Henderson Wave Bridge

Rain

what waterfalls look like in Singapore
well, maybe without the looping...

Before arriving, I heard three main things about Singapore:
- Strict Rules
- Food
- Rain
Though the first item hasn't shown itself as much as I expected it to, the latter two have certainly been as promised. Oh yes.

While in Singapore I've had the honor of witnessing quite a few great thunderstorms, of an intensity I've rarely seen outside the tropics. Unfortunately, I'm ill equipped to effectively share the sounds with you (that would take a nicer microphone on my end and a THX-certified room on your end), but I'll do my best to share some of the sights.

Singapore's civil engineers, as rightly they should, take rain seriously. I mean, very seriously. In an impressive attempt to keep Mother Nature under control, it seems they have lined every river in Singapore with cement. Take a look:

what rivers look like in Singapore

another Singapore waterfall

But, as you can see, even with such effort put into controlling the water, Nature, with the help of Moore's EDIT: Murphy's law, still manages to overflow the ditches and flood the sidewalks occasionally. After every storm, the tiled floors of my hall's stairwells become reminiscent of an ice rink and climbing the stairs becomes an adventure!
I guess you just can't contain the power of a tropical storm!

This is how it's done: the Breakfast Set

Rose has already sung the praises of the Singaporean "breakfast set" once. It's a song worth singing twice.
These are things I will always remember:

The lady behind the counter -- always there, every morning, week in, week out

These people make breakfast preparation
into poetry

sees me in line, "same? with tea lah?",
passes the order on to her team: yells: "A SOM TE!"

The toast lady, patiently nursing toasts on a grill to perfection
pre-sandwiched, pre-spread with kaya
she plates three pieces when they're ready
and not a moment before.

The tea man of the team hears the order
tea comes from a kettle held on high, the arc three feet long
boiling water from a tap
condensed milk on a spoon
all the while continuously in motion
not a drop spilled until the teacup is on its saucer, delivered to the counter in front of me
when it hits the counter, it always spills

Two eggs, half-boiled, but sometimes more like three-quarters or 0.3
keep the experience unpredictable.

mmm.

And so, this experience having played out over a few dramatic moments, I sit down with my tray and begin my meal, which occurs in 1:5.7 syllable format:
Toast: crunchy, smooth and sweet. Makes me a happier guy.
Eggs: half-boiled, runny. I must learn to concoct these.
Tea: bitter, sweet when stirred. The perfect way to finish.

Photo: Tree Under Observation

I can offer no further explanation.

Malaysian Adventure: Many Delights

As promised, I will tell you of the delights of our Malaysian vacation. I will do so by location, going in temporal order.

Malacca:

We ate a delicious dim sum breakfast! The tea was amazing. Om nom nom. Then, since it was so early, we enjoyed the lights on the river running through the town:

The view was stunning whether you looked to the left...

...or to the right.

There were so many birds in the trees, that when they flew away, their exodus seemed to go on forever! Much of Malacca is painted in brick red, including an excellent church and bell tower in the central square. We got to see a cool Chinese Temple, too. Later, we explored an informative museum about the history of Malaysia. We stayed at Emily’s, a hostel whose highlight was a sweet shower filled with plants.

Kuala Lumpur, or KL:

KL's skyline from near the end of one of the subway lines

One highlight of KL was that it was the only city at which we arrived at a reasonable hour without difficulty. Our first evening there, we explored the bustling Chinatown with all of its foods and merchandise.

The next day, we got to go to the marvelous Batu Caves, one of the highlights of the whole trip.

We climbed a lot of steps to get up there, but it was worth it! The cave housed Hindu shrines and lots of monkeys and pigeons. The monkeys were particularly great, as usual:

We took a few trains and ended up at an awesome vegan restaurant for lunch. Yeah, vegan Malaysian food.

this character was prominent on the storefront.

It was pretty good, and the restaurant had by far the best bathroom of the trip, with all the luxuries: Western-style seat, toilet paper, sink with soap. It even had a nice ambience. What an indulgence!

Finally, we explored the orchid and hibiscus gardens, as well as the park in that area.

It was here that I performed the amazing feat of getting bit by mosquitos shortly after applying bus spray. But the flowers were truly beautiful, and Jason had lots of fun taking pictures.

Our last day in KL was spent mostly in the mall. The mall, housed at the base of the Petronas Towers, was really lovely, and I enjoyed walking through it so much that I even volunteered to carry Jason’s heavier backpack for a bit of it. We saw two movies, as the movies were cheap cheap cheap, and we had lots of time to kill before our train. These movies were: Unknown and Merong Mahawangsa. The first was a Hollywood film that I enjoyed much more than Jason did, though we both liked the second, which was a Malaysian film telling the largely mythical history of one of the provinces of Malaysia.

