Jet Lagging
Its dark outside and I get up to take a leak...ends up its only 6am! I think I got about 2 hours of sleep or something but I decided I might as well wake up. My dad was awake too, as he too could not sleep. I decided to head down to the gym at 6:30am expecting to be the single lonesome soul there. Ends up there were about 5 other people working out there...I am assuming they were suffering from case of jet lag. About 30 minutes into my workout my dad came down and asked me if I wanted to go for a jogg around downtown singapore...what a great idea! I love jogging around places I travel because you can explore the area around where you are staying....well that is if you cant sleep and all you can do at 6am is jogg!
We probably jogged for about 45 minutes or so but it was about one-mile worth of jogging...we stopped to check out some scenery such as the Mirlion, Durian inspired convention center, Clark Plaza and Parliment and took many silly pictures along the way.
I always heard that Singapore was clean but I didnt know how dedicated they are to keeping it clean. Streets and sidewalks are constantly cleaned, alley ways were even clean, the railing on the side of the road is cleaned! Even though it was 7am or so at the time i was sweating buckets from the humidity in Singapore. In front of the Intercontinental Hotel where we are staying my dad tripped on some uneven sidewalk and took a spill infront of a bootlegg 7-11 called Cheers. I think about three people on the block were like....omg! Luckily he was holding his camera in his hand at the time otherwise he probably wouldnt have tried broke his fall by breaking his wrist....which would NOT be a good way to spend your first 7-8 hours in Singapore.
The rest of the day was spent with Sifu Lin driving us around Singapore. He took us to this huge Buddist temple in Chinatown where there where amazing relics and very sacred room containing many solid gold objects that contained the Buddah's tooth. We also checked Sifu Lin's shop where he practices acupuncture and Chinese medicine and he even showed us his warehouse were he stored about 20+ Chinese lions and dragons for his Lion Dance group.
Then he took my sister and I to an optical place. Its funny because in the US contact exams are about $100 a year and then $60 for a glasses check...in Singapore its FREE and they'll do it for you on the spot! Obviously there is no health insurance company in the middle trying to screw you over for you money like in America. I ended up getting an extra pair of glasses and contacts for cheap and my sister got an eye glass exam and picked out new frame and had them made in all under 30 minutes, not some BS you have to wait two weeks kind crap like in the US.
Food and Beer
If you have ever visisted Singapore, one of the firs thinks you notice is that there are food courts everywhere. These are your crappy food courts like in the malls in the US full of nothing but crap fast food joints, instead they are full of great food at extremely cheap prices for US visitors.
For dinner we ate chilli crab and butter crab...both popular singapore dishes complete with more Lion Beer. The only problem is that eating crab is always messy and in Singapore they arent reluctant to give you more than one napkin or a wet wipe so I was eating crab a total pig!
I knew I shouldnt have drank so much beer because after dinner we cruised around Orchard Road, which is a popular shopping area simular to Rodeo Drive in Los Angeles. An good few blocks full of high end retail stores that I have no business doing more than window shopping in. As nature was calling we were stuck in bumper to bumper traffic for a good 30 minutes, I was heavily concentrating holding it in and breathing controllingly counting down every cross walk timer till the signal changed for us to go! Once we got back to the hotel I literally ran into the mens room and did my best Tom Hanks impression from the movie, A League of Their Own. I didnt beat Tom Hanks record but im sure I came close!
What I Learned: You only get ONE napkin or none at all, bring extras in your pocket! Japanese products and fresh produce air flown from Japan are expensive in Singapore. Watch out for uneven pavement because you might trip. US Healthcare system sucks (again). Dont drink beer before long car rides (again).
Its dark outside and I get up to take a leak...ends up its only 6am! I think I got about 2 hours of sleep or something but I decided I might as well wake up. My dad was awake too, as he too could not sleep. I decided to head down to the gym at 6:30am expecting to be the single lonesome soul there. Ends up there were about 5 other people working out there...I am assuming they were suffering from case of jet lag. About 30 minutes into my workout my dad came down and asked me if I wanted to go for a jogg around downtown singapore...what a great idea! I love jogging around places I travel because you can explore the area around where you are staying....well that is if you cant sleep and all you can do at 6am is jogg!
