The Heart of the City Sarah Thursday, April 24, 2014

I think my last twenty-four hours in Singapore must've been the cherry on top of my whole time there. I started the day on my own picking up a visa I need for later, then I headed to Gardens at the Bay to check out the Flower Dome and Cloud Forest with my friend. It's interesting how local residents pay less than foreigners and also have the option of visiting one or the other while foreigners have to buy a combined ticket for both exhibits. Thankfully my Tiger Air boarding pass gave me a discount which worked out so I was just paying local resident rate.

There was a special 'Tulipmania' exhibit going on so the Flower Dome was especially a rainbow of imported Tulips from Amsterdam. This called for my photo opportunities and of course selfie times haha. The plants itself were quite interesting, but maybe because I came from the Tropical Spice Garden in Penang that I didn't find the Cloud Forest too interesting (so if you have the choice, just go to the Flower Dome). Silly me, I always thought the Cloud Forest referred to those wired 'Avatar-like' glowing trees in the Gardens and Marina Bay Sands (MBS) that you see on advertisements for Singapore, but apparently that's a whole other thing, though these 'trees' are so much more prettier at night-they glow in an array of colours.

"Avatar" like trees

What mesmerized me was the view of this whole area. I can't believe I left the heart of Singapore for my very last day, but I guess it made it even more memorable. Despite nothing being real (my friend told me Singapore increased its land mass by 'building' land where the MBS and the Gardens now stand-so crazy don't you think?) the infrastructure and design of everything in sight was very impressive.
That night we went to the Esplanade Theatre where they have a roof terrance that you can go to (for free) and get a bomb view of the MBS and surrounding area. It's  jaw dropping amazing and you definitely wouldn't have known without a local telling you what I term secret places (thank You!). We even caught the light show that happens every night at 9:30pm which brought out a lot of professional photographers to snap some beautiful images.

Afterwards we headed to Ku De Ta bar at the top of the MBS. Usually, they charge a $20 fee for non guests to go up to the top for the view during the day, but in the evening as the bar is open, it's free as long as you buy a drink. Of course there was a catch and that was that the cost of drinks were quite high. For a Singapore Sling (supposedly Singapore's cocktail) it came to $23, but the view was worth it and at least you're getting something with the cost besides the view.

I can't believe Singapore has come and on now as it has actually been my longest stay so far on this SEA journey, but I know God is not stopping the learnings, divine appointments, nor adventures. Thank YOU whether you treated me or not, gave me a tour, drove me, or did something or anything for me in this Merlion city because at the end of the day, it made my time in Singapore so welcoming and I'm beyond blessed.

On a side note, Popiah is bomb, try it!

"See-aeh-See-aeh my Pung Yo-s :)"

Zen-tosa Sarah Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Yesterday I went to Sentosa with my friend and it was such a relaxing time of enjoying the breeze, lying on the sand (imported from Indonesia apparently) and having some quality girl time. Sentosa has three main beaches: Tanjong, Palawan and Siloso and as it was a week day, it was less busy compared to the weekends. If you are looking for a quiet getaway, I highly recommend  Tanjong beach as it's the farthest from the hub of things to do on this island, which means it's the quietest and not crowded with tourists-I even fell asleep here. There's also a Universal Studios here, but I would not recommend it unless you have little ones to kill time with as it looks small and not worth the admission price. Also, there's plenty of other activities such as zip lining, water sports, and even luging, so Universal would probably be on the bottom of my list anyways.

I kept asking my friend if so and so was man made at Sentosa because as I learn more about this country, I realize how young it is, thus how technologically advance it is having only been officially established fifty or so years ago as 'Singapore'. There are many intelligent people working in Singapore which sets the standard quite high in terms of living, working, and one's lifestyle. Singapore is also a place of wealthy dwellers, hence the line up of air conditioned malls with top fashion houses of the world and the high cost of living.

