Birthday Singapore Slings

A trip to Singapore wouldn't be complete without a trip to the Long Bar at Raffles Hotel for a Singapore Sling. This was what I wanted to do for my Birthday last night. We had a blast!

Jungle Trail Run

We just did a trail run around Bukit Timah park in the pouring rain. It was beautiful and quiet. Joel's shoe landed an inch from a little ribbon of green I could see as I ran behind him. When it came into focus I realized he'd just missed stepping on a Wagler's Pit Viper. It looked like an adolescent male who had been washed out of his daytime nap spot. Pit Vipers are nocturnal and usually hang out sleeping on tree branches during the day. The park naturalist was quite interested in our find, though I'd be fine with not seeing another one.

Our other discovery was dozens of monkeys with tiny babies hanging around their necks. It's really probably the cutest thing you could ever see... and we had no cameras this time.

-Stacey

Chinatown & temple tours

We are completely exhausted after a long full day on our feet. The afternoon we hit the pavement and headed down into the Orchard road shopping district (which is just high end mega-malls and has nothing to do with former orchards). We both successfully found running shoes though we woefully realized that we should have purchased them before we left California. Even our friendly shopkeeper informed us that he shops for his running shoes when he travels to to US.

In the evening we met up with our friends for a beer and then a walk around Chinatown where we visited two temples and then had fantastic Tai food at a busy food stall. The first temple we found appeared to be hindu (though I'm not an expert on this and would welcome any other ideas) and we happened upon it right as they were starting a ceremony and a feast.

The next temple was Taoist and in stark contrast to the former temple it was clean, orderly and had mysterious locked chambers where we could hear monks within chanting. In all, a feast for the eyes, amazing day and the most spicy Som Tum salad we have had to date.

Click on the photos above or click here to see the album of pictures we took tonight

Sumatra on fire etc

This is the view from our deck today with a smoky fog blanketing the city. A stark contrast to the brilliant blue sky we usually see when we aren't on the tail end of a thunderstorm. The source of the smog is the forest fires and the seasonal brush burning in Sumatra. According to NewsAsia we're in for another three days of this as fires are expected to continue if not worsen before they are extinguished. While it looks bad it doesn't really smell that bad (it's nothing compared to the smoke we had in Fairfax when Napa was on fire) and the air quality readings are not great but not in a particularly troubling zone. I guess I won't be able to use this as excuse for not going to the gym tomorrow.

In other news the Philippines were hit by Typhoon Magi and China is bracing for the end of that storm. We appear to be pretty safe thus far here. Our big rainy season is yet to come though we do get small thunderstorms in the afternoons that last a short time. Yesterday I was caught reading by the pool under a sun umbrella as the sky opened and deposited buckets of water seemingly just on our building. The storm blew over in ten minutes. My favourite part of these storms is the moments after, when all the tropical birds start calling from the trees. Even on the top of an apartment building you like you are very much in the tropical jungle that these buildings replaced.

First things first

Joel is on day three of work here and I'm on day two of looking for a place to live. The move thus far has really been pretty laid back and this apartment search may be too. Last night we met for dinner in Holland Village which is an expat enclave much like a tropical Kitsilano but with low-rises instead of houses. In the evenings the police come by and close the road where all the bistros are and the sidewalks become patios and the street, a walkway.
This morning there were several apartments available in the Holland area so I'm about to begin my cold calls and start setting up viewings. It's unusual for expats to be renting apartments without a real estate agent so we'll see how this goes off the cuff.

Hiking and Little India

We were up early today to meet up with our new friends and go on a hike around the Nature Reserve. Beautiful area and our 7km hike only just touched one little corner. As you can imagine hiking in 30 degree weather in this humidity is a sticky hot situation. We headed back into the city in search of some refreshment. Little India provided us with a great lunch, cold Tiger beer and a vibrant street life to explore. Click on the pictures above to check out our day on flickr.

-Stacey

Singapore arrival

We arrived in Singapore safe and sound last night at 1am. A driver from our accommodations here picked us up and got us into our place very quickly and we slept a fairly normal night after that. Today was overcast in the morning with the sun gradually breaking through the fog as the day progressed. Now it's about 3:30 in the afternoon on Friday and the sky is clear blue. Everything is bathed in that light you get on the equator when the sun is directly overhead. The air outside is heavy and humid and filled with the rumble of construction.

This photo is from our balcony. We'll be taking some more photos and posting them soon!

-Stacey

Giving Thanks

Three years ago we went to our family thanksgiving and then departed for California. Here we are again, all gathered around the table in a bittersweet celebration, saying hello and then good-bye. We are giving thanks right now for having this time. We are also giving thanks to everyone who visited with us this trip. We've got so many great memories to take with us when we leave for Singapore tomorrow morning. 

Family trip to Tofino