Dots On The Map: Our Last Weekend In Singapore!

We just finished our last weekend here in Singapore. It is a somewhat lugubrious -Jane Eyre taught me that one- feeling because I don't know if or when I will ever come back here. Late Friday night/early Saturday morning we head to Sydney, Australia which we're very excited about!

So what did we do with our last weekend here? We ate good food, gambled good money, and even sprinkled in some hiking. Friday night a group of us went to Bugis (my favorite place for any type of food in Singapore) to have some Muslim food at Singapore Zam Zam. We tried an assortment of food and drinks, including Milo Dinosaur (modeled by Sean) and bandung, which is watered down Pepto-Bismol (I know! I can't believe anyone would drink that!)*

Milo Dinosaur which is basically yoo-hoo with chocolate powder on top

Si Won with bandung

My favorite of the food we got was the mee goreng (spicy fried noodles) and the chicken murtabak (a prata filled with egg, onion, chicken, and a spicy curry-like sauce). We then went to a good bubble tea place where I got a milktea with pearls, and Barrett got a green tea macchiato with pearls (he's taken ladies). We then walked to Marina Bay Sands to gamble some. Getting into the casino is harder than getting into the country. They charge Singaporeans $100 to get into the casino, but it is free for foreigners with a passport. They check your passport three different times to get in. No photos are allowed inside or outside the casino. I was very disappointed to learn that the only free drinks offered are water, hot milo, black tea, chinese tea, coffee, and soft drinks. But that didn't keep Barrett from gambling at the craps table. He essentially lost the earnings we made from our four days in Vegas last summer ($65 big ones) in about 20 minutes at a craps table. But it was fun and I supported his gambling habit like any good wife should.

mee goreng

We then saw the light show on the bay which is really cool. They project a movie about life onto fountains and occasionally shoot out bubbles and fire.

an eye being projected on water during the light show

marina bay sands at night

On Saturday, we got some Ya Kun Kaya Toast for breakfast and watched some P-Recs (Parks and Recreation for those of you not hip) while Barrett worked.

soft boiled eggs with a touch of soy sauce and lots of white pepper

kaya toast

Then we headed to the Maxwell Food Center in Chinatown for some of Singapore's most famous chicken rice. We waited about 15 minutes at the hawker stall to have Tian Tian's chicken rice, the same one featured in Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations. It was perhaps just one notch above the chicken rice place William took us to in the China Town Food Center. However, the Maxwell hawker center had very nice ambiance (if a hawker center can have such a thing) because it just reopened a week ago after being closed for refurbishments.

chicken rice with hot sauce and soy syrup, and sugar cane to drink

On the way home, we stopped to get some pastries from my favorite hole in the wall bakery where the guy doesn't speak any English (that's how I know it's good).

Barrett then worked some more and I made some potato soup for dinner.

Sunday, we went to church at the Every Nation Church in Singapore, a relative of our Boston Aletheia Church (shout out to my Boston friends!). It is such a contrast to what I expected from a church in Singapore. Singaporeans are known for having no emotions, yet almost every person in the church was bursting with emotion and they even cheered after one song. Oh, and the church is held in a massive movie theatre inside a mall. Talk about unique! The seats are those huge comfy ones in case you're wondering.

After church and some nasi lemak, and caught a bus to MacRitchie Reservoir where we hiked for about three and a half hours. We saw probably 20 monkeys and even a "flying" snake, though they don't actually fly. We went on a tree top walk which is a suspension bridge way up high that swings a bit when you walk on it. We also went up a look out tower and looked out.

flying snake

monkeys

Barrett on the tree top walk suspension bridge

views from the top of look out tower

To polish off our last weekend in Singapore, we had a group dinner at the Hyatt. It was an amazing buffet, but the Indian food, fruit, and the desserts were my favorites.