An American girl in Singapore

See ya later Singapore

2010-04-24T18:11:00.001-05:00

The time has finally arrived where I must say goodbye to my little corner of Southeast Asia. As you read this, I am groggily sitting on a plane back to Kansas where my very giddy parents are awaiting my arrival.

I've greatly enjoyed my time in Singapore. It has been one of the best learning experiences of my life. I was able to try new foods (although that part wasn't always positive, ahem, durian), meet awesome people, learn a way of life that was very different to my own, see some beautiful places, and enjoy constant warm weather for 24 months.

When I originally set out on our adventure to Singapore, I was supposed to be there for three years. After about one, we decided that we had other interests back in the States that we wanted to pursue. So that's why we're headed back earlier than I originally told you all.

I apologize for originally leading you astray.

I feel that I got a very fulfilling experience in my shortened two year adventure. Another year of constant summer may have permanently ruined me for winter forever.

So as I leave, I want to send a big thank you to all of you who came and read my ramblings over the last couple years. You have taught me so much and given me a wonderful community that really helped me live this life in Singapore. I loved reading the emails, comments and all of the feedback you left. It was so much fun.

You guys are awesome. Thank you.

In closing, I've gotten a lot of questions as to whether or not I'm going to continue blogging. I will finally answer you all.

Duh.

I will definitely be continuing the adventures of this roller coaster life we lead on my new blog:

Walking in Ruby Slippers

There I will share our stories as we relearn how to live in Kansas...and America in general.

I hope you visit us there. The Kansans are going to think I'm weird when I start jumping up and down in the dairy aisle over a huge tub of ricotta cheese for US$2. But you Singapore, you will completely understand.

In the words of my wise friend Sheryl,

See ya later, never goodbye.

How to open a bottle of wine without a corkscrew

2010-04-22T06:12:00.005-05:00

In our continued quest to use up all items in our pantry, we discovered an unopened bottle of wine tonight.

How this bypassed my attention until now is beyond me.

So we immediately set out to have it with our random half-Asian, half-American dinner of Teriyaki chicken, bean sprouts and corn.

One small problem though.

The movers packed not one, not two, but all three of our wine bottle openers.

That's what you call a predicament right there.

So we did what any 20 something would do and consulted the all-knowing, ever wonderful Google.

And as expected, Google delivered. We found this video.

This is our version of that video (only in the much more elegant setting of my bathroom).

I wish I could tell you that after all of that work, (there was about ten minutes of banging the bottle against the wall before this clip) we just popped the cork out and enjoyed our wine.

I also wish I could tell you that we didn't have to get out pliers, break it into multiple pieces, and jimmy rig a wine strainer in order to drink it without pieces of cork floating in our plastic cups.

But I cannot.

These types of things are best left to the Europeans. They're much more experienced wine drinkers than Americans.

However, we will continue to class it up by opening it with shoes in our bathroom and drinking it out of plastic cups.

Always keep it classy. That's my motto.

The American Girl Cooks Phad Thai

2010-04-21T02:00:00.000-05:00

I finally made phad thai from scratch last night.

It was an interesting experience.

Not only did it take close to an hour to find the ingredients in Cold Storage, but the cooking portion was quite "colorful" too.

First off, while shopping for the ingredients, we had to ask an employee to help us because we couldn't find anything other than the bean sprouts.

Lesson learned: Palm sugar is "gula malaka" and tamarind is "asam paste". Thank goodness that guy could understand our American accent. It seems that the Malay word is always preferred over the English word when labeling foods in Singapore supermarkets. (Also to note, I've never seen "Bok Choy" in Singapore. They have it, but I have no idea what the Malay word is that they use to label it. I'm also not worried enough to Google it.)

It makes sense to use the Malay words, in retrospect, considering a large number of the population here is from Malaysia. I just wish I'd thought to look up those words before we left.

Eh well.

To figure out how to cook this dish, I found a very helpful YouTube video that teaches Westerners how to make it at home. However, some of the ingredients in the video were a little different than the ones we found.

