we're not in Kansas anymore. The island has a sign that reads "The Southern Most Point of Continental Asia." It struck me that this is the farthest from home I've ever been, and probably every will be. It's a bittersweet feeling; exhilarating, but also a little lonely.

We rode the subway home, sunburned, very tired, and still slightly wet. We got home and showered all the sand off, still kind of in a daze. Aloe is really expensive here, I think because it doesn't grow in the tropics. I caved and got a bottle of it ($11!) since I think that's something we'll be needing in the future. We tried to do some laundry, but that's a story for another day...

Finally, the weekend! It was great to get to spend the whole day with Mike, I missed him a lot while he was at work during the week. We woke up pretty early because we had to go get our immigration cards from the Ministry of Manpower. Or as I liked to call it, the Ministry of Magic! We need to see Cornelius Fudge! And I am a nerd...

Our appointment was for 10, so we left early because we didn't know exactly how to get there. We wandered around for a few minutes looking for the Dhoby Ghaut subway station. Here's the thing: people here are so nice, like ridiculously nice. We saw a woman getting dropped off by her husband, and we asked them for directions. They told us where to go, and we started walking. A second later, the husband drove up and opened the door to his car and motioned for us to get in. He didn't want any money or anything, he just drove us to the subway station and told us about the area we're staying in. I don't know if it's because most people here are Buddhist and believe in karma, but I've never been in a city where everyone is so willing to go out of their way to help. I know that if I were in Austin, the odds of me picking up a lost Chinese couple downtown and driving them to a bus stop are slim to none. But at the risk of sounding corny, I'm actually quite inspired to be kinder to my fellow man. It really can make someone's day a lot better. I know we would have been pretty screwed, cause that station was in the middle of fucking nowhere.

So I was immediately called upon to put my "pay it forward" plan into action, if I can steal a phrase from a shitty, shitty movie. In the subway station, a fellow lost white person asked me how to get to the airport, so I told him to take the Joo Koon line and get off at the Taneh Mareh interchange. Mike helpfully pointed out that this in no way measures up to driving someone around, but I ignored him and felt very smug. Besides, hey, someone asked me for directions! And I gave him the right ones! Not only was I mistaken for a real Singaporean, I'm learning my way around. I've discovered that, however incongruous to my personality it may seem, I'm actually quite good with directions. Who knew? I found a shorter way for Mike to walk to work, and I got us to the Ministry pretty quickly. I'm officially in charge of the maps now. It's a heady feeling.

So after the Ministry (of MAGIC!!) we went to open up a bank account at United Overseas Bank. This is not interesting, it's just like opening a bank account in America, except they have more rules.

Anyway, after that we went back home to rest for awhile and cool off. Then we decided to head over to Little India, since it's quite close to us and I've been wanting to explore it. Basically, Little India is awesome. There are shops everywhere, selling $5 pairs of jeans, bangles, Bollywood CDs and DVDs, flower garlands, spices, calling cards, and pretty much anything one can think of. The whole place smells amazing, and people everywhere yell at you to buy things. From what I've heard from Adrian and Laura, this place is a fair representation of India India. They have the most insanely beautiful temples with tons of carvings of all different colors. I have no idea how long those took to make, but it was worth it. The Sri Veerama Kaliamman temple is the most famous one, dedicated to the goddess Kali. We tried to take as many pictures as we could, but it's so big it was hard to get the whole thing (that'swhatshesaid). We also stopped into Tekka Market, which is a big wet market on the corner. The first floor is a hawker court, but it also functions as a butcher shop. There was a big fish market, and then lots of little stands where people were chopping up meat on wooden blocks with giant cleavers. It was wet and slippery and Mike got a speck of meat flung on his face. The second floor is just all clothes and jewelry, rows and rows of saris and suits and walls of bangles. We took a picture of some of the jewelry and then a man came over and demanded $100 for the picture. He finally said he was joking, but it really wasn't that funny.

We got hungry, so we decided to try a place we saw Andrew Zimmern go on the Travel Channel. It's called Banana Leaf Apollo, which, granted, sounds more like a bad band name than a restaurant. Thank you, we are Banana Leaf Apollo, we have CDs for sale by the bar! But it's really popular and well known, judging from the amount of tourists we saw eating inside. They give you a big banana leaf to eat on instead of a plate, which seems very eco-friendly to me, not to mention a way to avoid doing dishes. We got aloo gobi, palak paneer, and yellow dahl with garlic naan. It was really yummy, and the aloo gobi was seriously good. But Mike got really mad because when I went to wash my hands, an Indian guy came up and tried to make him go to his store. He kept calling Mike "big boy" and saying he could make a really big shirt for him to wear. Now, I tried to explain to Mike that yes, he IS big, but not in a fat way, just in a tall, broad, and not Asian way. He didn't really listen, but he did go on a rather hilarious rant about the guy. "Sure, come to my store, I've got a TON of fabric to cover your HUGE FAT body, GOD you're so BIG, what the fuck is WRONG with you, are you a giant?" Then we had to haul ass out the restaurant so he wouldn't stop us again.

