Singapore

People say that there isn't much to do in Singapore except for shopping and restaurants, and I kind of agree with them! I spent 5 full days in Singapore, and I think that I could have done it in two days. Before visiting I researched the top things to do in Singapore, and I did everything on my list within about a day. However, the shopping is world class: Singapore has every Western store imaginable, from all over the world! Also, Singapore is a haven for celebrity chef restaurants, including Wolfgang Puck and Daniel Boulud, to name a few. I stayed with a friend I met in Bangkok, Brayno, who ironically went to Cornell, too, but I never knew him in Ithaca! He works at Sofitel Hotels in their SE Asia branch. Even though I stayed with a friend, Singapore was outrageously expensive. A plain old gin & tonic? $18 Singapore Dollars (about $14 US)...on top of the $30 to $100 cover to simply get into lounges and clubs.

The weather in Singapore felt a lot like Florida, to me. Very humid, and a rain shower every day (one of which I got caught and SOAKED in at the Singapore Botanic Gardens).

Having just come from Hong Kong, which I LOVED, I found Singapore to lack culture. There are 5 million residents, but only 3 million of them are native Singaporeans. Besides English, the main languages spoken are Chinese, Indian (Hindi?), and Malay. The city is impeccably clean, thanks to many laws. Some of Singapore's "unique" laws:

- No possessing or chewing gum (It's true...go to any 7/11 and you'll find tons of breath mints and candy, but NO chewing gum)
- No Spitting
-No littering
-No not-flushing the toilet after use (bummer, my favorite party trick!)
- There is also a mandatory Death Penalty for narcotics offenses
- Mandatory Caning for vandalism offenses
- Some very weird laws regarding public displays of affection, including no kissing in public if you're a gay man (can you believe that?!)

Believe it or not, the least safe I've ever felt in the past almost 7 months was in Singapore. Brayno and I went for a drink at the top of the Marina Bay Sands- famed for its infinity pool (truly unbelievable, I'll give it that!) This man at the bar was aggressively staring at me, and Brayno noticed too, so we left. He FOLLOWED us into the elevator down 57 flights of stairs, without saying a word. When we escaped the elevator, this creep mouths to me "I love you," and walks away. Brayno and I walked in the opposite direction, for a good half mile, only to look back and notice that he had been following us. We both were REALLY REALLY SCARED. We ducked into Cartier (haha) because there was a huge bodyguard in there. The whole way home, and even back at Brayno's condo, we were still concerned he was following us.

However, the highlight of my trip was getting to see an old friend, Eveline, who I used to babysit for in Wilmette! It had been 5 years since I'd seen her, and I had babysat her kids in Switzerland one summer back in high school. Small, small world. We realized that we were both going to Singapore during overlapping dates via Facebook. We met at her friend, Maria's apartment, for a ladies lunch :) That night, we all went to a club too, and it was a high end club with tons of business men and beautiful young Vietnamese prostitutes. How many times can you say you spent the night dancing away with Vietnamese prostitutes?! Very interesting to observe, and VERY different than Bangkok's trashy red light districts.

On my last night, Brayno and I went to the "Night Safari." At first we weren't that impressed, but we rode the tour twice, which meant that I got to see a hippopotamus and a rhinoceros twice! The rhinoceros looked like a dinosaur! Then we went out for ice cream on the way home at McDonald's, and Brayno saw a really cute girl- who was with her family, but he really liked her and wanted to ask her out somehow. I played Wing Woman, and we decided he should buy her an ice cream. He went over and handed her the ice cream and started talking to her, and then I joined in so it wasn't creepy haha. Her whole family thought it was adorable. It turns out that they are from the Philippines, so I might meet up with them again if I travel there in October or November! This is my favorite part of traveling- meeting really cool people from all over the world!

At the airport, security took away my manicure scissors AND my contact solution- which is considered a prescription. I will never forgive them for this! I am glad that I saw and experienced Singapore for myself, but I do not think I will be back any time soon. I took some nice pictures though...enjoy!

Standing in front of the Singapore Opera House

Me in front of Singapore's downtown financial center

Brayno

A FLOATING Louis Vuitton store in front of the Marina Bay Sands.

 Ridiculous.

The infinity pool on the 57th floor of the Marina Bay Sands

Ridiculous

The Singapore Flyer (back)

Sushi on a conveyor belt! Brilliant

The Ritz Carleton. No, I did not stay here, but they have

an incredible art collection (free!) that I read about.