It wasn't a big deal though.

You know what was a big deal?

The stench that cooking phad thai produces in your kitchen.

It smelled of things that I can't even discuss on a family friendly blog such as this.

And it was totally the fish sauce's fault.

I now totally get why they don't have air conditioning in kitchens in Singapore. After cooking with something like that, you have to open a window to keep from gagging.

Or dying.

It smells something retched and dead.

On a more positive note, the finished phad thai tasted really good despite the nose-killing fog in the kitchen. Once it was finished and removed from that area, it didn't stink at all. It even tasted very close to the yumminess we had in Thailand.

It was surprisingly good, even considering that some American chick made it.

But.

I don't know if I can handle a kitchen that smells like that. If I had people over for dinner and they smelled that, they'd run and hide. This may just have to be one of those dishes that we order in.

Please God, let there be somewhat decent phad thai in Kansas.

The Inevitable Shopping Day

2010-04-20T03:38:00.000-05:00

After two years of procrastination, I finally own authentic Singaporean items.

Why is it that when you live somewhere, you purposely avoid all things that are remotely associated with being a tourist?

For example, my cousin has lived in New York City for years and when I visited her two and a half years ago, she still had never been to the Statue of Liberty.

As a resident of Singapore, I don't shop. Shopping is one of the things that the country is known for and I avoid it like the plague. It seemed like every mall I went to was crowded and expensive. So I just didn't do it.

I kept thinking, "I'll get that cute tablecloth sometime before we leave," or "I will stock up on those Chinese wine bottle covers before I ship out." I lacked a sense of urgency in the whole matter.

Then when I realized I was two weeks away from leaving, my excuses lost their footing. If I didn't break down and buy something already, I was going home with nada. Zilch. Squat.

That would make me very sad. It would also make my friends back home wonder if I'd even ever lived here because I lacked the physical evidence.

So I did some shopping research. Luckily, I found out that not all of Singapore is crazy expensive like I'd thought.

A few friends told me of these great deals and steals.

First Stop: Dilip Textiles, Arab Street

My coworkers got me a gorgeous tablecloth and scarf as a departure gift. I loved them so much that I decided that I needed more textiles to go back to Kansas with me. My military spouse friends told us to head to this place for such things.

They were right. This place was awesome. They have so many different types of cloth and for so many different uses. I got a six person rectangular tablecloth for S$26 and a long silk scarf for S$10. I love the stuff I got. It's all hand-stamped and in gorgeous colors. If I were going to be here a little longer, I would have totally gone back for more. They also have bedspreads, wall coverings, carpets and sarongs.

Second Stop: The Blue and White Store (that's not the official name), Ubi Street

The Blue and White Store has been a topic of conversation among military spouses in Singapore for as long as I've been here. The gals make a trip there at least once every couple of months. As a working girl whose free time during the day is limited, I had a little harder time finding my way here. Also, this place doesn't advertise, so it's not easy to find solo. The people who've been there only know about it because they found out from someone else who's been there.

Even once you find out the address, it's still a little tricky to find.

This is the building it's in.

I would have never guessed that an oh-so-popular pottery shop was nestled in here. It looks like an industrial warehouse building. Not a place that sells pretty pottery.

Nonetheless, I trusted my friend's instructions and took the lift up several stories.

And then it appeared.

Not the fanciest of digs, but the prices more than make up for the appearance. I got two vases, a dozen ceramic decorative balls, four oversized square coffee mugs (that are suprisingly very modern), five mini saucer cups, and some other stuff that I can't remember now because it's in a crate somewhere over the ocean. (Yes, I forgot to take pictures. Apparently, my brain turns to mush while moving.) But the important part is that all of that only cost me S$30. I've never gotten such nice stuff for so little. I was super excited.

Shopping day was a huge success. I had never been so unstressed during a shopping excursion here.

Then to top all of that off, my good friend Sandra gave me some wonderful presents to take back with me as well.

