Happy Deepavali

Celebrated Indian New Year with co-workers on Saturday night. We lit sparklers and had some great food, including Chicken Briyani, which required much white wine to calm the spices.

Flower Power

Checked out the Botanical Garden yesterday. Very pretty. It's essentially a rainforest in the middle of the city.

Wasn't able to cover the whole thing - the park is too damn big and the weather is too damn hot. After a couple hours walking through the Ginger Garden and the National Orchid Garden, I had had enough flower power for one day.

Did you know the banana is considered a part of the ginger species of flowers?

Malacca (aka Melaka)

My first trip outside Singapore took place a couple weeks ago when a co-worker and I went across the border into Malaysia (aka the place where Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta Jones starred in Entrapment). A few of my experiences:

1) Singapore has Chicken Rice, Malacca has Chicken Rice Balls: rice that is boiled in chicken grease instead of water. Rather than serving it to you in a pile, Malaccans make balls out of it. An unhealthy gimmick, but a very tasty one.

2) My first tasting of Chendel: a mountain of shaved ice that sits on top of coconut milk, red beans, grass jelly, and sweet corn, with a drizzle of molasses-- damn good. The locals say it's much better than Singapore's. When asked why, the response is, "it just is."

3) Parts of the city have been overly restored, such as the Dutch Square, where everything is painted in a fresh coat of red and a fake windmill was propped up in the 90's. Get it- windmill, Dutch Square. Other parts are crying for help - exposed outdoor pipes, empty buildings, crumbling sidewalks. And then there's Chinatown, the perfect combo of deterioration and historical charm where you can find the best food, nightlife and shopping.

4) Malacca has the most entertaining public transportation: pimped out rickshaws, driven by crazy locals who blast everything from gangster rap to techno dance music. Each one is decorated with tons of fake flowers, religious & patriotic symbols, and Christmas lights. When we asked our cyclist who decorated his rickshaw, he responded, "My wife. It took us a whole day."

5) No tall buildings + Not many trees = No shade. This is why you always stay at a hotel with a pool. Which we did.

Pile o' Coconuts

A common drink here is Thai coconut water. A man with a machete hacks an opening into the coconut with two quick stabs, inserts a straw and hands it to you. Very tasty, and a tad bit scary.

Here's a bunch of empty ones that the waitors are piling up on one table. Are these recyclable?

Take that, Walmart!

Mustafa Centre is Singapore's answer to Walmart. It's open 24-7, has 6 floors, stretches a full street block, and has anything you could ever need. It's the only one-stop shopping experience in Singapore.

Their inventory is so large and stacked so high, that while walking through the aisles, you get the frightening sensation shelves could topple over any minute, instantly burying you alive under a mountain of flip-flops.

Local Anchorwoman

When it comes to style, the Indian woman don't mess around.

Not sure if this lady is the local Katie Couric or just a college student (is there a difference?).

The King of Beers

I'm not much of a beer drinker. Only drink it on social occasions. But damn, if Singapore doesn't make good beer.

Tiger Beer is one of the few things in Singapore that's actually made in Singapore. Everything else is imported.

On a hot day, they will serve it to you in a frosted mug, over ice. Brilliant.

Lil' India

Decided to check out Little India today. It's all lit up this time of year to celebrate Deepavali, a Hindu holiday known as the Festival of Lights, signifying the victory of good over evil in all of us. In between a couple of packed temples lies a gazillion restaurants, outdoor markets, and gold jewelry stores.

Ended up grabbing dinner there: Tandoori chicken, Nan, and Mutton gravy. My face got sweatier as the meal wore on. But was able to wash it all down with a nice 40oz of Tiger beer...yummmm.

The women are all dressed up nice in very colorful gear, while the men schlep around in half-tucked-in shirts. The neighborhood is crowded, dirty and loud...felt like I was back in NYC.

The Best 4 Days

Mike came to Singapore last week and brought the sun with him. It only rained for 20 minutes, which is a rarity here.

We spent the first two days in the city, checking out Deepavali (Festival of Lights) in Little India, drinking Tiger Beer at the East Coast Park, getting shipwrecked at St. John's Island (the pic of the red light signals the failed boat engine), riding 541 ft. high in the Singapore Flyer, and hiking through Fort Canning & its underground WWII bomb shelter.

We took off to Indonesia for 2 days of more sun - jet-skiing in the South China Sea and getting massages from local woman who called us Meesta Brian and Meesta Michael.

The best 4 days...

Office Space

Here's where I spend most of my time: Work.

My office is in the central business district in a section called Raffles Place. Everyone takes lunch 12-2pm and crowds the outdoor plaza (top picture). Two giant tv screens from competing brands blast local television programming and current stock market action.

Companies market their products and give away free crap. That's what it usually is, crap. But that doesn't stop the locals from lining up! This week it happens to be new toothpaste and mouthwash from Japan. Last week, it was Coke Zero. Week before that, bananas.

Singaporean Prostitute

Don't have a picture of this one, but thought I'd share.

Just returned from Melaka yesterday (pictures coming soon) and when I returned to Singapore, on my way to the subway, in a fairly crowded, popular plaza, on a Sunday evening, the last day of Ramadan, a prostitute solicited me!

Happened so fast. I just remember some woman with long hair, a tight pink dress and big heals came up to me and stroked my arm. She uttered, "Where you going?" in a pseudo-sultry voice.

I shook her off and kept walking. Kinda stunned. Needless to say, she was barking up the wrong tree.

As an fyi, prostitution is legal in Singapore and regulated by the Ministry of Health.

Mak's Place

In Singapore, there are two types of places to eat: a hawker stand and a restaurant. A hawker stand refers to small little vendors that are grouped together at a food center. Kind of like NYC's silver carts, except regulated and good.

Fortunately, in my 'hood there is the best of both worlds - a "Hawkerant." Cheap, local food served to you by a waitor. Mak's Place was closed for a Muslim holiday when I took this picture. Usually, tables and chairs of every color, filled with people, spill out onto the street. And the hostess who always seems to work when I'm there, rocks my world.

My typical orders are Kailan veggies in oyster sauce, cashew chicken, lime juice, and some kind of Singaporean noodle dish that I can't even pronounce.

Chinatown Stroll

Today marked the end of Ramadan and also marked my first day off in Singapore. So I decided to spend some time walking around Chinatown-- home to Hindu and Buddhist temples, massage parlors (authentic and erotic), mosques, paper lanterns, hawker centers, the color red, karaoke, as well as most of the city's gay bars.


Not once, but twice, I was accosted by tailors who wanted to shake my hand, find out where I was from, and sell me a suit. I politely declined.

Singapore weather is not tailor-made for suit wearing. Get it, "tailor-made." Ahhh...

Tons o' Buddha

Walked through the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple in Chinatown today. Multiple levels to visit, but I mostly watched the monks light incense on the ground floor and then made my way to the roof.

On top of the temple sits the world's largest Buddha Prayer Wheel, surrounded by 12,000 little shrines of Buddha lights. A very peaceful place... now I just need to learn more about Buddha so I know what the hell it all means.

A friend lent me a copy of Deepak Chopra's Buddha to get started.

The Rules of Parking

99% of Singaporeans park their cars by backing into the space.

When I was riding around the city with my real estate agent, I asked him why. "It takes longer to park your car that way," I said. "Yeah, but it's quicker to leave this way," he replied.

I guess it's all a matter of perspective. Just funny that all Singaporean drivers are on the same side of this issue.