BUGIS

Today we toured one of Singapore's biggest shopping areas... BUGIS!

Bugis Street was renowned internationally from the 50's to the 80's for its nightly gathering of transwomen, a phenomenon which made it one of Singapore's top tourist destinations during that period. Today, Bugis Street is now a wide, cobblestone avenue sandwiched between the buildings of the Bugis Junction shopping complex. The lane presently touted as "Bugis Street" by the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board is billed as "the largest street-shopping location in Singapore". It's filled with clothing stalls, fruit stalls, watch stalls, food stalls, trinket stalls and juice stalls, pretty much any stall you can think of, it will most likely be in Bugis. 

One thing you really notice about it however is the smell. It's something you will never experience in Vancouver because we rarely have the reason for this smell anywhere in our city... DURIAN. Bugis has Durian everywhere, fresh Durian, dry Durian, Durian Juice and Durian treats, it's everywhere and you can never really live in Asia until you try Durian because the people here, love love love it. The smell however makes trying this fruit a difficult proposition, it's strong, pungent and not at all appetizing (although apparently 1/4 of the globe disagrees with me), to me it smells like overripe cantaloupe that's been marinating in sewage and than been stepped on by sweaty feet.

Now Michelle has had Durian before and she doesn't like it but she doesn't hate it. She says that is doesn't taste as bad as it smells and for her, it tastes like Sour Cream & Onion chips... a fruit that tastes like Sour Cream & Onion chips??? Hmm...

So I tried it, and it's awful. I can see where Michelle gets the SC&O chip flavor but to me, it's soft, gooey and rancid but I tried it because I had to and now I never, ever, ever have to try it again. That chapter is closed, that mystery is solved, that game is over, that train has sailed. 

I don't like Durian one bit but Bugis is pretty COOL!!!

RIVER BOATS & CLUBBING

Pretty full weekend in Singapore. First off, we went for the official SINGAPORE RIVER TOUR that takes a mighty impressive 30 minutes. Still it was cool to see some of the city from a different point of view, plus we got to see the Harbor Police on maneuvers through the inlet. They were in full gear, firing off flares and chasing boats, it was kind of cool. The BOAT TOUR was cool too although in the end, both Michelle and I had some heat exhaustion from the sun. It's pretty hot here if I haven't said that before.

Next up we hit the KNIGHT & DAY, no not the popular Canadian Eatery but a club here in Singapore for a co-workers "going away party". The drinks were flowing and you know I was having a GOOD TIME if I actually made it onto the dance floor. Michelle was impressed! She wasn't so impressed when she tweaked her knee, but sometimes you gotta pay the price when you want to dance, just ask Kevin Bacon!

SINGAPORE THROUGH AN IPHONE

So once I got to Singapore, I got myself an IPHONE, why? Cause they are cheaper out here and have way better plans than they do in Canada. So with that little gem now in my hands, I started snapping pics of Singapore with my new handy dandy iphone and also downloaded some camera apps to play with as well. I started a new flickr set filled with my iphone captures which will continue to grow but you can check out what I have so far HERE!

SAKE TIME!

As I've mentioned before, booze is expensive in Singapore, like really expensive! Thanks to taxes most bottles of hard alcohol will start somewhere between $80-$100, wines will start at around $25 a bottle and beer is usually around $20 a six pack and those prices are in stores, it's more expensive in restaurants. That's why we like the SAKE BAR. There's this joint that we frequent in Robertson Quay called ORIHARA SHOUTEN!

While still pricey, by Singaporean standards it's reasonable and oh so much fun. Run by a cute couple, Maria deals with the floor while her husband (who doesn't speak a lick of English) deals with the booze and the preparation of the Whiskey. Oh... the whiskey. You see, when you order a whiskey, they carve out a ball of ice that fits perfectly in your glass and pour the whiskey over that iceball, it's a cool tradition well worth the wait. If Whiskey isn't your thing, they usually have hundreds of different bottles of Sake to choose from and they also offer "Sake Seasons", (think of a Wine Flight, little tasters of Sake, 3 glasses for about $30).

Another cool thing about this place (and most bars in Singapore), if you don't finish your bottle of booze, they will keep it for you for up to a month. So when you come back, you can pick up right where you left off and enjoy the rest of your Sake. Pretty sweet deal.

I've also bestowed the crew at Orihara with an official TIKI BAR TV shot glass. One of the cool things about this place is that you can choose the glass you wish to sip your sake from and now one of those choices include a GREEN GULP!

Anyway, this has become something of a weekly tradition for us, to end the night with a drink at the Sake bar and spend some time with our friends and Maria, it's a cool joint and I'm glad we found it. If any of you come to visit us, I'm pretty sure that at one point or another, we'll end up having a drink here but for now, you can see our Sake adventures HERE!!!