My Kansas house may just end up looking like a little Singapore by the time I get everything unpacked.

Now, I just need to grab some more recipes to accompany my new stuff. A special thank you to those who have already sent me some great ones! I'm excited to try them out on our unsuspecting relatives.

(As always, I have not been paid to talk about the above establishments, nor do they know that I have a blog to write about them on.)

Moving a Family from Singapore to Kansas: Part 2

2010-04-19T05:04:00.003-05:00

The movers showed up at just a hair past the crack of dawn this morning.

Actually, that's a lie.

They got there at 9am. It just seemed like the crack of dawn to me because we were up until 2:30 in the morning getting things ready for them to arrive.

We are fortunate as a military family to have the government pay for and arrange for our things to be packed and shipped back to the States.

You'd think this perk would take the stress out of moving.

But it doesn't.

The movers they hire are professionals. They pack stuff up fast. And they pack everything. No jokes. If it's out where they can find it, they will pack it. We've heard stories of ladies' purses getting packed, the family hamster getting packed and even a girl's sandwich was packed when she left the room.

So we spent the entire night last night grouping together anything and everything we'd still need until the day we get on the plane. This means all toilet paper, shampoos, and plane tickets needed to be out of sight.

We, unfortuately, forgot about the plane tickets. They are currently in a crate somewhere headed off to a big boat.

Oh well. At least those can be reprinted.

To illustrate the speed in which they work, here's a visual. When they first got here, I called my mom on Skype. By the time our 30 minute conversation was over, this is what my house looked like.

I was a bit taken aback. This was also around the time I realized the plane tickets were long gone.

So I started paying a bit more attention.

The coolest thing that I found that these guys did was this:

Many people in Singapore live in multi-story buildings, so I'm sure stairs start to really suck after a while for movers.

I really liked their solution.

They had a guy at each landing to intercept the package and send it along to the next guy. It was like watching a well-oiled machine.

So even though packing hasn't been completely smooth sailing, at least I was entertained.

Not that it's a hard thing to do.

Moving a Family from Singapore to Kansas: Part 1

2010-04-15T05:58:00.003-05:00

It is almost here. Moving day is just within arm's reach.

I know this because I found this on our landing when I got home from work.

In case you're wondering, that's not where that stuff is supposed to be. I think the moving men forgot our phone number and so they didn't call us to come home and let them in. Instead they just left it in our stairwell for our neighbors to walk around.

So there it sits. Next to an open window. In a major rainstorm.

Awesome.

Now normally, my stubborn self would just let it sit there to make a point. However, even I know how absorbent cardboard is. I also know just how ridiculously humid this place is even when it's not raining.

Moisture + cardboard + dark storage container = vicious black mold that will eat all of my Twilight books.

Oh hell to the no.

I mustered up the motivation to nag my husband until he moved it all here:

It was a lot of work.

By the way, I'm totally kidding. I helped carry it up too. I'm not that sucky.

Now we wait. And organize. And determine just how much stuff actually fits in my suitcase.

Yikes.

American things I have forgotten

2010-04-14T03:10:00.004-05:00

In Singapore, there are no gas lines that connect to each house or apartment.

*UPDATE* Apparently, our military housing is one of the few places that has this problem. Not the entire island of Singapore. Other places do have gas lines.

Therefore, if you have a gas stove (which I think is what most people have here) and no gas line, you have to get a can of gas from the gas company.

It's very similar to what Americans get for their outdoor gas grills. The tanks come up to the top of my knee and are crazy heavy.

Ours sit in our laundry room behind our kitchen and the gas line runs to our stove through the wall. I rarely even think about those tanks back there.

Until they run out.

Which they did. The night before Good Friday. When businesses in Singapore close down.

Super.

That's when I panic a little. I can handle a day or so without an oven or stove, but three and a half days makes me get a little irritable.

