Day 2

My day started with a quick walk to the nearest MRT station to meet Grace, one of my co-workers in the Singapore office. We were also meeting up with our other co-worker Siew Yee, a native Singaporean. We wasted some time in Chinatown while we waited for Siew Yee, and then she took us to a food court to get some traditional Singapore breakfast.

Despite what many of you probably think, apparently the traditional breakfast here is not noodles...although I'm sure you can get that too. The breakfast consists of toast sandwiched with butter and coconut jam and then a bowl of two very runny eggs. It's all served with tea or coffee, and I got the tea which was sweetened and had condensed milk. All very tasty! For dessert, yes dessert, I got a tub of bean curd, which I think is soy and mixed with a sweet syrup all served warm. It was good but I couldn't finish the gigantic tub!

After that, Siew Yee took us to a small museum about Chinatown. It didn't take too long to go through, but it was interesting seeing and reading about how people came to Singapore and how Chinatown came to be. Singapore was originally an area of banishment when the Chinese were driven out of Malaysia. Life was rough and very different from the way it is in Singapore now. After the museum, we eventually made our way to the office where they let me in so I could check it out! It was nice to have a break with some air conditioning and the office itself is really nice. We're still in the process of getting it decorated but I'll get some pictures up as soon as it's all set up.

When we left the office, Grace and I decided to head out to Orchard Road, which is the main shopping district in Singapore. I had heard that it was definitely a place to see. We started by taking a bus to the far end of Orchard Road which is where the Singapore Botanical Gardens are. It's a huge park, free to enter, full of many different kinds of plant life, ponds and open areas. We explored the entire park by foot, which meant I was covered in sweat the whole time. Eventually we got back to the main gates and made our way down Orchard Road. I thought I had seen some fancy malls the day before, but Orchard Road is full of even fancier malls. I was amazed at the sheer number of malls, one after another constantly for a long stretch. It was also very busy, which I assumed were mostly tourists, but apparently it's what the locals do too. Like I said yesterday, Singaporeans like their malls (and their food).

Eventually, we hit the other end of Orchard Road and needed to take a break to get something cold to drink. After hours in the heat, I gulped my ice tea in about 3 seconds. We then decided to see if Siew Yee was available for dinner and took the MRT to meet her. She had a Japanese place in mind and recommended trying a Ramen Bowl, which was full of noodles, pork, greens and half a boiled egg, all in a creamy broth. It was very nice! With all of the eating, especially today, I am learning the art of chopstix more and more each day. You don't have to use them as they always have spoons and forks around, but I like to. And finally, you can't have dinner without dessert, so we found a popular Chinese dessert restaurant where I didn't recognize or know one thing on the menu. I chose Mango Sago & Pomelo. Unfortunately, since everything is so different, I never have any idea what I'm actually eating. Apparently, this is some kind of mango flavored cream with chunks of mango and pomelo, which is similar to grapefruit. It also had small chunks of ice in it along with jelly balls (which might have been the sago?). Regardless, it was very tasty although I wasn't a big fan of the pomelo.

It was definitely another long day, but it was really nice to be able to spend it with some people instead of by myself. Especially with some people who know the city (and the food) so well. I'm really having a great time so far.

You can take a look at the pics HERE

I guess now it's time to work...