Andy Warhol painting, casually hanging in the corner!

Brayno and I next to the "leaning Communists"

sculpture in front of the Ritz

Ladies brunch at Maria's house

(I used to babysit for Eveline- long blue dress, in Wilmette!)

Beautiful apartment

Beautiful table

From left: Maria, Me, Connie, Eveline

Eveline! Who would have thought that we would reunite in 

Singapore five years down the road?!

Eveline brought me a SWISS CHOCOLATE Easter bunny!

Marina Bay Sands, Singapore

Downtown Singapore at night

The Singapore Flyer and the Double Helix Bridge

Eating our Korean Kraze Burgers (Korean chain)

at the Marina Bay Sands

I wish this photograph was clearer. Scariest sculpture

I've ever seen. How'd you like to have this in your living room?

Night Safari!

McDonald's has swirly-flavors for their

standard cones in Singapore! Sigh...

Trying Singapore's "sea shake" french fries!

I like to see what new foods McDonald's carries

when I visit a new country.

It's not sad.

Verdict: Regular fries are the best!

HONG KONG!!!

Hong Kong was an absolutely amazing trip. I traveled there last week with my friend who I met in Pattaya a few months back, Andrea. Andrea used to babysit for a family who moved to Hong Kong, and they invited her and a friend (me!) to stay at their beautiful apartment in Kennedy Town for free in exchange for cat sitting. (Sounds like a good deal to me!) After a slight hiccup of arriving at the Hong Kong airport and not being able to find the driver they sent to pick us up for several hours (a very nice Hong Konger at the airport lent us his computer), we eventually found him and made it to the apartment. The family whose apartment we stayed at left us a detailed list of their "Top Things to Do," a detailed map of the area, their guide books, pre-loaded Octopus cards (cards used for all public transportation), and a list of their friends and their phone numbers in the area in case we needed help. I can't think of anything more awesome than the way they hooked us up...I want to do that for someone else someday!

As with every new place I visit, I love going to the grocery store. It was really interesting to see what "authentic" Chinese food they had, and products that were carried in Hong Kong that I couldn't find in Bangkok (like my favorite Salt and Vinegar chips!) Although, my first real meal was a delicious bowl of Wonton soup from a local shop. I really wanted an egg roll, but there were no pictures and I couldn't describe it to them in Cantonese. Bummer. It was pretty surreal to not be able to communicate or understand what was being spoken...I felt handicapped to an extent! Reminds me of my first few weeks in Thailand :)

Andrea and I ended up calling one of the friends on the list of names and numbers we were left (Jimmy and Angie) for advice about using the buses. Jimmy and Angie actually ended up hanging out with us all week, and they even came over with a computer for us to borrow, as well as a HK cell phone. Also a huge coincidence: My friend, Danny, from high school (and the NBC Show "The Sing Off") was randomly in HK performing with his acapella group. Danny ALSO knows Andrea from summercamp. Andrea and I only met each other a few months ago. Small world much?! We all hung out all week together!!! It really felt like we had a little life in Hong Kong :)

Hong Kong is a very interesting place because it was a British colony until 1997 (still kind of hard for me to believe!) Some of their coins still have Queen Elizabeth's face on them! I talked with a lot of Hong Kong natives, and they pretty much all agreed that they consider themselves Chinese but they "would never" say they are from China. The only negative experience I really had in Hong Kong was that so so many people cut lines and budged...especially at amusement parks. In the West, people would throw a fit if they waited in line and people just cut right to the front. A few people got very angry, but most just let it happen. It might be the norm in HK, but it brings about some interesting questions about cultural differences. Do you think that it's universally rude to blatantly cut lines? Or, are we imposing our "Western" views of what's rude/ not rude onto an Eastern culture where it might be acceptable?

