10 things that never change

Lauren-made altruisms (my recent observances in Singapore):
1. Bad Starbucks is still 10x better than vending machine coffee
2. Old people still dye their hair strange shades of blue that don't look normal
3. Waiting in the bank line at lunch hour is never a quick process
4. Teenagers are still "too cool for school"
5. Old ladies love to sit and talk together to pass the time
6. Scrambled eggs just aren't as good when you aren't making them yourself
7. Cash disappears faster than spending money on my credit card
8. Buses are inconsistent, consistently
9. Taxi drivers are like a box of chocolates...
10. Pictures can't fully describe what it is really like to be here

There are many things that are different, but it is amazing to see that despite all the differences, there are some things that never change.

Wearing red in Thailand

We just got back yesterday from our first trip to Thailand! We went to Bangkok for 3 days on a short trip before work started up and stayed in the heart of the city. The city was similar to Shanghai in that there were lots of markets and people trying to get you to ride in their taxi or "tuk-tuk" everywhere we went. It is hard to fit in anywhere in Asia when you have blonde hair and have a 6'8'' person walking with you! Lots of taxi and tuk-tuk drivers asked us where we were from, probably to gauge how much money we were willing to spend, and we started saying "from Singapore" so they would give us a better price.

PICTURES link: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2380201&id=11832762&l=8156b1ca10

The first day, we spent the entire day outside of the city. On our way to see the floating market, we actually saw sea salt farms! The workers actually section off areas of water near the shore and use rakes to scoop up the salt that has settled in the section. Then they make individual piles of sea salt (very impressive to see en masse) and compile them all into one large mound that is flat on top and in the basic shape of a rectangle. It was very cool to see, and something that we will have to go back to spend some quality time taking pictures of.

We also saw a "train market" on our way - a market formed along train tracks that shuts down for the few minutes a train passes by each hour! We missed the train schedule, but we did get to walk the tracks and view the goods for sale. The most interesting thing was that people weren't interested in us! We actually felt quite invisible. It helped us get some great pictures though! =)

Train market

The first part of the day we went to the floating market. There is an entire group of people that live in houses right along the water and use canals as their main mode of transportation. They also sell food and souveniers from huts along the canal or from right out of their boat. There were may traffic jams, and being a boat driver there would be quite a stressful job! I think there were about as many foreigners (called "farang") as local people, but it was still cool to see and experience. Our boat had a motor, which was nice for speed purposes, but but took the ride pretty slow for pictures. Our driver was probably only 15, and spoke little English, but he would always slow down if he saw us taking pictures of something.

Floating Market

After seeing the floating market, we went to Ayutthaya (pronounced Ayu-dai-ya), the ancient capital of Bangkok, to see the temple ruins and remnants of the old city. The light was not that good for taking pictures, but the ruins that remained were pretty impressive. It was built around 1370 AD, and is still in pretty good shape for being sacked by the Burmese and having minimal restoration done. The one thing the Burmese did consistently in their ransack was to behead all of the Buddha statues throughout the city. There were just rows and rows of statues everywhere that only remained from the neck down, which made for an interesting sight.

Ruins of Ayutthaya - old capital of Thailand

Buddha statue head in a tree trunk

One thing we noticed here and in other places in Thailand was free roaming dogs. I am not sure if they are considered sacred or not, but many of them did not have collars even though they probably had owners, but they had free reign of the streets and people for the most part passed by them as if they were invisible. I think they must get food on their own and people are just used to seeing them on the streets, but it was hard to walk past them and not pet them! We treat our pets much differently in the States. It was ironic also to see that dogs whose owners did not care where they went, typically stayed close to their owners and were uninterested in random people walking by. In the States, we pay people to train our dogs not to be interested in passer-bys! Weird.

The second day, we explored around the typical Bangkok tourist attractions (inside the city). We took the train to a boat and went to an antique market, took a "tuk-tuk" (or glorified golf cart/covered motorcycle) to see the Golden Buddha (solid gold statue), then to Chinatown (where they don't bargain as much as in China!), then went to Sampheng market, then stopped at Khao San road for lunch & shopping, went to the Great Palace (where the President usually stays), saw the Reclining Buddha (largest statue in the world), and went back to Khao San road to finish shopping. We went back to the boat station and ate dinner on the dock, took a boat back to our stop, and explored the night street. This was a very tame night life area, but we saw what Bangkok is known for in the advertisements and offerings for shows we got as we walked down the street. After that, we went to the Night Bazaar, an organized area full of shops right down the street from our hotel. Throughout the day, we got some great souvenirs and gifts as well as our typical earrings and Christmas ornament (that we collect from everywhere we travel). What did we buy for our Christmas ornament? ...a toy tuk-tuk made from a Pepsi can written in Thai.

Tuk-tuk (pronounced "tdook-tdook")

On our last day, we went to the famous "weekend market" where about 30,000 vendors set up shop every weekend to sell their goods. It was quite an experience as we arrived early and saw vendors setting up their shops, and accidentally wandered into the "pet" area of the market that sold dogs, cats, rabbits, birds, and baby squirrels. We also saw some live pet monkeys at one of the booths at the Night Bazzar the night before, and the local people were amazed at why we stopped and pointed. Squirrels take the cake though.

