Day 8 - Back in Singapore

So, I'm back in Singapore. Saturday morning Frank had a couple of students, so we were meeting up in the center of town, at Borders. I slept in a bit (let me tell you, going halfway around the world really screws up one's sleeping!) and then headed off. I started off walking along the street in the direction I needed to end up, but dark clouds were rolling in (still have no umbrella) and the air was rather still, so no breeze. I caught the No. 5 bus and off I went. Managed to get off exactly where I needed to and enter Borders, just before the skies opened up. Yah me! I was feeling groggy, so stopped at Coffee Bean & Tea for a vanilla latte (I am pretty picky with lattes) - not bad. Walked around Borders and the rest of the mall until it was time to meet Frank.

The shops here in Singapore have these tall, skinny plastic bags for umbrellas - brilliant! As it rains nearly every day at least for a little while, these are very handy. It's "Singapore Sale" time at the shops, so yes everyone was shopping. But then again, they always are!

The rain had stopped by the time I met up with Frank, so we headed off for lunch at Crystal Jade for some Chinese food. We had sweet & sour pork, chicken kwayteo, and broccoli with garlic sauce. And I will have you know that I successfully ate the entire meal with chopsticks! It was quite yummy and as this restaurant is also in Bangkok, I know I'll have an option for someplace that has food I like (and could order).

Then it was off to the Asian Civilisation Museum and we DID get caught in the rain. Knew it would happen sooner or later. We took shelter at this very posh hotel for a while, walked through the underground tunnel where I took a picture of one of the city's Merlions, then the rain had tapered off, so we crossed the river to the museum. A special exhibit of Vietnam had just started that day, so we lucked out!

In the evening, we were headed to Dom and Ming's apartment for a party. They had gotten married the week before in a small ceremony, so this was a party for everyone else. Dom was one of the first friends that Frank made in Singapore. Before the party, Frank had to stop and get his hair cut at a Filipino mall and afterwards we ate at a shop called Kopitiam - kopi=coffee, ti =tea, and am=shop. We had some yakun kya toast (aka French toast) which was yummy.

Dom and Ming's party was a fun time, though I started crashing around 11/11:30. It's typical in Asian cultures to take off your shoes when you enter the house, so there was a great pile of shoes by the door and everyone was in bare feet. Dom is Italian and grew up in Australia and Ming is Chinese.

Unfortunately I got a second wind on the way back to the condo and was awake until 4 AM. Though some of that was because I was working on hotel arrangements for Bangkok and was trying to find the best deal with the best service at the best hotel in the best location.

Latest pics: Scenes of Singapore