Sentosa Island

Two weeks ago Matt and I ventured out to Sentosa Island. Although Singapore isn't exactly known for its beaches, Sentosa is the place to go if you feel like lazing around in the sun with the sand beneath your toes! In addition to Sentosa's 3 beaches (Siloso, Palawan and Tanjong), there are many other attractions on the island (it's actually home to the future Universal Studios opening some time next year!). We started our days adventure with a walk to the MRT Station at Clarke Quay and from there rode over to Harbourfront. There are a couple of ways to get over to the island - one being the light rail train and the other being the more exciting of the two...the cable car. Now, I absolutely hate being suspended in the air, but I decided to brave it for the sake of a memorable experience (that seems to be my life's new theme lately!). My sweet husband who knows of my fear even went as far as paying extra for a glass bottom car...how very thoughtful of him. Ha! We took the round trip ride to Mt. Faber (the Singapore side) and then back around to Sentosa Island. Once we got out of the car, we beat the heat with some New Zealand Natural ice cream. YUM!! Our next stop was the Images of Singapore Museum. It was a lot of fun! We learned about the history of Singapore starting with the founding fathers from Singapore's 4 main ethnic groups: Chinese, Malay, Indian and Eurasian. We traveled through a wax museum timeline where we saw exhibits featuring Singapore's early days as a fishing village to the islands growth as a trading port up through the nation's independence after WWII. If you live in Singapore and haven't been to the museum, I highly recommend you go! After the museum, we made our way over to Siloso Beach, the most popular of the 3 main beaches. We could have taken a tram ride over there, but tram rides are for tourists! We're locals now which means we walk everywhere ;-) Siloso Beach was packed with loungers, swimmers and volleyball players. We spent a good hour soaking up the sun then enjoyed a fabulous dinner at Trappiza! When the day was over, we took the light rail train back to Harbourfront and did a little shopping at Vivo City - the biggest mall we've been to so far. There were crowds everywhere which kept reminding me of Christmas back home...the one time I try to avoid the mall. As we headed back home, we walked slowly through Clarke Quay and enjoyed some of the shows being put on for the Singapore River Festival. Everything was all lit up! The day was perfect and we can't wait to go back and check out some of the other attractions that Sentosa has to offer! :-)

I love passing through Clarke Quay on our way to the MRT station. It's so colorful and there's always people around!

No durians on the MRT. DARN! I was really hoping to bring along some fruit that smells like the sewer.

Here we are at the MRT station ready to enjoy our day at Sentosa!

The Cable Car!

Inside the cable car, trying to pretend I'm not hanging over the water.

We were way high above the trees.

Two nice things to look at - the view and my handsome husband!

Looking down over the water on our way to Sentosa.

Don't let this smile fool you. I was nervous!

Yes, we made it to Sentosa! I can finally get out of the cable car ;-)

Matt is ready to tour the museum!

As we entered the museum, we walked through the Four Winds Trading Office where we learned about the founding fathers of Singapore. Each had a desk. Here we are at the Indian desk.

After we left the Four Winds Trading Office, we watched a video where each screen actually came to life and spoke at different times! We learned of the founding fathers "Golden Wish" for family, community, peace and harmony for the island of Singapore.

Looks like Matt is just inches away from his Singapore Adventure. Funny, but I thought our Singapore Adventure started the day we moved here :-) Guess I was wrong!

Ah-hah! I've made it. Now my true Singapore Adventure will start...

The founding fathers of Singapore

A deep conversation with Sir Stamford Raffles, the founder of modern Singapore.

This wax exhibit portrayed Singaporean kids playing "Congkak." I took the picture because the game sounds exactly like Mancala...a game that I've played with many family members and friends back home! It made me homesick for just a quick second!

Who needs a ride?

If only Matt would actually ride me around town in one of these things...life would be so much easier!

The Merlion is an ever present symbol here in Singapore. This particular one is HUGE (as if you can't tell!). We've read that the half-lion, half-fish represents Singapore's roots as the "Lion City" and the nation's close ties to the sea. The funny thing is that while you might think that the Merlion has been a part of Singapore's history for hundreds of years, it turns out he was created in the early 1970s by the Singapore Tourism Board.

No matter where we go there is always beautiful greenery surrounding us. I can't stop taking pictures of it so lucky for me, I always have a hot model by my side ready to pose! :-)

Looking out toward the pathway to all the beaches.

A view of Siloso Beach.

After a delicious dinner at Trapizza, Matt was all smiles!

As we were headed home for the day, we saw this peacock just walking around! Matt tried several times to get it to fan its feathers, but he didn't have any luck :-(

Clarke Quay, all lit up at night for the Singapore River Festival.