MRT

The MRT or Mass Rapid Transit (Simplified Chinese: 大众快速交通 or more commonly known as 地铁; Malay: Sistem Pengangkutan Gerak Cepat; Tamil: சிங்கை துரிதக் கடவு ரயில்) is a subway/elevated train system that forms the backbone of transit in Singapore, spanning the entire city-state. The initial section of the MRT, between Yio Chu Kang Station and Toa Payoh Station, opened in 1987 establishing itself as the second-oldest metro system in Southeast Asia, after Manila's LRT System. The network has since grown rapidly as a result of Singapore's aim of developing a comprehensive rail network as the flagship of the public transport system in Singapore, to 70 stations, with an average daily ridership of 1.564 million in FY07/08.

Since 1987, the Land Transport Authority has been expanding the system in order to connect every neighbourhood/region in Singapore. The North South Line, East West Line, North East Line and part of the Circle Line are operational while the Downtown Line and the remainder of the Circle Line are still under construction. Construction schedules for the Thomson Line and Eastern Region Line have been announced.

I use the MRT to get to and from work (for you Vancouverites: think East Van to Richmond), It's quick, it's clean, it's air conditioned and it's cheap. From my apartment, I walk 10 minutes to the TIONG BAHRU station, train for 30 minutes, swap trains at TANAH MERAH and train for another minute, then it's a five minute walk to work. Simple, easy and no one gets hurt. It's super busy for the first few stops and the last two stops, otherwise I get 23 mintues of a decently roomy train ride. Another cool feature, is that you can MRT virtually anywhere in Singapore, if you have the time and patience, it's a dream (but cabs are cheap here and ofcourse faster).

The only real problem is that I hate, hate, hate public transit, always have, always will. I used to make fun of it in Vancouver as I'm a car guy and if I don't have a car, I'm a taxi guy but seriously, when it's this convenient and this cheap, it's hard to say no to the MRT. It will take some getting used to and once in a while I still cab it to and from work but more and more, the MRT is growning on me. It's a great way to get around Singapore and unlike Gamble's New York Subway experiences, it's not hot and it doesn't smell.

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF SINGAPORE

So this weekend we knocked off another one from our "Sing to-do list" and visited the NATIONAL MUSEUM OF SINGAPORE. It's a very cool and extremely massive museum that's free to the public and you only pay to see the "feature" exhibits (we paid $6 each to see both of the featured exhibits, well worth it). Within it's walls, there's a number of free sections that focus on the history, food and photography of Singapore as well as a number of rotating headliners. This month it's the work of Christian Lacroix and Verner Panton. 

Lacroix is one of the most legendary clothing designers on the planet and this exhibit focussed on his theatrical costumes, while Panton is a trailblazer in the world of furniture design. While the Lacroix exhibit was interesting, the Panton exhibit blew us away with how cool some of his designs were and how ahead of the times he truly was. Today it may be considered "retro" but when you look at the furniture pieces he came up with in the 50's and 60's... his use of shape and color, it's pretty amazing. He created some astounding rooms as well, bars and restaurants that if around today, would be considered some of the hottest joints in town, seriously, his work is all that AND a bag of chips. At first I thought, "man do I really want to see this?" and boy am I glad I listened to that smart wife of mine, I would have missed this incredible exhibit focusing on this very talented man. All in all it was an awesome day at the museum and you can see the pics HERE!!!

SINGLISH

Even though the "official" language of Singapore is English, in reality it's a hybrid called "Singlish" which virtually everyone speaks. Michelle bought us a Singlish dictionary to help us out and the thing is awesome, I wrote a little paragraph for you all in Singlish just so you get an idea. The proper translation follows afterwards.

Eh. Long time no see. Hi. Singapore is good, lah. The food in Singapore, damn shiok man! Michelle happy like bird lah, Singapore laimon cheaper. The weather is solid siah, but hot everyday! How can? Singaporeans are chio, no fatty bom bom, lots of stylo milo people man. Sup sup sui.

Hi. Singapore is good and I really like the food here. Michelle is ecstatic since diamonds are much cheaper in Singapore. The weather is simply great and superb but hot everyday! How is this possible? The Singaporeans are good looking, not a lot of fat bottoms, everyone is fashionable. It's no big deal.

Awesome...

MAY UPDATE

Well, here it is, officially three weeks in Singapore, sometimes it feels like way longer and sometimes we say "it's only been three weeks???" But a lot has happened for us in the month of May:

• We had a big battle with the BANK as we attempted to sell our house. As for the outcome... call it a tie.

• Here's the first few days of our VANCOUVER IN MAY pics, before the move!

• Our BON VOYAGE Party!

• Once in Singapore, we visited SENTOSA ISLAND and the BOTANICAL GARDENS!

• Michelle got a bad SUNBURN and I can't stop SWEATING!

• I started a SING FOOD picture album ofcourse!

• In fact, here's a look at our SINGAPORE adventures so far!