Introducing my new travel buddy

Look who got upgraded... oh the perks of platinum!

In the last 15 months out here, we’ve assembled somewhat of a routine whenever Nick travels west, which has been fairly frequently until recently. Regardless of his ultimate destination, he always leaves on the 7pm flight to Manila. So ahead of that, I always prepare a hearty non-Asian themed meal (usually Mexican since chances are he won’t eat that in Sri Lanka), which we eat around 4:30 so we can be heading to the airport just after 5. Then I make the hour-long roundtrip to drop him off at the airport, and return home to a quiet, empty house with a kitchen full of dishes from the dinner we just ate together and a week or so by myself on Guam. Laaaaame!

Last Monday, the most amazing thing happened. We ate our 4:30 meatloaf and got in the car to head to the airport, like always. But this time, instead of driving home to an empty house, I too got out of the car, luggage in hand, and headed with Nick into the terminal. For once I got an opportunity to travel with him on one of his work trips. The destination wasn’t so important to me, but the fact that it was to somewhere awesome like Singapore was an added bonus!

The diverse people of Singapore (?)

It’s hard to believe that the country of Singapore is roughly the same size as Guam, yet boasts about 5 million people. The island is entirely urban sprawl and has to be one of the most diverse places on the planet. The train cars, city streets, and shopping malls are full of people from all over Asia and the Middle East. Unlike Japan or Korea, where you can narrow in on the facial features that make someone Japanese vs. Korean, everyone here just looks… brown... Asian. Singapore is essentially the southern tip of the Malaysian peninsula but also butts up to Indonesia (a 45-minute ferry ride to the south). The hotel where we stayed was actually only 950m to Malaysia (we contemplated going there for lunch on our last day but instead chose to sleep in and work out… boring, right?).

I must back up a bit… because before we got to Singapore we had an overnight stopover in Manila, which wouldn’t be much to speak of except that my friends there who helped coordinate our mission trip over the summer came to our hotel to meet us! It was great to catch up with Sean and Deling, especially since we may have some other service trips to the orphanage in the works for the future, and nothing quite beats meeting in person to catch up.

Wednesday, my first day in Singapore, I headed into the city by myself using the extremely efficient and easy train system. The forecast for rain was seconded by the heavy clouds, so I opted for an easy first day of shopping. If there’s one thing Singapore knows how to do, it’s shopping malls. There were malls absolutely everywhere… at every train station, every attraction. And then there was Orchard Road, a main city street lined with mall after massive mall, all connected through underground tunnels and overpass walkways, so you never needed to step foot outside! I spent about four hours wandering from shop to fabulous shop, many of them places (like Bershka and Stradivarius) I had not set foot in since studying abroad in Spain in 2003.

And of course, there was Zara, though the fall/winter lines struck again, making it hard to find something I could possibly wear in eternal summer once I get back home. In fact, I had very little to show for myself after four hours of shopping, but I nevertheless enjoyed having an entire day to browse aimlessly in shopping heaven. I've now been to Zaras in 8 different countries in 12 months! That's not obsessive...

Shopping shopping everywhere! Perfect for a rainy day.

One of the signature byproducts of Singapore’s cultural diversity is its incredible selection of foods from all over Asia. There are good restaurants, for sure, but even more than that, Singapore is known for its great food courts, food stalls, and what are known as hawker centers, where food vendors line the sides of a building and the choices are seemingly endless... and cheap! In my first few minutes wandering a mall, I ran into this place. It was only 11 a.m. and I wasn’t even hungry, but this fabulous display before my eyes just had to be consumed. I could have eaten every meal here for a week if give the chance. This plate amounted to about $3.50 U.S. and it was delish.

That afternoon as I was walking “home” to meet Nick (side note: we stayed in a 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom suite near his conference... this place was bigger than our house in Guam!), I was taken aback by a rustle in the trees from which a monkey emerged on the road in front of me… and started heading steadily towards me, only stopping when he was about four feet away. I was pretty surprised and not quite sure what to do. So naturally, I took out my camera. And every time I’d raise it up to take a picture, Mr. Monkey would take a few steps back. Pretty sure he wanted the pineapple in my bag. And so did his friends. Which is why I started walking a little faster when EIGHT more monkeys jumped out the tree and started to follow me home. Luckily it was trash day, so they got distracted by the trash cans lining the side of the road, tipping each one of them over looking for goodies. Apparently it’s a $5,000 fine to feed the monkeys. Glad I had a hunch not to!