For dinner, we went to the highly anticipated (well for me) and touristy Paradise Dynasty to try the eight flavour xiao long baos that are a first of its kind. They were worth the hype and wait since researching for this trip and I couldn't have been more satisfied. I think out of the eight, my favorite was fois gras, black truffle, crab roe, and szechuan, though the original is alway hearty-so basically like half of them (they're each d ifferent and unique!). This eatery is located all across Singapore as they are considered a direct competitor of Ding Tai Fung, one of the most well known dim sum restaurants of the East.

After a full stomach we headed to Clarke Quay, a central tourist zone with diverse grub from around the world, bars, and a river running through where you can take a ferry to do some sightseeing. The view here is really nice of the downtown buildings and you can even spot the Marina Bay Sands hotel from this hotspot. 

Zoo of Thanks Sarah Saturday, April 19, 2014

Can I just say Tiger Air delayed me for an hour at Penang's airport? Because they did and I was very annoyed with that, but other than that I can't complain much as it was a cheap ticket and at least it got me safely to Singapore last night.

I'm as slow as Tiger Air 

I'm so grateful that I'm able to visit one of my exchange friends from two years ago. We've kept in touch ever since and I always said I wanted to visit her. So when the opportunity arise when planning for this trip, I jumped on it.  She and her boyfriend kindly picked me up from my delayed flight and off we went to Upper Thompson Road where we had local roti at a place called Roti Prata. The mushroom and cheese one as well as the egg one was so deeeeeeelish. Boy am I thankful to be eating like a local as I was probably the most foreign person there.

First time seeing Mouse Deers!

Today her family had planned a day to go to the Singapore Zoo as her mom is able to get complimentary tickets from work. We started the day with brunch at a local hawker area on Ang Mo Kio street then headed to an animal filled day. I feel so blessed as I kept getting treated, and as asian parents go, they wouldn't let this Canadian visitor pay for anything. I honestly wasn't in high anticipation for the zoo and I realize I haven't been to a legit zoo for almost six years, but this one changed my mind. At first it was your typical zoo divided into various areas for you to look at different species of animals, but what I really appreciated was all the fun facts and information listed in the surrounding area of that animal about that animal in an interesting and entertaining manner. I came away with a book of knowledge on animals (ask me!) and it was so neat to realize how creative God is in creating each species so unique and diverse. There are also shows you can watch at selected times and I think its one of the cleanest and odour friendly (minus the rhinoceros area because of their dung) zoo I've been to.

So adorable!

The highlight was not only reuniting with my local friend, but also not knowing a friend from home was in town and whom had planned to go to the Singapore Zoo today as well. Thus, it was so exciting to have met up at the zoo and it was nice to not have to do self introductions either as personally I find I've been making intros and telling people about my background ever since I've started my SEA trip as I'm constantly meeting new friends. It was another divine appointment at its best and I love crossing paths with people I know!

After finishing the zoo, the latest attraction, the River Safari was next door and so since it was still early, we decided to check it out as well. This safari features ten different ecosystems around the world and their respective animal environments including the Nile, Mekong, Amazon, and Mississippi River. There is also a boat ride that drew a lot of people to flock to this attraction. It's only ten minutes long and costs an additional $5 as it gives you a short tour on some of the ecosystems' animals located here just for this boat ride. I think the hype around it didn't justify the attractiveness of it all and besides, tickets were all sold out. Though, we realize that if you go to the entrance of the ride, there may be extra tickets available just because there's a height limit which unfortunately turns away many young kids and in turn their parents making them eligible for a refund and tickets available for people like us. So as blessings go, we did get to go on this boat ride (so make sure to check if tickets are sold out). It wasn't that exciting like I've mentioned, but being able to sit and catch glimpse of animals you would not typically see all in one ride made it worthy. By the end of all this I was tired and zoo-ed out!

For dinner, once again, my friend's family took me to try chili crab, one of the famous dishes in Singapore cuisine which was quite the sizzle on my tastebuds at Seafood Paradise restaurant. However, I think my favourite dish was the wasabi prawns and coffee flavour sticky ribs because they were so exotic to me for 'Chinese' food, rather a fusion of asian flavours. The wasabi had more of a tangy creamy taste rather than intense heat while the coffee flavour initially reminded me of a cocoa coating, but savoury instead.

Dang...getting spoiled is one thing, but gaining weight is another.