We probably jogged for about 45 minutes or so but it was about one-mile worth of jogging...we stopped to check out some scenery such as the Mirlion, Durian inspired convention center, Clark Plaza and Parliment and took many silly pictures along the way.
I always heard that Singapore was clean but I didnt know how dedicated they are to keeping it clean. Streets and sidewalks are constantly cleaned, alley ways were even clean, the railing on the side of the road is cleaned! Even though it was 7am or so at the time i was sweating buckets from the humidity in Singapore. In front of the Intercontinental Hotel where we are staying my dad tripped on some uneven sidewalk and took a spill infront of a bootlegg 7-11 called Cheers. I think about three people on the block were like....omg! Luckily he was holding his camera in his hand at the time otherwise he probably wouldnt have tried broke his fall by breaking his wrist....which would NOT be a good way to spend your first 7-8 hours in Singapore.Around the Town
After another shower my dad and sister and I went down to the dining hall for a beautiful complimentary breakfast and then met up with Sifu Henry Lin who my father met last year in Ghaugzhou last year through a trip with his kung-fu group and Jolene, Sifu's adorable 8-year old daugther. Sifu Lin drove us all around Singapore that day while his cute daughter took pictures of everyone and everything with her camera...definately not a camera shy kid! We stopped by a nearby mall where he showed us how expensive Japanese stuff was....such as $45 Singapore for a cantalope imported from Japan...thats like $30USD for ONE cantalope! We ate at a Japanese restaurant for lunch while it rained like a monsoon outside and then stopped by a huge electronics mall. I didnt end up buying anything there because the prices for electronics were the same, if not more expensive than the US. I even got a taste of authentic Singapore Lion Beer which i drank out in public infront of 7-11.
The rest of the day was spent with Sifu Lin driving us around Singapore. He took us to this huge Buddist temple in Chinatown where there where amazing relics and very sacred room containing many solid gold objects that contained the Buddah's tooth. We also checked Sifu Lin's shop where he practices acupuncture and Chinese medicine and he even showed us his warehouse were he stored about 20+ Chinese lions and dragons for his Lion Dance group.
Then he took my sister and I to an optical place. Its funny because in the US contact exams are about $100 a year and then $60 for a glasses check...in Singapore its FREE and they'll do it for you on the spot! Obviously there is no health insurance company in the middle trying to screw you over for you money like in America. I ended up getting an extra pair of glasses and contacts for cheap and my sister got an eye glass exam and picked out new frame and had them made in all under 30 minutes, not some BS you have to wait two weeks kind crap like in the US.Food and Beer
If you have ever visisted Singapore, one of the firs thinks you notice is that there are food courts everywhere. These are your crappy food courts like in the malls in the US full of nothing but crap fast food joints, instead they are full of great food at extremely cheap prices for US visitors.
For dinner we ate chilli crab and butter crab...both popular singapore dishes complete with more Lion Beer. The only problem is that eating crab is always messy and in Singapore they arent reluctant to give you more than one napkin or a wet wipe so I was eating crab a total pig!I knew I shouldnt have drank so much beer because after dinner we cruised around Orchard Road, which is a popular shopping area simular to Rodeo Drive in Los Angeles. An good few blocks full of high end retail stores that I have no business doing more than window shopping in. As nature was calling we were stuck in bumper to bumper traffic for a good 30 minutes, I was heavily concentrating holding it in and breathing controllingly counting down every cross walk timer till the signal changed for us to go! Once we got back to the hotel I literally ran into the mens room and did my best Tom Hanks impression from the movie, A League of Their Own. I didnt beat Tom Hanks record but im sure I came close!
What I Learned: You only get ONE napkin or none at all, bring extras in your pocket! Japanese products and fresh produce air flown from Japan are expensive in Singapore. Watch out for uneven pavement because you might trip. US Healthcare system sucks (again). Dont drink beer before long car rides (again).
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