Anyway, a pretty full day. We were supposed to go look at apartments tonight, but our agent is taking us Monday instead, since more places are open during the week. Hopefully we can find something we like and start moving in soon.

I found the supermarket! There's one at Bugis Junction, which is the big subway station we go to a lot. They have pretty much everything an American supermarket would have, from Special K Red Berries to tupperware and Clorox. Once we have our own place, we can do a lot more cooking (and baking). It's nice to know we can have pasta or quesadillas anytime we feel like it. But food is so cheap here, we can still eat out a lot and not feel guilty.

Tomorrow we're planning a trip to the beach! Yes, I will wear sunscreen and take an umbrella like a loser. Hopefully it won't rain! Will write again soon...

Look, Mike fell asleep last night with the remote control in his hand and his glasses on! Let's hope he's not mad I took pictures...

Just have to share a quick note. We went to Kopitiam, which is the hawker food court we like, and got pineapple fried rice. It came with a soup, some sort of spicy tomato crab thing, and a salad of what tasted like apple but was not apple covered in crushed peanuts. The pineapple fried rice was good, but for some reason it smelled exactly like pancakes with maple syrup. It was very odd.

BUT, I had to write this down: Mike asked if I wanted ice cream, and duh, I always want ice cream. However, what he brought back to the table was decidedly NOT ice cream. Not by a long shot. Now I don't know what compelled him to go so far off menu, but in the future I will be the one ordering. I wish I had the camera, because this clusterfuck of a dessert looked insane. Basically, they start with shaved ice, then pour cream and some tea colored syrup over it. Then they top it off with BEANS, some sort of dark red jell-o cubes that look like congealed blood, and some type of electric green jellies that look like eels. The eels don't taste like anything and yet somehow still manage to taste bad. The whole thing is called an ice kacang, and I don't think I will be repeating that experience. If you google it, you can see what I'm talking about. (The picture above is not actually the one we ate, but a fair representation.) I'm pretty sure it's a joke they play on the newcomers, or else something from the fevered imagination of a chef long off his meds. It's like someone let Salvador Dali concoct a dessert. I'm pretty sure the logic behind it is, hey, why the fuck not? Anyway, whatever the case, it was just plain wrong.

Oh, also, there's a Church's Chicken here. But as you can see, it's called something else...

So I think we found our new favorite hawker stand. It's just around the corner, and not only is it very clean, it's also air conditioned! Hurray! For some reason, everyone here likes hot noodle soup, but eating it outside in the heat just seems masochistic to me. Mike got some spicy pho, and I got some Indian food. The guy made the dosai right in front of me, he rolled it out and slapped it on the grill and then folded it up and put it on a big silver plate. It was pretty cool.

Yesterday, we decided to try something a little different and went to Lenas, which is an Italian restaurant. We had some parmesan cheese fries and a pepperoni pizza, which tasted amazing. I haven't had cheese in so so long, I forgot how...cheesy...it is. We had some beers, yum, and we decided to go see Kick-Ass, which came out here early. The movie theater was super cold and it felt amazing. All in all, a very nice night.

Some notes on Singapore:

The national beer here is Tiger beer, which is kind of like Lone Star or Budweiser. That is to say, light and cheap.

The money system is pretty much the same, the currency is the Singapore dollar. They have one dollar coins instead of bills, but they do have 2 dollar bills. Also, they don't use pennies, which I think is brilliant, because let's face it, pennies are stupid and a waste of copper.

Mike tried to go to the bathroom in his building, and discovered that the toilets are pretty much just a hole in the ground. Yikes. It's the same at the Expo station where we get off the train. Luckily, they usually have one real toilet for those of us who aren't quite used to squatting.

I've discovered that I really like riding the subway. It's cool, smooth, and relaxing. I was riding yesterday and a little boy in a karate uniform kept staring at me and running around and poking his mother to impress me. It was quite adorable. But usually I just put on my ipod and enjoy the ride. I really don't miss having a car too much, this is such a public transportation friendly city.

I went to meet Mike for lunch today, and I finally got to meet some of his coworkers. There's Eric from the Philippines, who I sat next to and was really nice and into comic books. I promised to let him borrow Kick-Ass on Monday. And Marco is from Sweden, but he unfortunately ruins the stereotype by having dark hair. All the guys seemed really friendly and nerdy, so I'm sure we'll all get along famously.

I was exploring Bugis Junction, which is the big subway station where we get on, and I found a mochi ball creamery! I think I made most of you try the mochi balls I got slightly obsessed with before we left. These ones are much bigger than the Central Market ones, so I may have to treat myself to them when I get off the subway. I would have gotten one today, but Mike and I got ice cream after lunch. We got thick slices of sweet corn and red bean, which they put between two wafers. And only $1! That, you have to admit, is an awesome deal.