It involved a Roman prince, Chinese Princess, and a protagonist who makes a funny mirror device to burn up enemy ships. Too bad for him one of his enemies was also a weather wizard, so the clouds came in and some hand-to-hand combat was necessary, such as that featured on the poster.

Penang:

We took a night train to Penang, on which I got more mosquito bites despite the air conditioning. I also got some sleep, but not enough, so after a lovely ferry ride, we traveled around the island by bus.

Jason got to see the island and take pictures, and I got to do a little seeing and lots of sleeping. We saw the usual mix of temples, churches, and mosques on Penang, as well as a few Chinese clan houses. We stayed at a place called Stardust which the guidebook said was much cleaner than the other choices. If this was true, I am incredibly glad we did not stay at one of the other places :p

Penang offered us the best nature experiences of the trip, as we got to see some totally awesome bioluminescence as well as go to the world’s smallest national park. The park boasted some nice beach views as well as a very fun canopy walk. I almost bathed in bug spray while here, and am happy to say the mosquitos did not touch me.

I also got to try Georgetown’s “white coffee.” It was ok, but not what I was expecting. It looked like coffee with all the fixings- there was certainly plenty of cream and sugar in the cup. But somehow, it still tasted like rather strong, black coffee. I shudder to think what white coffee tastes like black!

Kota Bharu:

Getting to Kota Bharu was an adventure, but Jason’s writing about that, so I’ll just say that we arrived in the afternoon. We had an ice cream waffle and I had a root beer float shortly after we arrived, and these two items were delicious enough that I remember that afternoon with fondness. We stayed at a place called Zeck’s where the owners were very friendly.

I slept most of the afternoon.

We had tasty Indian food for dinner. We had lots of tasty Indian food on this trip. I neglected to mention it in its due time, but really the various breads, mango lassis, and curries were absolutely delicious.

We left Kota Bharu the following morning on the jungle train. Just 15 hours later, we arrived safely in Singapore. Upon arriving at my dorm, I took what may be the best shower of my life up to this point. This, too, I count as a highlight of my trip. Really a delightful finish.

Malaysian Adventure Week: the Forgotten Bus

They thought they were in for a comfortable night. Little did they know...

Malaysian Adventure Week

Rose and I spent last week on a Malaysian adventure. We visited four cities across Malaysia and travelled through over 1500 kilometers (900 miles) of that lush land by train, bus, taxi and foot over 9 days.
It was an adventure of many ups and downs, ins and outs, and surprises.

like this kitty, pictured together with our trusty guidebook.

Over the next few days, now that we've settled back into Singapore life and our ideas have had a chance to marinate, Rose and I will do our best to relate some of the most important adventures and impressions to you.  If you're a facebook friend, you should definitely check out some photographic highlights here.
Stay tuned.

Islands make my heart sing

I think I'm in love. It was a whirlwind romance, but sometimes, that can't be helped. Besides, common knowledge dictates that it's better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all. And with a weekend of loving and loosing under my belt, I feel more complex. Since I don't even have a picture to remember him by, I'll have to weep fondly over a picture of a different-but-similar-looking-fellow.

Quest: Kickapoo Joy Juice

I must confess that I have neglected to relate a very important quest in my time here in Singapore. The quest may not, at first glance, appear substantial. It may even appear a tad odd, or the slightest degree silly. But let me assure you, my friends, that with the correct mindset of whimsy, the quest is indeed most significant.

I speak of course of the quest for the Kickapoo Joy Juice. Long ago, Jason and I were breakfasting at my local canteen, taking in the sights of the Singaporean food court. We beheld a large sign depicting various delicious drinks, such as Passion Fruit Tea and 100 Isotonic Beverage. And including a green can labeled, “Kickapoo Joy Juice.” Delighted by the name, we searched the beverage refrigerators in hopes of trying this alliterative drink sure to bring delight. But alas, our search was in vain, as no joy juice was to be had that morning. But did we give up? No!

Singapore's OK Toilet

"OK" has a bit of a different meaning here. Apparently it means "really good".

These large stickers are posted in all of Singapore's bathrooms.

An Island With No Malls

Last weekend's adventure took the three Oliners to the charming island of Ubin off of Singapore's northern coast. Though Ubin is part of the Republic of Singapore, Ubin is mostly undeveloped. With limited electricity and running water, it's a wonderful place to spend the day, biking on partially paved paths and exploring the nature reserves.

A drink stand on Ubin does its best to attract customers in Singlish.

Singapore's still got some tricks up it's sleeve...

While much of what was new to me in Singapore is now old hat, this past weekend showed me that this land still has plenty of surprises.