This has nothing to do with going to Sentosa, but look Mom and Dad - I actually tried a dragon fruit! It tasted like a really bland kiwi fruit...but at least it looks pretty!

No surprise, Matt ate the dragon fruit too.

The 4th of July

Last night we experienced our very first overseas 4th of July party. I must say, it feels slightly odd to be celebrating America when you're not even in it! Still, we love our country and felt it was only right to surround ourselves with as many fellow Americans as we possibly could! The place to do that was at an official July 4th Celebration put on by the American Association of Singapore. We dressed up in our red, white and blue, grabbed our picnic blanket and made our way to the Terror Club Sports Complex (located on the other side of the island in Sembawang) for a night of good old fashioned American food and of course, fireworks. The place was PACKED! Nearly every American in Singapore came out to celebrate and show some USA pride. There was food everywhere and it was all of the types you would expect to see on the 4th of July back home - hotdogs, hamburgers, BBQ chicken, corn on the cob, french fries, popcorn, ice cream and snow cones! I was absolutely in Heaven when I discovered they even had gooey, melty cheese to pour all over my fries. You can't get more American than that! So after a huge meal, we found a perfect spot for our blanket and settled down to relax and wait for the fireworks. Lying out on the huge lawn seeing American flags all over the place and hearing American accents all around me, I found myself forgetting that we are so far away from home! After the fireworks were over, we stuck around to listen to a live band play familiar American songs while we reflected on how incredibly blessed we feel to be able to experience this fun holiday in another part of the world. To everyone back home, Happy 4th of July! We miss you and can't wait until we're home again!

Inside the taxi on the way to the celebration. Hey, isn't this driver sitting on the wrong side??

I wanted a picture of the flag, but photos are always better when someone is in them so I grabbed the best looking guy I could find and snapped his picture :-)

Happy 4th of July!

All of our 4th of July favorites!

Just hangin' out while waiting for the fireworks to start.

There were people everywhere!

Finally! Fun fireworks to celebrate our true home - USA!

We decided to save a little money by taking the MRT home. Matt was clearly thrilled by the joy of public transportation.

A little Happy 4th greeting from us!

Hawker Center

Prior to moving here, I researched everything because I wanted to know just what to expect from my new home. Topping my list of important things to know was what kind of food I would be eating here...someone as picky as me needs to be prepared! :-) While I found comfort in the fact that Singapore has many western style restaurants (including familiar places like Chilis, Outback Steakhouse, Pizza Hut, McDonalds, etc.), I was also enticed by the local Hawker Centers. What is a Hawker Center? Good question! I think its best described as an outdoor food court that sells CHEAP Singaporean cuisine and the food is surprisingly (to me anyway) good! The trick is to walk around to each individual stall to see what they have to offer - and you don't even need a menu because there are pictures for every dish - doesn't get much easier than that! I have to admit...most of the local food is a bit too adventurous for my taste (to name a few...Fish Head Curry or Old Cucumber Soup), but thankfully there is a very American-friendly dish here that is popular all over the place - Hainanese Chicken Rice. It's steamed chicken served over rice cooked in chicken stock with cucumbers and a bowl of clear soup. Sounds pretty good, right?! We decided that my first taste of Chicken Rice should come from a place that comes highly recommended in nearly every book we've read - Tian Tian - located inside the Maxwell Road Hawker Center. Thankfully, the Chicken Rice was just as delicious as I'd hoped it would be! The good food totally took my mind off of the fact that we walked nearly 3 miles on the hottest day that we've experienced since arriving here. So trip #1 to a Hawker Center was a great success and I'm happy to report that we've made several more trips to other Hawker Centers since then! I've even tried other foods. Who knows, maybe I'll eat the fish head curry next. Just kidding!

Walking 3 miles at noon in the blistering sun does not make me too happy. I sure hope we find the Maxwell Food Centre soon!

We made it!

The first thing we have to do is read up on our Hawker Center etiquette.

It looks like there are plenty of open tables to sit at! Thank goodness, otherwise we would have had to "claim" our table by placing a napkin on it. That's not the easiest task when you have to pay for your napkins!

Although we're on a quest for Chicken Rice, the Fish Head Bee Hoon sure sounds tempting ;-)

Look at all that food!

Here it is, the highly recommended Tian Tian stall.

The long line could only mean the Chicken Rice will be worth the wait.

My sweet husband ordered my food for me. I only got about 10 strange looks from the locals for taking this picture ;-)

Here it is...the famous Chicken Rice. Will it taste good?

It's delicious! It gets my stamp of approval :-)

The Chicken Rice is far too plain for an adventurous eater like Matt!