Singapore

It’s been almost a year and a half since I’ve blogged, but life has been busy! Nursing school is challenging and I’ve met some great future colleagues. Darling boyfriend was sent to Singapore for work and the trip coincided with my Spring Break in March (coincidence? I think not…just amazing planning by darling J)

Our trip began with packing for a week in 100* weather, while it was about 50* here in South Carolina. Needless to say, I had to put outfits together, buy some new clothes and shoes, and fit it all into my duffel bought especially for the trip. Bags get so banged around during shipping and handling, on and off the plane, even the heavier duty ones, that I don’t think it’s worth spending much on the bag, unless you’re willing to spend a few hundred, or unless you’re toting designer clothes (always take your jewelry in your carry on!). Even if you do love your clothes (which I do), travel insurance makes for a nice backup plan if your bag gets completely destroyed. We bought foldable duffels from Wal-Mart for about $15. Mine got a small tear and darling’s got soaking wet en route to Singapore and darling’s got a small tear headed back.

We arrived at about 4am and were swiftly taken by taxi to the Swissôtel Merchant Court. The service was the kind that almost makes you feel bad! The bed was a massive white downy cloud and the breakfast selection was expansive.

Swissôtel Merchant Court Breakfast

Clark Quay

Chinese Herbal Remedies Store     

Our hotel was located on Clark Quay (pronounced like ‘key’) a bay enclosed by luxury restaurants and shopping. We were about a 5 minute walk from China Town, where I spent most of my free time. I ate salted, fried dough, red bean, yellow bean, and black bean buns, innumerable cups of boba milk tea, and an authentic Chinese street vendor lunch and dinner with darling boyfriend. The thing about Singapore is that no one is ‘Singapore-ese’, everyone is Chinese but has lived in Singapore for perhaps many generations. There is no ‘original’ Singapore culture, everything is simply Chinese. One of the Singaporean women darling worked with said that Singapore culture was “shopping”; I had heard this before visiting but didn’t believe it until I had spent a week attempting to hunt down places and events of unique cultural significance with no luck.

Chinese Street Vendor Lunch

Jumbo's Crab Restaurant, Clark Quay

Lunch in Little India

That's not to say there isn't plenty to see in China Town, Little India and of the remnants of British colonialism. A 20 minute tube ride on an immaculate subway complex took me to Little India where I wandered and had lunch in what looked like someone's home with an open air kitchen at the front. A sweet little Indian man served me lunch from a selection of curries and fried unknown dishes. I then walked about the 5 miles back to Clark Quay through town, stopping along the way to try a soya milk bubble tea (AWFUL--not like our soy milk!) and a red bean bun.

The major cultural attraction is the mall at Marina Bay and Marina Bay Sands, a resort hotel and gambling center. We heard that Singaporeans actually have to pay to get into the gambling area, whereas foreigners are allowed in for free! I guess they want their citizens saving their money.

Marina Bay nighttime water show

Helix Bridge @ Marina Bay

The taxi drivers (anywhere, really) are a wealth of information not only about what do to and where to go, but will share just about anything with you: views
on politics in their country and yours, religion, cultural tidbits that you are just too far removed to find out about, and details about their families and their personal history. Besides the actual information being communicated, just hearing how these taxi drivers speak about these people, places and politics gives you an insight into the mentality and perspective of the country you are visiting.

We had a really interesting conversation with one young taxi driver who was so outraged about Singapore’s open immigration policy; he made the classic argument that these people were taking jobs because they were willing to work for less than Singapore citizens, and were sucking government resources. When I responded by saying “interesting”, he nearly shouted “No! Not interesting, it’s terrible!” Needless to say, that wasn’t really a two-way conversation. When in someone else’s country, it’s best to just soak it all in and listen :)

Fort Canning Park

The Fort Canning gardens across from Clark Quay are a must see and they make a nice walk to the National Museum of Singapore. While in the park be sure to see the Westerner's cemetery, some of the tombstones date to the 1600's and are British sailors, officials and wives and children of the men in Singapore during British colonialism.

Take plenty of water if it's a hot day and take a taxi back through the Orchard Road area. Orchard Road is the '5th Avenue' of Singapore with plenty of huge multi-storey malls and upscale restaurants. You will find affordable places along the way, however. Darling and I ate at a sushi-go-round and had ColdRock Ice Cream for dessert (ColdStone here in the states).

We concluded the trip with a jaunt into Johor Bahru, Malaysia for the day. Malaysia is what I think of when I think of Asia; congested, busy streets, crowded, un-air-conditioned shopping malls, street vendors on every corner, sickly sweet smells of trash mixing with savory food smells in the street. Singapore is the opposite; everything is clean and all glass and metal, and legislation keeps vendors off the street. So don't go to Singapore expecting Asia, rather, expect a very clean, very Chinese, well ordered New York City; expect to wear fashionable clothes any time you go out or expect to feel out of place. Expect to have numerous food options but half of them American or Continental. Expect beautiful parks, perfect English spoken by everyone and amazing Asian hospitality.