We actually left the country just in time because it was the day before a protest started in Bangkok. The United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) group has organized this rally because the people are unhappy about the ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. He has been sent to Dubai and faces a 2 year prison sentence for abuse of power, but many of the rural Thai want him to return to Thailand because of the cheap medical care, low interest loans and other measures his government enacted to alleviate poverty. This link has the full story: http://www.thehimalayantimes.com/fullNews.php?headline=Protesters+surge+into+Bangkok+wanting+new+election&NewsID=232951

Apparently, the last time there was a large protest in Bangkok, the airport shut down for 5 days. Our taxi driver on our first day in Bangkok told us about the protest and that we would make it out in time.

No one told us the color the protesters were rallying around was the color of one of the few shirts both Kevin and I brought on our trip...
red.

Ooops. =)

Rice, rice, and...do you like rice?

We have been very adventurous with the foods here! However, one commonality to almost every meal we have tried here has been rice! I am keeping a tally of how many meals I have eaten here that come with rice, but I do have to say the fried rice here is 10x better than what we call fried rice in the states! The rice is sweeter, stickier, and always has egg in it (which makes me feel like it is healthier!) and is my saving grace for meals where I have been a bit too adventurous when I ordered. Two famous Singaporean dishes we have tried are "chicken rice" (which is a good place to start) and "laksa" which is a noodles dish with coconut milk and various toppings (I like cooked prawns on top).

Sugarcane juice - not as sweet as I expected it to be - but refreshing!

Green tea Kit Kats! My new favorite!!!

Strawberry Milk Ice - Shaved ice, condensed milk, strawberry gel, and cut strawberries on top. Surprisingly good!

You can buy food at different types of restaurants. There are typical sit-down meals, fast-food places (they have Micky D's if you want it!) and hawker stands. These are true local food centers where each vendor has their own stall and specialty. You might have to buy your meal in parts from different vendors, depending on which food you want. A good hawker stand is in Holland Village (where we had chicken rice) and in Little India (where we had amazing chicken satay). The cost of food in the hawker centers is very cheap, but I need to prepare myself to eat there. I can't just say "It's time for lunch. What do they have?" I have to say, "I am going to a hawker stand. What do I want?" It is an adventure every time, and sometimes the food is amazing, sometimes the food is worth trying somewhere else.

Kevin excited to find soft serve Mickey D's with Green Apple syrup on top!

The most interesting thing about food in Singapore is that it tastes different than it looks. I look at a dish and expect it to taste a certain way, based on past experiences with food that looked similar, and I am surprised 9 out of 10 times. Most of the time, it is food that looks like it would taste salty and tastes sweet. The meals are generally more sweet than I am used to, but the desserts are less sweet than in the States. Sometimes, the meal is more sweet than the dessert!

The one food I miss the most is a good salad. There are only a few places I've been told have good salads in restaurants, but the best idea is to make one yourself. The nice thing is the water in Singapore is safe to drink, which means the fruits and vegetables are all safe to eat as well. It is like America in that regard - you can try any food you want without worrying about if it is contaminated or not. You might have to worry about neck and skin on your chicken, but it is clean!

My next adventure...Peanut & Sweet corn ice! :)

Clearly, you've never been to Singapore...

We arrived safely in Singapore last Thursday night around midnight our time. I had already forced my body to stay awak for most of the flights, so my body must have thought it was in pure "survival" mode when I finally allowed myself to rest. The next morning, we rode around with our guide to get SIM cards for our cell phones, bank accounts, bus passes and just to see the sights. It is a beautiful city - lots of friendly people, appetizing restaurants, and shopping that is fit for Rodeo Drive. While I am not interested in this type of shopping, (I like bargaining prices) it is still comforting to see brands of stores I know.

Notice how muggy it is at 12am!

All of the street signs are in English, the buses and MRT (subway) are pretty easy to use, and taxis are everywhere you look. I do miss my car - I hate paying to go to work and back, or go to run errands, but I do walk as much as I possibly can. It is very humid...and I am trying to be more Singaporean in my walking style. Us Americans power walk - and I am the queen of power walking - but when you powerwalk, you perspire very rapidly in this humidity. I actually talked to someone who lived in Houston and said that it was worse than here (most Texans know what I mean!), but all I know is now an expectation of mine to sweat whenever I go outside.

Busy street in Singapore - I love the tropical jungle beside the road!

The air conditioning in stores and in public transportation is very good, but it makes it hard to dress for the "weather" when there are only two seasons - inside (cold) and outside (hot)! I have to bring a sweater with me to work, but I get a good workout just walking 8 minutes to the bus each morning.

I have also successfully worn blisters into my feet in all of the necessary places in the first 3 days! I didn't realize that closed toe shoes are near impractical when it comes to walking ouside all day. I knew my feet would expand, but in the States, I spend enough time in the air conditioning and in cooler weather that my feet shrink back down. I didn't realize how pampered my feet were in tennis shoes until I started trying to look more like the locals (no one wears tennis shoes) and then found out the hard way that I had lost my old calouses. My feet have now successfully healed, but that was definitely a lesson learned the hard way!

Overall, Singapore is a vibrant city with lots of great dining and shopping options and lots of beautiful outdoor nature areas to explore. I am enjoying my time here so far and look forward to the next 6 months! I will put pictures up later to show the place where I live and the cool sights around the city!

My apartment kitchen & living room

To see more pictures on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2380195&id=11832762&l=adfd265daf