Back Inaction

So we're in the second monsoon season in Singapore, which is roughly from June to September. It doesn't rain all day, but it has been fairly more consistent. This morning I heard Mike's alarm go off, and it was so dark outside I thought it was still the middle of the night. Luckily I got to go back to sleep for a few more hours, but it was still pretty gross outside when I finally dragged myself out of bed. I like rainy days like this, when you can curl up with a book and a cup of tea and you have to turn the lights on because it's so overcast outside. Plus, the rain helps cut the heat a little, if not the humidity.

Since we're finally feeling healthy again, we got to do all the stuff we wanted to do this weekend. We met our friends Neil and Elaine at a food court in Bugis and Mike and I got Indonesian food: curry chicken with lime rice and egg on a banana leaf. I've never had lime rice before, it was really delicious and slightly green; unfortunately, I think it may have ruined normal rice for me now, because white rice will never be as interesting to me.

Next we went to Bras Basah again to look at books, because hey, you can never have too many books. I really like that complex, because unlike the rest of Singapore, it's a little dirty and old looking. I happen to like that look, I've always found the best used book stores to be a little sketchy and run down. Like maybe you could trade a pint of clean urine for a couple hardcovers. It makes it feel that much more authentic. Mike found a piece of wooden board on his way to work that he wants to paint on, so we also wanted to stop by the art store to look around.

However, before we went, we got a little sidetracked. When we got off at the City Hall station and started walking, turns out we couldn't get far because the whole street was filled with tanks. A passerby told us they were practicing for the National Day Parade, even though it's a few weeks away. Singapore's Independence Day is August 9th, commemorating their separation from Malaysia in 1965. The more you know! Apparently there are fireworks, tanks, and floats, which all sounds pretty cool. However, as Mike pointed out, it probably also includes thousands of people crammed into one block party, so we're not sure if we're up to going yet. But we got some excellent shots of the tanks, including one where you can see a girl soldier texting. Now, I don't want to tell people how to act, but it makes me a little nervous when someone riding in a working tank is not giving it their full attention.

We finally got to Bras Basah, and I found four books I wanted to get, but only got two this time because they were getting kind of heavy. I hid the other ones, so hopefully when I go back no one will have pilfered them. Mike decided to get watercolors instead of paint, so the garbage board gets to stay in our spare room a little longer. Goody.

Sunday we went to get brunch, Singapore style: dumplings! We went to a restaurant that makes all kinds of fresh dumplings. It's a huge operation judging by the amount of chefs. The kitchen is behind a large pane of glass, so you can watch them make the dough, roll it out, and stuff it. They have a certain number of folds they have to put into each dumpling, and it has to be the exact same amount on each individual one. It looks absolutely mind numbing, but also something I would totally want to try and learn. We ordered SO much food, somehow we always end up ordering at least three times the amount of all the other customers. Whatever, we're bigger, we need more sustenance. We got pork, shrimp, spicy crab, and spinach dumplings, plus chili wantons and pork buns. I still think it's probably healthier than an American brunch, since no gravy was included

The same can't be said of our dinner tonight; for some reason, Mike and I were both starving when he got off work, so we finally caved and went to Carl's Jr. It was everything I remember from my childhood and more. We both got Western Bacon Cheeseburgers, though Mike got the "thick" variety and I got the regular. We got slightly food drunk and started laughing, and Mike announced with his mouth full of burger that he had never been prouder of America. USA! USA!

On a final note, I've decided I'm going to start referring to Mike and myself as "Texpats" because I think it's hilarious and clever.