We catch our last glimpses of Sydney as we take off and head for three nights in Singapore.
We’re doing our second couch surf in Singapore with a really nice couple in their fabulous pad. Irvin and Eunice live in a new apartment complex that has a huge outdoor pool, tennis courts, gym, gardens and bbq areas. I wish Vancouver weather could support a pool like this! They even have swimming lessons for the kids!
Irvin and Eunice don’t have a lot of time to spend with us as they are busy preparing for their upcoming wedding but we do manage to connect one evening for an absolute feast.
They introduce us to all sorts of delicious delights. We have laksa which is rice noodles in spicy coconut gravy, bbq stingray in sambal chilli and onions sprinkled with lime, char kuay teow which are flat rice noodles fried in soya sauce with cockles and chinese sausage, hokkien mee (egg noodles fried with bean sprouts in a thick prawn broth), an oyster omelette, otah which is spice and fish paste grilled in a banana leaf, satay in peanut gravy, and grated steamed white radish fried in dark soya sauce which they call carrot cake. And we wash it all down with sugar cane juice. Dee-lish!
Besides the delicious culinary wonders, we don’t get up to anything exciting. We spend one day exploring this incredibly clean city (where chewing gum and firecrackers are banned).
We make it to a mall (what a surprise!) in the hunt for cheap jeans (our last chance before we leave Asia) and to Chinatown. Curtis loves those spicy fish balls.
It’s hot – we’re back to the Southeast Asia humidity – so look for a cool drink. I opt for bottled water (even though you can actually drink the tap water here, which is nice) and Curtis orders a sour plum drink. I try a sip – and stick with my water – its sour alright.
We’re impressed with the transit system here. You use prepaid cards on the buses that you swipe when you get on and off and your fare is calculated according to how far you traveled. They have a flat screen tv on the bus, which I would find annoying during a morning commute, but it’s showing the Olympics so we’re riveted to the screen.
During our brief stay, Singapore wins the silver medal for table tennis. This ends their 48 year medal drought – we can feel the excitement!
Our stay is short and sweet and pretty soon we’re on our way back to the airport for our twelve hour flight to Frankfurt. Six months in Europe coming up!
Wow, I didn’t see any of the table tennis during the Olympics. Guess the North American networks didn’t bother… what we did see was the outbursts and controversy from the Canadian public because Canada had not won a medal after the first week of the Olympics – even the politicians issued a statement saying it would all be ok. As it turns out it was all ok…
Hope you are doing well – this site is fantastic!!
Love,
Cindy