Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Guest Blog for Mom's Visit



Hi Everyone,

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.

Mom arriving 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!

Clarke Quay for breakfast
Slightly jet-lagged mom at breakfast -- compare this to the picture of mom at our last breakfast

We walked about five hours around the city center area. Here are some pictures.

Parliament
New Supreme Court building, aka the UFO
St. Andrews Cathedral
Books just like at home...
inside
Marina Bay - outside of the new casino

Marina Bay
The Esplanade or "durian"

In front of the merlion

The famous Fullerton -- used to be the post office
Our matching red ferraris parked outside

We found one of the Salvador Dali statues

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.

Mom's first Tiger beer

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.




Friday evening Emily and I decided to take in Chinatown. We went to a very crowded area where there are many restaurants and endless street stalls selling Chinese trinkets, clothing, and etc. It is so colorful and alive with hundreds of people walking through the narrow streets. Emily took me to a restaurant which her fellow local NUS students had taken her. She wanted me to try the dim sum, which was delicious.
Chinatown at night
A gang of white people riding on these drove past us
Outside of Yum Cha

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.

Two boys playing in the foot washing fountain

We had some rainy moments, not quite ideal
Did not stop mom from enjoying herself

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.

Band on top of the drink stand, doing excellent black eyed peas renditions

So many people on the street

Mom enjoys trying satay, and another Tiger beer

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.

The church we went to, don't be fooled into thinking that this is a regular occurrence


Walk back to the hotel along the river

My vogue mother in front of Chanel, Orchard Road

Grandma Fran, I didn't know you had a property in Singapore!

Dinner at Gluttons' Bay, note the delicious chicken wings

View of the city at night

Our longest walk home ever

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.

View of our hotel, taken on mom's day by herself

The statue of Raffles

Simon, Kerry, and I before dinner with Mom

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:

Breakfast on the last day, quite a change from the picture above

I thought that the name was funny

Mom checks out the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple

View from the inside

Raffles

The sugary Singapore Sling

At the airport, thanks for coming, Mom!!






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