Le Printemps est arrivé

And so March has come and gone and April is half over. March did no lamb like marching on it's way out like a lamb, but more like a sopping wet sloth, made its way into April, rainy, dreary and cold. Of course my daffodils bloomed just before the rains came and beat them into the ground. The tulips began blooming the beginning of April and a week later the azaleas turned into baubles of pale pink or shocking fuchsia on lawns all around our neighborhood.

I accomplished just about everything I set out to in my last blog post, so kudos to me. Sadly, we were called home for a family tragedy several weeks in a row, my cat had kittens and I've been studying my brains out, so I haven't had the time or energy to post until now!

Some exciting news on the kitty front; the stray "kitten" who adopted us turned out not to be a kitten at all but rather a (worldy-wise) two year old cat who brought three gorgeous little bundles of fur and pink nose into the world on Tuesday night. I had read *everything* I could get my hands on form the internet on kitty birthing and was so excited for my first real nursing experience. Darling said I was being a bit "too involved" but I was sure I would be needed. And of course, right as usual, I was. Kitty number two was breached in the birth canal with his feet out and mommy kitty gave up. He wasn't moving much when he came out but a little rubbing his belly and head and using my baby nasal aspirator (I knew it would come in handy!) and he was right as rain. Three kitties in total, all with their mother's gorgeous camel, gray, and white calico coloring were born between 8.30 and midnight. My secret wish is to keep them all but I suppose that isn't really practical.


This morning I saw two woodpeckers mating (who knew!?) at the base of a tree in our yard. We also have a flycatcher that has for the second year in a row built its nest under our deck. I peeked several weeks ago and saw only a single egg, but I assume more have been laid since. Expect pictures when the birdies hatch.

I have redone the front garden but since I am a poor student will probably only be planting onion bottoms this spring. If you didn't know, you can stick an onion bottom into the ground after the cut part has been let to 'callous' for a day or two and up will pop an onion in no time. I have 7 onions planted so far and will get my garlic started soon. There are quite a few yard farms here and people have already tilled and prepared their beds.

On other fronts, I got my library card!! I rented Persepolis, a French film about an Iranian girl growing up at the time of the Revolution, and Amelie, music by Yann Tiersen, (one of my favorite musicians); checked out Strong Poison by Dorothy Sayers as well. If you don't know Lord Peter Wimsey, you should get to know him, and Strong Poison is the place to start.

I've been making my favorite Persian dish, Kashk-e Bademjan again today. For the last few months the supermarkets were all out of eggplant, in Florida too! Some sort of drought, disease or something kept them off of shelves in their peak season.

When I started this post I was sure I had more interesting things to say but now they've all left me!

thai cuisine restaurant

Darling boyfriend and I tried the only authentic Asian restaurant serving sushi in Simpsonville. There are a few Mexican places, an awful pretend sushi chain called Fu of Kyoto, a hibachi place and every fast food restaurant you can imagine. There is a Chinese/Japanese takeaway (I never understand the "we serve this/that" type of restaurant) that we go to if we're hungry, tired and it's late. The Chinese/Japanese? family are friendly and the food is decent for pretend Chinese. Therefore, I was beyond thrilled when we stumbled upon a Thai restaurant in downtown Simpsonville. I was a little wary at first because the neon sign out front simply says 'Thai', so on our first trip I told darling to drive by and I would jump out and peek inside to see if it was up to par. It was, and I felt like an idiot sticking my head in, back out again to tell darling to come in and then making our grand entrance.

The sushi bar was very small and the lone sushi chef was the first to greet us on our entry. We had a dragon roll for our appetizer. The fish was top quality and the presentation impressive for such a small restaurant. The roll was so packed with tuna and salmon that boyfriend decided to get just one more roll and call that dinner. I ordered a Thai iced tea which was perfect--they can sometimes be sickeningly sweet. It was served in a huge glass and I just barely finished the last of it. Darling's spicy lump crab roll was a bit too salty, yet still a generous portion. I ordered the Pad Thai with tofu. It came out a huge plate of steaming noodles, crispy tofu and crunchy beansprouts and peanuts on top. Needless to say if I hadn't accidentally knocked my takeaway box out of darling's hand on the way up the stairs, I would've had lunch for the next day.