Tonight the plan is to go back to our new favorite hawker stand, and then pick up some Tiger Beer and relax. We have to go to the Singapore Ministry tomorrow morning to get our immigration papers in order, but hopefully it won't take too long. After that, more exploring! And I am making it my personal mission to go to Sentosa beach this weekend. So I'll take some pictures so everyone can see what it looks like and be jealous.

Love to all!

First days

So we've been in Singapore for 5 days now, so it seems like a good time to look back and get reflective. Or at least, you know, describe what we've been doing.

So the night before we left, everyone came over for one last goodbye. We uncorked about 6 bottles of wine and had at it. Mike was smart and didn't drink and went to bed early. Adrian made Leah cry by insisting this was the last time they'd say goodnight to Mike. Everyone left, one by one, till it was finally just me and Hillary. I opened my goodbye book and read everything you guys had written in it. Suffice to say, I was touched and had a bit of a meltdown. Hillary left at around 2:30 in the morning, but I couldn't fall asleep. So I put on the TV and laid on the floor for awhile. Which is where Mike found me around 5. Apparently he asked why I was on the floor, and I said "there may be many reasons." I have no memory of this.

We got to the Austin airport at around 11, with mom, dad, Laura, and Adrian in tow. I tried not to cry, and I think I actually succeeded pretty well. I'm sure mom cried enough for the both of us. We finally parted and we went to stand in line at security. No one left until we were entirely through the line. Also, they were loud and kept waving at us. So thanks for that.

So the flight to Houston was terrible. There were no TVs or anything, and it was super crowded. Luckily it only took like 30 minutes to get there. Then we had to wait another 2 hours for our flight to Moscow. The plane was huge, but Mike and I got stuck on separate sides of the aisle. You'd think 35c and 35d would be next to each other but NO. No they are not. Luckily the plane was pretty empty and we got to move to an empty row behind.

So apparently I can't sleep on airplanes. I didn't know this about myself, but there it is. It's simply not a talent I possess. So instead I read Neverwhere by Neil Gamon, which I highly recommend, and watched Fantastic Mr. Fox, which I also highly recommend. We finally landed in Moscow, and I was so damn happy to get off that plane, even though the Moscow airport is really hot and smells like smoke. Also, Russian people are extremely pale and loud.

The flight to Singapore SUCKED. I cannot stress this enough. The plane was full, so we didn't get to sit next to each other, and the person in front of me kept farting. The longest 12 hours of my life. I practically ran off the plane when it landed. Luckily we had a driver waiting for us and we could leave right away. He drove us to our hotel and we crashed for half the day.

First impressions:

We woke up and decided to go exploring. It was around 3 in the afternoon on Saturday, and everyone was swarming the streets. The heat and humidity are pretty intense, and we started sweating right away. That part is going to take some getting used to. We went into a giant mall that had seven stories, one of which was filled with video and arcade games. We found our first hawker center, which is a huge food court filled with stalls of cheap, delicious street food. We got some chicken and rice, mostly because I saw Anthony Bourdain eat it when he was in Singapore. It's basically just boiled chicken over rice, but then they give you hot sauce to put on top, and bok choy in soy sauce with crispy bits of fried fish. We also got fresh fruit juices that were delicious. I got mango and pineapple, Mike got passion fruit and orange. Mine was totally better.

We crashed pretty early that night, and woke up around 4 the next morning. We're still trying to get the schedules down. We got coffee from this 24 hour bakery next to our hotel room, where they brew it fresh and then put sweetened condensed milk it in. It is so freaking good, I don't think I can go back to cream and sugar. We took the subway for the first time, which is exceedingly clean and fast. We went to try and find Mike's work building, but we got lost somewhere along the way and spent two hours wandering the streets of the Changi district. I got horrifically sunburned and we both got dehydrated. But at least the scenery was pretty. We went to a Korean place and got some real ramen, with some much needed salt. Everything we've eaten here has been good, even the weird ice cream sandwiches that use actual bread.

Mike started his job on Monday, so I've been mostly staying in and waiting for my sunburn to heal. I went to go eat lunch with him yesterday, and his building has a big food court on the bottom floor. Since I'm not going to be working for awhile, I think I'll start meeting him for lunch a few days a week.

Yesterday we went to get our little netbook at Sim Lim square, which is a mall full of nothing but electronics. Picture Best Buy, but 5 stories high and packed wall to wall. I was slightly overwhelmed and pretty sure I was going to break something. But we came away with a cute LG netbook, which I am using to write this very blog.

Things are sort of blurring together in my head. There's so much to look at and so much to do, I can't seem to remember everything. I think I need to take more pictures, so at least I'll have definitive proof that we did this.

I miss everybody a lot, but I know I'm going to like it here.

Next stop, Little India! I'll write again soon.