Singapore
Happy New Year’s
By Tony and Thomas on December 31, 2011 | 6 Comments »
We wish everyone a wonderful and exciting new year. We can’t believe this is our fifth New Year’s celebration on the road (and we are still in Asia). To give you a short glimpse of our adventures in 2011, we’ve put together a video retrospective covering this year’s travels through Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia.
Art with a Twist
By Tony on November 4, 2011 | 1 Comment »
As we leave Singapore, we thought we would share a picture of this rather bizarre statue we found behind the Ion Mall on Orchard Road. You’ve got to hand it to an artist who isn’t afraid to emphasize so much crotch 
Singapore: What a Dollar Can Buy You
By Thomas on November 2, 2011 | No Comments »
It’s almost needless to say, but one dollar doesn’t buy you much in Southeast Asia’s most expensive country. The transition coming from neighboring Malaysia happens fast and is a shock to the penny-pinching system. Bigger and glitzier malls, cleaner streets, fancier clothes, and – most notable to us – much higher prices. As Tony mentioned in Singapore for Budgeteers, the city is for those with bucks to burn. Often, the same products and brands offered in Malaysia are more than twice as expensive here in Singapore. Ouch, that hurts.
Clearly, in order to enjoy the city, we had to put our budget on the backburner for a while. But Singapore is not completely a lost cause. There are still some items and services that can be had for 1.25 Singapore dollars or around a buck:
- 1.5 liters of drinking water
- 1 yam cake
- 3.2 km in an air-con city bus
- 3 apples
- 1 can of coke
- 2 stops by metro
- 1 Mentos
- 1 Chinese egg tart
- 0.5 hours of parking in Chinatown
- 1 barbequed chicken wing
Sadly, this might just be the complete list of 1-dollar-items in all of Singapore…
Oh well, it may not be the ultimate budget destination, but neither is Paris, Tokyo, London, Rome, or a host of other sensational cities. Just remember to pack a couple of extra credit cards. 
On a completely “separate note”, keen observers might notice Singapore doesn’t have $1 bills, so why are there $1 notes in the photo above? Those are Brunei dollars which are accepted legal tender in Singapore as well. Unfortunately, shops run by many of Singapore’s guest workers are often unaware of that fact, which can make using the notes rather difficult in places such as Little India and Chinatown.
Singapore’s Fabulous Food
By Thomas on October 31, 2011 | 3 Comments »
Are you in the Halloween mood for pancreatic tissue, liver cells and stomach lining in a hearty broth? If the answer is yes, you will feel right at home in Singapore where locals seem to dig exotic pig organ soup. But not to worry. Even culinary wimps who don’t want to venture too far into unknown kitchen territory can skip the tricks and find a treat that can soothe their Western palates.
From Asian-style barbequed chicken wings and fiery sambal stingrays to Indian masala dosas and German sauerkraut and sausages, there’s nothing you cannot find in Singapore. Food is everywhere. While some dishes here are similar to those we found in Penang and Kuala Lumpur, others are distinctly different. It is obvious that Singapore’s chefs are quite experimental, many using unusual ingredients and spices to create fantastic fusion cuisine.
Savory pumpkin cakes with black-eye pea and sticky rice is one of the unique local dishes we came across on our first day in the city. Topped with sweet soy sauce and chili, the delicious combination of seemingly unrelated items » Continue reading this post »
Excuse Me, That’s not a Door
By Tony on October 29, 2011 | 1 Comment »
Thomas claims he was trying to get into the new Abercrombie & Fitch on Orchard Road. Hmmmmm! He explains that it had something to do with a mistranslation of the German word “Hosenladen”!?!?!
But seriously, this rather risqué three-story ad highlights just how far we’ve come from neighboring Malaysia where, while reading National Geographic magazine, we discovered morality censors had hand-neutered Michael Angelo’s David with a black marker. What a difference a little border makes!