UK vicariously cont'd

Got a call from darling boyfriend early this morning, said he was walking around London near the Cavendish Hotel, trying to stay in the sunshine as it peeked from the clouds. We found The Cavendish in A Fodor's Guide titled See It Britain. Not very useful in the way of London hotel suggestions as most were over £200 a night, but the hotels were spread all over London which makes for good research if you're not familiar with London's districts or neighborhoods.
The Cavendish is near Piccadilly Circus tube station which is a walkable distance from the Soho district, Leicester Square, Oxford Circus and Covent Garden areas. Check out this video from my favorite travel host Rick Steves, out on a restaurant crawl in Soho. This is a useful mapped guide to restaurants, shopping, bars and events, however, don't count on every listing being up to date!

If I were taking a trip to London (so depressing to say "if" and not "when"!) I would start from my hotel or nearest tube station, use a big-print map to plot my course and list places to eat and things to see along the way. Even if some of the things you've mapped are now defunct, you're sure to find something interesting near by. During my own travels in Asia, I found that asking a local to point you in the direction of something interesting is a great tip for keeping your adventure momentum going. Ask a local every few blocks as you walk until someone suggests something interesting enough, near enough or cheap enough for you to do.

UK vicariously

Just got back from dropping darling off at the airport for a business trip to the UK. I miss him so incredibly much when he's gone, but a break can sometimes bring freshness and a clearer perspective at the end of it. And he's off being amazing and adventurous which makes me so proud.

I am not ashamed to admit that I'm ravaged with jealousy of his jet-setting adventures while I get to stay home with kitties and do homework. So, in the spirit of living vicariously, I'll share some of darling's favorite spots (many researched and recommended by moi) from his trips to England.

The Shaftesbury Hyde Park International This was the first hotel darling stayed in on his first trip. We chose it because of its generally positive Google reviews, affordable price and close proximity to Hyde Park. An easy walk into Hyde Park a few blocks away and just a single block from the Bayswater Tube station made for easy coming and going to other areas of London. Hyde Park is located just north east of London proper, a sprawling but well manicured garden plopped in the middle of the London metropolis. Here are some gorgeous pics taken by my gorgeous.

The Tate Modern probably tops darling's list of favorite places, earning a visit each time he's been in the UK. Located on London's South Bank, called the Left Bank of London, near the Millennium Bridge, the Tate modern is for those with an eye for the abstract or at least the unusual and time for contemplative wandering. Darling had lunch on the Tate terrace and looked out over the Millennium Bridge toward St. Paul's Cathedral.

great job on the snow kitty, darling!

A few weeks ago we had massive amounts of snow (for these parts) fall on Greenville. Being, as I am, from Florida, this was glorious...for the first few days. Then the housebound restlessness, aching joins from damp cold, drip drip dripping during the afternoon from ice melting onto the tin roof became almost unbearable. I was so glad to see all the glorious whiteness finally go, although I did feel a bit cynical for wishing it away. And sad, too that it has to go slowly, contaminated and gray. When it's lying on the ground in great piles it's so hard to believe that it's water!

During the first day the world outside our window was quiet and twinkled with pristine beauty. The birds seemed to come out of the woodwork (or, literally the woods) and I saw hosts of tiny Tufted Titmice (Titmouses?), radio active Northern Cardinals and their rusty brown female partners, a single pair of Carolina Wrens, and jumpy little red house finches. We took a drive two days after the big snow and this is what we found.

the beginning of a courtship

It's been just over a year to the day that I made my last blog post. After spending the last day revamping my design and focus for the blog, I'm ready to blog it up. A lot can change in a year; I've quit my job as a refugee advocate, re-routed my career opting for nursing school instead of graduate studies in sociology, moved to Greenville, SC, acquired two kitties and last but not least of all, a dream-boat boyfriend. Time does indeed fly, whether you're having fun or not.

I've now been in Greenville for 6 months exactly and have made a not entirely successful adjustment. I got a part time job at the local Whole Foods Market but couldn't handle pushing carts and bagging groceries with a degree in my pocket, so quit that. My main chance for meeting people is now during my classes, but as most students are quite younger than me, and native South Carolinians, I've found that difficult. There are numerous volunteer opportunities, but I'm finding it hard to create structure in my life at the moment and don't want to jump into anything that in the end I can't keep my commitment to. My best bet is finding things to do that I believe others should know about. My personality tends to be motivated by need or filling an information gap. We'll see what I come up with.

Most days so far, involve birdwatching, kitty scratching, homework, reading news on the web (guardian.co.uk, nytimes.com, telegraph.co.uk, drudgereport.com, greenvilleonline.com, economist.com, npr.org), listening to classical music on npr (the only thing on our local npr station), cleaning the house (a rarely finished task), more kitty scratching, and making dinner for darling boyfriend. Tasks to include in daily routine in the future include but are not limited to : blogging (success!), daily jogging regimen, part time job, A's in college courses, crafting, volunteering, and most importantly finding things to do in and around Greenville that are stimulating and that I can then blog about and share with others.

Stay tuned!