That night for dinner, we walked to a nearby food court (at a mall by the train station). We got our fill of Asian food favorites and also tried a few new things. Nick had his eye on this Filipino man’s desert, so he went to sneak a bite. Just kidding! That’s Sal, the guy from Nick’s command who also came for the conference. He had a knack for ordering the craziest stuff, and this dessert called “ice kachang” was no exception. Each colorful syrup is flavored, but also tastes like corn. And there are corn pieces atop the shaved ice. And at the bottom of the whole dessert is a super secret surprise… beans! No really, beans. All week long, we found ourselves trying crazy foods (jack fruit chips, durian pancakes) and drinks (sour plum & lime juice, aloe vera water). For every good find, there was a serious disappointment, but win or lose, it was fun to try such distinctly new flavors. 

Ice kachang gets a close up... so you can see the corn... 

the beans are hiding... you can't make this stuff up!

Aloe vera water... this was labeled simply as "Healthy drink" on the menu.

Street vendor making me a durian pancake.

Durian are spiky tangy fruit that grow on trees all over the region.

Colorful Singapore

Day 2, the sun was out, so I trekked back to the trains (via bike… I felt like such a local!) heading to Chinatown for more shopping and eating. My day started with a walk along the Singapore River then wrapped around past several, you got it, shopping malls. I must say, Singapore really takes care in its presentation of buildings and public spaces. 

Singapore's Chinatown 

Once I got to Chinatown, I found myself in one of the cleanest and nicest outdoor markets I’ve been to in Asia. The people weren’t too pushy, there wasn’t a lot of trash on the ground, and there was a good mix of things to buy. And yet I still bought nothing! Okay, so, jaded traveler that I am, all of the Asian markets are starting to look the same (I saw some of the EXACT same clothes here as the Bangkok market). The shopping got to the point where there was so much stuff I could buy, I found myself not wanting any of it. Total backfire. On the other hand, gotta appreciate knowing I have everything I need. And that certainly does not include more junk made in China.

That evening, I met back up with Nick to take him into the city (we were staying on the north end of the island, away from all the action, though convenient to his conference). We started out at the classic Singapore tourist stop, the Raffles Hotel. This is essentially the Hotel Del Coronado of Singapore... iconic, historic, gorgeous. We took our picture and went about our merry way in search of food.

 

 Definitely not in Guam anymore

My favorite travel buddy! (Sorry Jen...)

Tired of the food court scene, we went off in search of a sit-down restaurant that served something that did not come with rice. As we walked down the street (past another dozen shopping malls), I was reminded why I love traveling with Nick. Oh the randomness! It dawned on me that we hadn't traveled together since way back in April when we went to Australia. All these trips we've been taking have been apart. And they're fun, always great to see new places (and I've been lucky to have some awesome travel buddies), but still nothing replaces going to interesting places and trying new things with your number one. I felt extra grateful all week to be here experiencing this place with Nick instead of him reading about it here after the fact.

After harassing more Singapore artsy structures, we found ourselves at another shopping mall (shocking) and asked the concierge if there was a restaurant where we could get meat (surely she gets asked that constantly?). She directed us to an Australian chain called Hippopotamus, where we got rack of lamb (delish!), and I ordered the signature drink, the Singapore Sling (invented at the Raffles Hotel), which my guide book likened to cough syrup, though it was much better than that. About the time our appetizer arrived, I suddenly realized, "Holy crap! We are on a date!" Yes, people, it's been a while. Guam's logistics don't favor going out to eat, certainly not just the two of us, just because. Here we had to come all the way to Singapore to go out on a date. Well worth the trip! And I still have some more trip to go (writing this from the Manila airport), so I'm going to post and head back to Guam, and I'll fill you in on the rest when I get home. Cheers!