There are only so many things you can buy for the microwave in Singapore. The locals aren't quite as in love with microwave dinners as we Americans are. In fact, many of them think it's weird that we enjoy frozen, canned and boxed food so much.

They're all about "fresh".

We're all about "fast".

I'm all about being able to not sweat my butt off in that hot kitchen. "Fast" is my favorite. But even "fast" sometimes needs a flame from a stove.

Luckily, we didn't have to go too long without our major culinary appliance. I was able to procure a partially full replacement until the company was able to deliver a new tank on Monday. The whole ordeal got me thinking though.

Megan: "Why is it that we never had this problem back home?"

Aaron: "Uh, because we have natural gas lines underground at home. We don't use tanks, silly."

Megan: "Oh my gosh, I'm dumb. I completely forgot about that."

There are so many things that I've had to rewire in my brain to get accustomed to my Singaporean life. Everytime I find myself remembering little conveniences of home, I get really excited and giddy. And I also feel a little nuts because honestly, it's only been two years. How do I forget so much?

Here's another thing that always shocks me: power lines. Has anyone else noticed that they don't exist in Singapore? That's because they're buried underground.

Whenever we've gone to another country that has overhanging power lines, I get really nervous and fascinated like I've never seen them before. I just can't quit looking at them. It's been so long since I've lived around them that their very presence grabs my attention.

My family is gonna think Singapore made me crazy.

Daawat Tandoori has won me over

2010-04-12T02:25:00.003-05:00

My work colleagues celebrated (is that the right word?) my farewell lunch last Friday. Since it was a lunch in my honor, I got to pick the place.

Those are the worst words an indecisive eater ever wants to hear. I have a hard time deciding what to cook for dinner. I had no idea where to pick as my "Last Supper" as a working girl in Singapore.

To avoid having to make a decision, I told them that I wanted to eat local food and I didn't want it to be expensive. Those were my only requirements.

And with that, I was off the hook. Ha.

They first picked a Chinese-style restaurant. After I checked out the restaurant on HungryGoWhere.com, I vetoed it. Because I like to be difficult.

No, not really.

Even though authentic Chinese food tastes good, it's a lot of work. This particular menu featured a lot of seafood and meat dishes. The problem I had with that is they leave the bones in the meat, the scales on the fish, and the heads and shells on the prawns. It wouldn't be that big of a deal if all that stuff wasn't then coated in sauce. It's difficult for an American girl to peel a shrimp with chopsticks.

I just want to eat my lunch. Not wrestle it.

So I suggested Indian cuisine. Indian has quickly become one of my favorite food genres since I arrived here in Singapore. I love the spices, the sauces and the yummy breads that they seem to always serve.

Even amongst the groans of the older American guys in the office, I stuck to my one decision of Indian cuisine. Americans tend to have an irrational fear that Indian food is overly spicy. I used to be one of those people. It's not true. You can order spicy things at an Indian restaurant, but not everything is spicy.

My Singaporean coworkers made the final call on where we were going. They chose a North Indian restaurant located on Upper Thomson Road called Daawat Tandoori.

And I just want to say this: Daawat Tandoori is AH-MAZING.

As in, fall on the floor fantastic.

I had no idea just how much I loved Indian food until I ate at this restaurant. I was so mesmerized by the super delicious Butter Chicken we ordered that I forgot to take pictures before we nearly ate everything.

This is what was left after about five minutes. This is cheese naan, mutton briyani with gravy and Aaron's empty plate. We also had paneer naan which is naan with cottage cheese inside.

For the Americans out there, naan is an Indian bread that I would consider a cross between a tortilla and pita bread. When they stuff it with cheese, it's like an Indian quesadilla. It's heaven in your mouth. We ate two orders.

It's that good.

Like I said though, the Butter Chicken is worth it's weight in gold. We're going back to this place before I leave specifically to eat that again. I'm going to see if I can coax a recipe outta somebody too.

So yeah, I'm a fan of North Indian food.

