My mom and I had a great visit this past week. She just left this evening, but fortunately I had her write a guest blog entry before she went! So here it is (all I did was insert the pictures):
Greetings from Singapore! I arrived here Wednesday evening about 11:45 pm after boarding a flight at JFK 9:15 am the day before. Because of a two hour delay at JFK I missed my connection in Hong Kong and had to wait in that airport for four hours for the next flight to Singapore. No one was ever happier to finally be on the ground and see Emily’s smiling face at baggage claim.
Luckily the next morning I did not feel too jet lagged, and Emily and I were off to explore the city on foot. We stopped for breakfast of soft boiled eggs and kaya toast which is toast spread with coconut and butter. Very good, and I don’t even like coconut. The only disappointment was the coffee. Those of you at my work know how I love my coffee! It is thick and dark, and when you ask for cream they use sweetened condensed milk because fresh milk is scarce here. Too sweet!
We walked about five hours around the city center area. Here are some pictures.
New Supreme Court building, aka the UFO
That evening we went to Arab Street. Singapore has several distinct ethic communities. This evening we ate at one of the restaurants and had great hummus, and shish ka bob which wasn’t my favorite. After dinner we walked around the area taking in the culture and then stopped at the Blue Jaz, a fun bar for a drink before heading home.
Friday Emily had a big test scheduled for the afternoon. She and I boarded the bus to the Botanical Gardens. To describe the gardens I will quote their pamphlet which states it is Time Magazine’s pick for Asia’s best urban jungle. After having lunch in their fantastic food court, Emily departed for school to take her test, and I was alone in Singapore to wander about the gardens. I headed straight to the National Orchid Garden found within the park. It was an amazing display, and took almost an hour to get through the exhibit.
Sentosa Island is Singapore’s beach area. It is actually manmade with imported sand and implanted palm trees. Saturday we decided to go to the beach. To get to Sentosa, you have to take a tram from Vivo City, one of the largest malls I’ve ever seen, also with two amazing food courts. We enjoyed the afternoon swimming and lying on the beach.
Now back to the food, I now understand why Emily talks about food so much in her blogs. There are restaurants and street stalls (called hawker centers) everywhere, and many different types of food, Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Thai, Indonesian, and more. Saturday night we went to what I think is my favorite spot so far, Lau Pa Sat. There are about a hundred stalls set up in and outside the largest remaining cast-iron building in Asia. Iit operates between an older section of Singapore and the newer Business District. The street is closed and set up with many tables and chairs. Again there is such a variety of foods offered, but satay (barbecued meat on a stick) seems to be the specialty here. Great food and what a fun scene.
On Sunday morning, Emily and I went to church and then decided it was time to hit Orchard Road, a street with high-end shops and malls. It is the place to shop in Singapore. Although we did make two small purchases, most of our time was spent being shocked at the price tags. Later in the day, I went with Emily out to see her school for my first visit. NUS is a very large University with about 30,000 students. Emily lives in a high-rise dorm with many international and exchange students. We were able to use the internet and Skype home in Simsbury for the first time on my trip, because my hotel only offered the internet for a fee. After visiting her school we ended the evening with yet another meal at a Hawker center aptly named Gluttons Bay.
Monday Emily has classes all day so I was on my own. After breakfast I decided to visit the Asian Civilization Museum. After a ride with a cab driver who didn’t understand English, and as I don’t understand Chinese, I ended up at the wrong museum! At that point I got out of the cab, pulled my city map from my purse and set off. I happen to be the worse map reader I know, but somehow I managed to find the right museum. They offer free tours twice a day, but I was not there at the right time. I wandered through all the displays and found them very interesting, but I made a recommendation to Emily to take the tour when she goes, because it will be much more informative. Emily came back to the hotel to meet me at about 6pm. Our plans were to meet some of Emily’s friends from school and go out to dinner. We headed out to her campus and met up with Kerry who is a fellow UCONN student from Somers, and Simon who is a student from New Zealand. Because of Skype and Emily’s blog I felt as if I already knew both of them! Kerry is here for one semester like Emily, but Simon is a full time student at NUS. He recently spent a semester studying in Finland. We went to a Japanese restaurant for sushi which was the best I’ve ever had. The conversation was great with the three students talking about their travels, campus life, studies, fellow students and funny life observations in general. I also got to meet Katie, another good friend of Emily’s from the Univ. of North Carolina who had spent the evening entertaining her sister who is here for a visit, so was not able to join us for dinner.
Mom and I at dinner
Today is Tuesday, my last day. Emily and I have one or two more things we want to fit in before I leave. One is to have a Singapore Sling at the famous Raffles Hotel where they were invented. We plan to share one since they cost 30 Sing dollars, or about $21.00 US dollars! I have had a wonderful trip probably better than I even thought I would. Singapore is so interesting and alive, but the best part is seeing Emily really taking advantage of this great opportunity. She has made great interesting friends, is doing well in her studies, is exploring Singapore and all the culture, and has taken advantage of travel opportunities to other countries nearby. BUT we do look forward to seeing her home in May!
See you soon, Terri
Our pictures from today:
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