Exhibit A:

A grove of giant carrots.

There's more after the break. Click "read more" to see it.

Chingay in Pictures

As we arrived at the Chingay Parade site, we were treated to a beautiful sunset over the Marina Bay:

The crowd's attention was drawn elsewhere, however, as the pre-parade performances began.

The website we were using to find Chinese New Year goings-on listed the Chingay Parade as a "Must See!" and "Asia's grandest street parade". Suffices to say, it did not disappoint.
More pictures and details after the jump. Click "Read more" to see 'em.

Food, the train system, and more food.

warning: this is a longish post. you may want to just read the photos and captions :-).

First things first. Our Olin friend Steven, is currently blogging from France (here) and has challenged us (in this post) to a friendly competition. He wants to see who can find the strangest/most interesting thing -- Steven in France, or Jason, Rose and Lexi in Singapore. I think we have the lead so far, but I have to say his swimsuit vending machine has me pretty impressed. So, in the interest of keeping Singapore ahead of the game, I give you this real ad seen on the street:

Kickapoo Joy Juice: Original USA Joy Juice Recipe!

That's right. There's a drink here called Kickapoo Joy Juice. The strange thing is that, despite its widespread ad campaign, we have yet to see it anywhere! We've checked a number of beverage-selling locations. Perhaps joy is something you just have to keep searching for...

In other news, we went to Little India yesterday, and wandered, and ate:

delicious!

I know I should stop being surprised by this, but Singaporeans are very into food. as evidence I submit that massive road signs like this are to be seen all over the island:

PIE, that way!

Ok, so PIE stands for Pan-Island Expressway. But that doesn't keep me from being amused every time I see one of those signs.

The Chinese New Year is coming up next week, and as a result, we've been told, it gets much harder to find food on campus. Though we'll probably be travelling at that time, Rose and I thought it prudent to stock up on food just in case. At the supermarket, we found, as expected, that some of the more familiar foods are a little expensive than they are back home:

Cheerios are expensive!

SGD$10.50 (USD $8.20) for a box of cheerios... of course, we went for the local equivalent instead:

Ramen is cheap!

Ramen noodles. SGD $1.85 (USD $1.45) for a pack of five. Chomp chomp.

And now, some notes on the MRT (the train system they have here, which is largely elevated, and only partially subterranean), which we used to get around a lot this weekend: 

all of the train cars in a train are joined together to make one super-long compartment, and there are cool LED displays that show the route the train is on and the remaining stops.

there are loads of cameras!

The MRT stations are bristling with cameras. From a sitting position in one of the stations, I counted 6 cameras that I thought could see me from their mounts and another 24 that were facing away from me. So, it is a little Big Brothery here. On the other hand, though we've been told that there's a harsh penalty for jaywalking, we see that happen all the time.

Finally, here are some pictures from the Night Safari, which is a nice attraction we visited with some new friends on Friday. They have an impressive collection of nocturnal or partially-nocturnal animals and a fun trained animal show. <warning: photography enthusiast-speak> There's so much here that I wanted to take good pictures of, but ended up with mostly blurry second-exposure shots. It was, after all, nighttime, and the lighting is kept low to keep the animals comfortable. It made me wish I had a big-honker lens, a giant sensor, or the time to bring & use a tripod. </warning>

a timber wolf howling as part of the show at the Night Safari! This was super-impressive.

 Even this picture of porcupines came out blurry -- I mean these animals are supposed to be sharp!

porcupines cuddling!

Until next time!

Dino-bird

I just thought you should see this:

 More pictures from the bird park are up on Facebook if you're a facebook friend.

a few thousand words-worth of pictures

everything in Singapore is clearly labelled with a number. even the trees and lampposts.

Singapore's downtown has some impressive buildings. We took the liberty of naming them after fruits and other things.

From left: The clementine building and the canoe-on-top building

the durian building.

They also have this great giant merlion water-fountain we all drank out of!

And there's much, much more:

Orchard St. has MORE SHOPPING THAN YOUR BODY HAS ROOM FOR. It has mall after mall after mall after mall... and a statue of an avocado (in the lower-right). mm, shopping & food -- two of Singapore's strongest points.

Speaking of which, here's our unexpected food of the day:

...chomp chomp milkcurd!

some NTU pictures

I had a chance to go out this evening and take some pictures of the NTU campus. Click a picture to see it full-res.

the "South Spine" -- one of the academic complexes. feels like being aboard a starship.

One of the gardeny spots by my residence hall.

The Art&Design building I blogged about earlier.

one of the more awesome-looking buildings on campus.

and of course, it wouldn't be urban Asia without...

A toasted-sandwich vending machine! Might have to use one of these at some point, if a vegetarian option shows up!