I was told that this type of cuisine is often prepared with yummy stuff like yogurt and ghee and has a little bit different flavor than South Indian food (the kind I'd had up until this point).

I know that I definitely like both styles, but this restaurant is awesome. Go get some Butter Chicken...now.

(As always, no one paid me to say these things about this establishment. I just thought it rocked.)

Adjustment to Life as an Expat in Singapore

2010-04-07T06:03:00.008-05:00

Now that I'm in my final days as an American girl in Singapore, I wanted to share with you my honest to Jeebus experiences of expat life here.

And I will be honest. I feel there are too many people who paint the picture of a perfect Singapore and a continuously happy life for everyone that lives here.

I'd like to say that those people are full of it. I'd also like to know if they get kick backs from the Singapore Tourism Board.

Now, I'm not saying that Singapore isn't a great place to set up shop. I'm just saying that there is not one single place on this Earth where everyone is happy. There are cool places to live and neat experiences, but not everyone is happy...all of the time.

That's what I experienced and I felt very alone in my experiences of a less than perfect Singapore.

Gregory Trivonovitch, a Researcher and Associate Director of the Culture Learning Institute at the East-West Center in Hawaii, has determined that most expatriates experience four different emotional stages of acclimating to their new culture: The Honeymoon Stage, The Hostility Stage, The Integration/Acceptance Stage, and The Home Stage.

When I first read about these stages in the first year I was here, they meant squat to me. I just knew that I was (insert random emotion here) and I was fairly sure I was going to feel that way forever. Or until I left this island.

Now that I'm in my last moments of expatriate life, I am able to look back and form a more accurate assessment of my time in Lion City, as a whole.

I'll go through each of the stages as I experienced them.

1) The Honeymoon Stage - characterized by excitement, exhilaration, and anticipation. The newcomer will be fascinated by everything new to them in their new culture.

I experienced this stage from the moment I got to Singapore and for about two months after that. I wanted to see everything, do everything, and learn about everything. I loved the weather. I loved the Chinese New Year celebrations. I loved every green palm tree that lined the side of the street. I just loved loved loved Singapore and the fact that I lived somewhere so exotic and far away.

2) The Hostility Stage - characterized by frustration, anger, judgmentalism, fear, and sometimes depression.

Unfortunately, this stage came on for me at month three and stayed around for many, many months. I even remember the exact day that it came on in full force. It was an unsuccessful trip to the grocery store. Followed by three other unsuccessful trips in the same day. I could not find any ingredients for the things that I knew how to cook. I also did not have a car. So a quick trip to the market to pick up items for a potluck dish I was bringing to a get together, ended up being a six hour ordeal that ended with me in tears, empty handed, at our front door.

Going from a lifestyle in which a grocery store is a five minute drive from your house to a place where it's a two hour trip on public transportation is a big change — to say the least. Add in the fact that Singapore is insanely crowded and public transportation is a claustrophobic nightmare during rush hour. I had a tough time.

I had a tough time for a long time. There were many tears shed in my house, and on the walk home from the bus stop, and at work, and various other random places in Singapore.

I'd never lived outside of the States. So the culture baffled me at times. I didn't get why people shoved me on the train. I didn't get why customer service representatives didn't want to make customers happy. I didn't get why I had to wait in line for everything.

I just didn't get it.

3) The Integration/Acceptance Stage - characterized by the person feeling more comfortable and relaxed in their new surroundings

This stage, for me, came about a little while after I got my second job in Singapore, almost a full year after I'd arrived. It was after that time that I finally felt a sense of familiarity with Singapore and I had finally realized my most important lesson.

I needed to stop trying to make Singapore into my version of America and appreciate it for what it is.

I know for most people this is a "duh" statement, but for me, it took a little while to realize. Instead of me searching for every American restaurant I could find and being depressed when I couldn't get a Taco Bell Gordita or a Wendy's cup of chili anymore, I needed to embrace what Singapore did have to offer. It was then that I learned that I loved Indian food, briyani and mutton curry to be exact. I found that I really enjoyed Asian-style bean sprouts and iced Milo. I also loved the Love Letter cookies during Chinese New Year. If I hadn't finally opened my eyes to what was actually around me rather than looking for what wasn't there, I would have never found out any of this.

