Enjoy!
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Thursday, July 8, 2010
More of Chinatown
Singapore is full of really cool architecture; all very colourful. Right in the middle of Chinatown is this amazing temple (one of many situated randomly amongst everything). Singapore is also quite a melange of different Southeast Asian cultures and beliefs so you will see mosques, temples, churches all over the island. In fact, the MRT even has multiple languages - english, chinese and malay characters.
And of course, Singapore is very well known for its food. Food is EVERWHERE. I mean literally, you cannot escape it. Stalls everywhere and it's a wonder how Victor and I have not gained more weight than we actually have. Perhaps it's the heat and all of the walking. I will try to take more photos of the diversity of food as the months go by to share with you some of the gastronomic experiences we are having here.
I have also however started cooking. Yes, a rare thing for me, but after months of eating out all the day, you just want something pure and would like to know exactly what was used to create the food you are about the ingest. So far, we have found this really great meat store in the mall near our place. Beef is superbly expensive here because Singapore is an island and does not have a supply of cows (perhaps because of the heat). So essentially everything is imported. A steak costs anywhere from $8 to $10. Even dairy is expensive - starting at $1 per cup. My co-workers laughed at me today when we compared yogurt stories as I am still on the quest to find my favourite kind here. I told them that I felt like being robbed everytime I went to grocery store to purchase yogurt, but realize it's due to the fact that no cows exist on this island.
Anyhow, enjoy the photos of the cool temple we visited and a small glimpse into the food of Singapore - yummy Asian desserts in the local dessert stall in Chinatown. Sometimes they have these huge ice towers like those they serve at a BBT place in Toronto :)
Marang Trail - hiking in the tropics
So in an effort to explore more of Singapore's great outdoors, we decided to be brave and venture out to find a trail; one of the many in Singapore. They have about 5 major sight seeing spots, but we only made it to two! We started by taking the MRT (subway train) to the tip of the island and embarked on our journey along the Marang Trail. It was exceptionally hot and we even brought towels and lots of liquid for the road. As we heard thunder, it finally gave us an excuse to call it quits for the day after about a 1.5 hour trek. Stranded in the middle of the trail, we sought to go backwards to the MRT, but luckily as I ran to get some ice cream from the old man and his cart (thus also negating all possible calories lost from walking the trail), a taxi came by who also wanted to grab some ice cream. We waved him down and jumped right in. Kind of felt like all the hard work and exercise was wasted. Classic Singapore laziness justified by the heat :S
Taxis are incredibly cheap in Singapore. For example, the average ride home for us is about $6-$8. It's kind of sad how taxi drivers aren't paid a lot, but it acts as a major form of transportation for many people as not a lot of people living in the downtown core have cars so I guess there is a lot of volume, but still it is sad. However, sometimes the smell inside these cabs are a little unbearable. Kind of like the MRT... not sure quite how to describe the scent, but it smells like food - kind of garlicy, curryish... a melting pot of Southeast Asian cultures. Yes this is gross and yet another thing to get used to. And, to top it off (if you can imagine), you can't eat/drink or bring Durian (yes there are actually signs for this) onto the train... so hmmmm.... I'll leave it to your imagination at this point.
Enjoy the photos!
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Botanic Gardens
We decided to go there in the late afternoon given how hot and humid it is in Singapore; even so, after at 20 minute walk, we already grew very tired from the heat. The park is so large that we will definitely need to go back.
The best part of the park is that it really showcases all of the great foliage and plants existing in lush Singapore and is free! Makes me wonder how the government actually has all that money to maintain it. Some of the plants I have never seen before like ones with orange branches, others were so tall and large I was amazed by their sheer size - including the large fish!
Enjoy!
Chinese New Year in Asia
Chinese New Year is a very big holiday in Asia. Just as big as Christmas. Some people take the entire week off, if not two. And, it is one of the few days where stores/shops are actually closed in Singapore.
We visited Chinatown on Chinese New Year while making a stop to my favourite Japanese burger joint - wish we could bring this back to Canada! Yummy!
Enjoy!
INSEAD Graduation - December 16, 2009
Below is a link to some long overdue graduation pictures! Graduation happened during the day at Fusionopolis, the office towers next to the INSEAD campus in Singapore. Filled with speeches at the ceremony and cocktails afterwards back at the school. It also happened to be the 50th anniversary of INSEAD. Enjoy!
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Our Old Home in Singapore
Where most INSEAD students lived... in private condominiums rented out from local citizens. We lived in a three bedroom flat, shared with cool roommates - Kiem from Belgium and David/Jenny from New Zealand, then later Michael from the US.
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