Some of the highlights of Hong Kong were:
- riding the Star Ferry to Kowloon to see Danny's performance
- Watching the Sound and Light show from Kowloon
- seeing the amazing view of the harbour from Victoria Peak
- spending an entire afternoon riding in a double decker tram around the city
- buying a historically accurate Chinese chess set from the Temple Street Market
-OCEAN PARK!!! (with Andrea, Danny, and his friend/ groupmate Kieran)
- taking a ferry to see the outlying island of Cheung Chau (and going to a proper tea tasting there!)
- drinking champagne with Andrea and our new friend Victoria (lives in HK- met at Danny's performance!) on the rooftop of IFC
- Pizza and pasta dinner at Isola overlooking the city (I still love Western food...)
- Going out every night with all of our friends :) to Long Kai Fong (LKF) Just an fyi, you can drink on the street in HK, and LKF is made up of little windy, ramp-like streets...everyone buys beer at 7/11 and drinks and dances together on the street. Such an amazing nightlife
- Going to a Snake Dinner with Jimmy and the boys
- Meeting another old high school friend, Elizabeth, and exploring the Sham Shui Po area and then going out for a proper Dim Sum meal (waiters push carts and you choose what you want from the cart!)...
- Eating chicken feet!!!
- Exploring the Goldfish Market in Mong Kok
- Exploring the Yuen Po Bird Garden and listening to the famed songbirds
- Dialogue in the Dark (This is the COOLEST THING EVER. It's #1 on Trip Advisor when I was researching top things to do in HK. It's a simulated tour where they've created an environment where you are actually blind, they hand you a blind person's cane, and the tour is guided by a blind person. Can't give away much else in case you go, but it was incredible.)
- Staying out until 715am on our last night, going straight from the club to breakfast Dim Sum, and then making an 1125am flight to SINGAPORE!

A post on Singapore is coming next :) Today I am back in Bangkok, and ready for the Thai New Year, "Songkran." Did someone say National 3 day water fight?! Enjoy the pics.

Is it sad that this is the first picture I took in Hong Kong?

How pretty is that "imported from America" American flag beneath the chips?!

Andrea and I exploring Tsim Tsa Tsui Promenade

The Yellow Jackets rocked it at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre on Kowloon

Andrea was called on stage (I was jealous that Danny picked her and not me!!), 

but then she had to sing hahaha

Sound and Light show on the harbour!

such a pretty city :)

Andrea and I at the top of Victoria Peak

Andrea, Victoria, Danny and me!

"Urinal for Kid"

Hong Kong at night

Pregaming at a bar that served jello shots from syringes!

Drinking our very expensive draft beer 

Pardais- the crazy cat we looked after, sleeping on our bed.

Notice the view from the apartment- that's the South China Sea!!

Wet Market 

(aka would be illegal due to sanitation issues in the states)

Emily is happy at a Chinese bakery!

Step 1: Get a tray and tongs

Step 2: Put lots of pastries on your tray!

Hong Kong

(that car on the left is a taxi- all cabs in Hong Kong look like this)

Lunch time in Hong Kong! 

Do you see the trams?

Ocean Park, Hong Kong

Andrea and I in front of the cable cars 

I have been WAITING to ride :)

Kieran and I with a Panda Bear napping in the background!

Red Pandas are underrated

Watching a Panda Bear eat bamboo in Hong Kong. 

YES.

Danny and Kieran in the cable car

View from our cable car!

View from our cable car

South America? 

Nope, Hong Kong, BABY!

Sorry there are so many cable car pictures...this was the one

thing that I NEEDED to do in HK. Do you see the roller coasters at the 

end of the island?

Ocean Park

Group shot! 

Kieran told us that he has "really sensitive eyes" haha

Another view from our cable car.

And yes, it was as fun and beautiful as it looks!

Rollaaacoastaaaa

Cable car ride back to the other side of the park

View of Ocean Park

Cheung Chau Island...definitely different than HK proper!!!

Chinese dessert!

Cocnut milk with mango and "peanut ball ice-cream"

Very delicious and kind of looks like a smiley face :)

Andrea and me with all of the boats

Tea tasting!

I love how he sanitized our cups by spilling hot water on them,

this seems to be a trend throughout Asia :)

So many beautiful teapots!

Apple Store, Hong Kong

Two stories, spiral staircase inside, and PACKED.

Drinking champagne on the roof of IFC

Pizza, ravioli and a BREAD basket at Isola

A white tablecloth?! We must not be in Thailand anymore :)!

Group shot!

Armani does flowers?! 

Only in HK.

Drinks with the boys at Azure. 

What a night :)

Eating "gold" with Aaron and Rey 

(singers with Danny)

My first time smoking Shi-sha! (Hukka)

I like it.

When I asked someone what they thought this was they guessed bone marrow. EW.

This is a poisonous snake I ate (tasted..) for dinner, friends!

Jordan, Andrea, me, and our man Jimmy!

Elizabeth and I at Sham Shui Po!

Proper Dim Sum :)

Chicken feet!

Goldfish Market

Yuen Po Bird Garden

Just a cool picture of how orchids are shipped 

and unpacked from big boxes

My last picture in Hong Kong...so Chinese!