4) The Home Stage - this occurs when the person still retains their allegiance to their original culture, but also feels "at home" and functions well with their new culture.

I'm not quite sure when I slipped into this stage, but I know I'm in it. When we returned back from our trip to Thailand, I called my mother to tell her we were "home". It was the first time I'd ever referred to Singapore as "home". Of course, she promptly corrected me and told me that home is Kansas and that I'm merely in Singapore. My mom's pretty protective like that. :)

To me though, it was a pretty big deal that I used that word. It spoke volumes to me about my comfort level with this culture I've submersed myself into. I was proud of myself. As self-absorbed as that sounds. I was.

I still miss my family and the wonderful things back home (like Target, Five Guys burgers, and Cold Stone Ice Cream), but I'd come a long way from the person I was two years ago.

And now it's time to go back. It's bittersweet. But I think I'm ready.

But you better believe I'm not leavin' until I hoard boxes of Milo powder, some tablecloths from Arab street, a few pieces of Blue and White pottery, and various other things I may never find again.

In conclusion, I want to note that Trivonovitch says, "these four stages are cyclic in nature, not linear, and a person will encounter periods of adjustment continuously as he or she moves from one situation to another." I completely agree. There were many times when I felt like I was fully in the Integration/Acceptance Stage and I would completely lapse back into the Hostility Stage after a lousy day.

As an expat, you may experience your stages in a completely different order or in a completely different way. Your expectations are the most dynamic tool that shapes your experience in this new culture.

Expect to be happy. Honestly believe that you will be. And most likely, it'll happen.

In the meantime, feel free to comment or email me any questions, concerns, or frustrations you may have in your experience.

I've been there too. And if I haven't, I'll listen. (or read.)

A Numbers Game, take 2

2010-04-06T03:26:00.002-05:00

I did a post like this about a year and a half ago. For fun and because I pay attention to totally different things now, I did another one.

656 : number of days that I've seen rice on the menu for every meal (also the number of days I've been in Singapore)

7 : the number of new Asian fruits that I have voluntarily eaten

19 : the approximate amount of hawker/food stalls that we've visited since moving here

989 : the time in hours I have spent traveling to work on public transportation in one and a half years

31 : the number of books I've read while taking public transportation to work in one and a half years

365 : the number of days it will probably take me before I will be able to eat rice again when I move back

2 : the known number of gray hairs I've accumulated as a Navy spouse

315 : the number of blog posts I've written as An American girl in Singapore

Whew. I'm exhausted just calculating those numbers. I think it's safe to say that I've been here a while.

Happy Easter Singapore

2010-04-04T01:28:00.000-05:00

Today is Easter Sunday. It marks the last holiday that I will spend away from my people back home.

There's little else I dislike more in the world than being away from family on an important holiday. It just doesn't feel the same when those people aren't around.

So, I'm pretty excited that this is the last time I have to do it.

To celebrate, I made Easter cupcakes.

Unfortunately, they look less like Easter cupcakes and more like something rejected from Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory.

They don't really do a whole lot of pastel colors over on this side of the pond.

Oh well. It's sugar all the same.

We also hard boiled some eggs, but Aaron wouldn't let me dye them.

"I don't want to take a pink egg down to work with me for lunch, Megan."

Party pooper.

I hope all of you are having a wonderful and colored egg filled Easter anyway.

The "Happy Ending" Massage

2010-04-01T03:20:00.003-05:00

It's pretty common knowledge in Asia (and among Asian masseuse parlors in the States) that the ladies sometimes do "extra" services.

From stories I've heard, these services are never expressly discussed in the open, but during the massage they will ask if the client would like a "happy ending".

Gross. Illegal. And wrong.

But it happens.

