Thursday, June 20, 2013

Singapore Vacation Highlight: Food

I landed in Singapore with no idea of what to do or sights to see – this was the least prepared I had been for a vacation in a very long time. 

To be honest, I’d never thought about Singapore as a place I needed to visit. The impetus for this trip was the fact that my friend is moving to Dubai at the end of the month, and well, a free place to stay in an expensive city like Singapore is always welcome.

Since I didn’t do any research, I was at the mercy of my friends for recommendations.

This little piggy went
in my belly
It just turns out that most of their recommendations were for restaurants. 

Did you know that Singapore is a foodie haven? I didn't. I thought I'd definitely get some good Asian food, but I had no idea how good this food was going to be. 

My first day I met a former co-worker, Amy, for dim sum. YUM! So far I haven't found the affordable, authentic dim sum in Dubai. Well, Singapore had it!

That night we went for some lovely European cuisine, where I of course ordered pork, because the kitchen wasn't Halal. 

For a midnight (well, 4am) snack we stopped at an all-night street food place and had some damn fine Indonesian food. (I fell in love with Indonesian food in Amsterdam, and there's one good place in Dubai, but it's hella far for me)

For lunch the next day we enjoyed a Singaporean specialty: chili crab

When my parents visited Dubai one of the hotels had a chili crab festival and it was so good, but the real deal was even better. 

Peking duck? A million times yes. 
After chili crab was suckling pig and Peking duck. Good god. The skin on both was so crisp and delicious. I'm a grown woman, not afraid to admit that I totally got the meat sweats after this dinner. 

I regret nothing. 

The last day was less intense - mussels and then some burgers - but all of it was top notch. 

I didn't see the zoo. I missed Sentosa. Museums? meh. 

I went to Singapore and I ate. And ate. And ate. 

And when I go back, which I will, I'll do the same. Happily. 
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Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Singapore Vacation Highlight: Flying

I’m not going to lie, the past few months in Dubai have been hard. The job isn’t all I had hoped, the city is fine, but not amazing, and I’ve missed my friends and family a ridiculous amount. When I landed in Dubai, I knew the first six months would be the hardest—no flight benefits and no vacation time to use.

But thanks to a lieu day and a long weekend, I was able to utilize my flight discount on a firm ticket and dart off to Singapore!
Above the clouds ...


I hadn’t been on a plane since landing in January, and while that isn’t a long time, when you spend every day looking at the airport terminal and hearing planes land and take-off, it makes you want to fly away. I, along with millions of others, will never stop being amazed at our ability to fly. To be able to spend hours above the clouds, while firmly based in science, is all kinds of amazing.
Little old me in Business Class
So I booked myself in Business Class for the outbound trip. It has been years since I have flown Business Class and let me tell you, it won’t be years until I do it again. The screen was so big! When I stretched out my legs my feet didn’t touch the seat in front of me—if you’ve ever met me, you’ll know that I have fairly long legs and this (not touching the seat in front of me, not the long legs) is quite the accomplishment, and quite rare. 
Also, champagne when you get on board and a really nice wine selection made the extra cost for Business Class totally worth it.
So with a quick nine-hour flight, including a short layover in Colombo, Sri Lanka, I was in the city-state of Singapore.
YAY air travel!