Monday, July 14

Singapore

(see map) - mike: Singapore, the smallest country in Asia, packs 4.5 million people into a modern, safe, and clean city. Due to British influence, English is the official language and spoken widely so exploring here is extremely easy. The population is comprised of Chinese, Indian, and Malaysian each with distinctive neighborhoods. Our hotel was in the "Little India" area.

We took to the sidewalk and strolled up Orchard Road, the main shopping area. Mall after mall line the street many with the same American and European stores. How locals decide where to shop, I couldn't tell you. One thing for sure is being an air conditioner salesmen here must be lucrative. Every store, restaurant, and hotel has theirs cranking at full blast, seemingly 24x7. The off button in our room was disabled!

Our first food court of many. They are quick, inexpensive (~$3 each),and clean.

Eventually we ended up at the botanical gardens. There was a soon to be married couple being photographed here. Her dress was less than conventional sporting knee high white leather boots.

For dinner we selected from dozens of local Indian restaurants. The food was great. I'm now addicted to Roti Prata, this paper thin pancake type bread served with curry dipping sauce.

The following day we met up for lunch with Eugene Lee (Spirent Account Manager), near Sim Lim Square, the Frys of Singapore.

The "Night Safari" is a popular destination as well. You can check out nocturnal animals when they are most active. Trin was particularly excited about these "mousedeer" we had heard a lot about. We expected a tiny Bambi that would fit in palm of our hand. To our dismay, they were more like a large rat with mini deer legs and antlers.

More food courts for lunch & dinner, it was a little overwhelming to select a stand.

Nearby Sentosa Island is an amusement park type getaway with rides and shows. Two huge casinos are scheduled for completion in 2010. We rode this insanely high cable car to reach it.

I admit, I was scared. Ski lifts I can handle, but this is 15 stories up!

The cable car stops at Mt. Faber Park before crossing to Sentosa. This is a great place to take in some city views.

Henderson Waves Bridge was built to link Mount Faber and Telok Blangah Hill parks .

Don't feed the monkeys! Though we didn't see any.

Raced Trin on the luge, this downhill engineless go kart thing. She won.

Harbor and city scape on the return ride. Singapore's port is #1 worldwide in terms of tons of cargo shipped.

Compared to the cost of food, alcohol is quite expensive. This 6-pack at 7-11 is on sale for ~$14.

We changed hotels to check out Chinatown. These beef jerky type shops are everywhere. Here Trin is demonstrating what she will do to an unlucky piece of smoked meat.

Day and night shots of Sri Mariamman Temple, the largest Hindu temple in Singapore.

Thian Hock Keng Temple is also nearby.

Our last night in Chinatown before heading north into Malaysia.

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