It's something that I always kid my husband about because he loves getting regular massages and is always worried that they're going to ask him for that in the process. It did happen to him once and he awkwardly and politely declined. He's now scarred for life.

So it was really funny when we were in Thailand having a delicious lunch of Phad Thai, and look up to see this place across the street.

Apparently, they don't beat around the bush.

Sorry. That was a bad pun, wasn't it?

I'm not sure if that's exactly what they were going for in the name of their parlor, but I'm gonna guess that sometimes things are obvious for a reason.

Needless to say, Aaron did not get a massage in Thailand.

Cleanest city my foot

2010-03-30T04:07:00.004-05:00

One of the first things I learned when I got to Singapore was about how the country prides itself on being the cleanest city in the world.

After living here for two years, I must set the record straight.

No, it's not.

It may not have trash littering its sidewalks (at least where the tourists can see), but it'd be a big stretch to call it the cleanest ever.

I've lived in an area of this country that's not frequented by tourists and spent the last two years working elbow to elbow with its local citizens. And you know what? I actually feel less clean when I'm here as opposed to being in the States.

Now I'm not saying that there's a huge pile of garbage hiding behind the jungles or that there's a secret trash stash under Orchard Road.

My issue with the place is the germs.

Growing up in America, I was never the germophobic type, but I had a respect for keeping things clean and sanitary. Our parents and teachers instill it in us from an early age. Wash your hands! Use a Kleenex! Cover your mouth! Don't drink after other people! Clean that with Clorox! We've heard every piece of advice on keeping germs at bay. We've even read countless articles about just how many germs there are in EVERYTHING. There's a fun one here, in case you're curious.

At times I'll admit, we go overboard. For the most part though, we're just trying to stay healthy.

So it was beyond shocking to me that some of the local customs in Singapore are downright germy to the nth degree.

To give examples and illustrations, I've made a list of four specific instances.

1) Public hand towels

This picture was taken in my office building's bathroom. The towel on top of the broken hand dryer is the community hand towel. It rests less than four feet from the nearest toilet. (Which if you've ever read the research, a toilet sprays a teeny, tiny blast of water droplets up to eight feet all around it when flushed.) Despite that, how about the fact that 10 to 20 people are washing their hands and using the same towels for sometimes two weeks at a time? I've even seen some of these people not even bother to use soap.

That's just gross.

Oh and on a side note, the rag on top of the broken soap container is the one our cleaning lady uses to clean the whole bathroom. I'll talk more about that whole issue in a minute.

2) Everybody puttin' their mitts on the raw chicken

This is how a lot of people get their chicken at my local Cold Storage. They take the tongs (hopefully) and select the pieces they want and place them in a plastic bag.

There are two things that I see wrong with this and I'm sure my sister, who's an RN, could name about 50 more. For one, do they sanitize the tongs after each use? I'm going to guess no. Each person that picks those tongs up is also picking up all kinds of harmful germs, like salmonella, and then transferring it to the grocery cart and then to their children in the cart and then to everyone else in the store. What if you forget to wash your hands when you stop by the food court on the way out? You'll be sick as a dog, my friend, and so will everyone else that touches everything else you touched with your salmonella flavored fingers.

And two, speaking of children, what if your toddler wanders over there? They could play in a sea of raw bacteria for quite some time before you finish picking out your ribeye at the butcher station. All it takes is ten seconds of distraction and your kid is covered in chicken carcass juice.

This is just an all around a bad idea.

3) Open utensil grabbing at hawkers

When you visit a hawker stall, these are the trays where you grab your eating utensils. Notice that the Asian utensils are facing all different ways and directions. This requires someone to fondle several pieces in order to get their own set free from the pile. The result is that the person who got their stuff before you has just transferred whatever goobers that were on their hands onto the chopsticks that you're gonna put in your mouth.

And that person may or may not have just picked their nose on the bus.

Sound yummy? Didn't think so.

On that same topic, I also get grossed out when dining as a group at these kind of establishments. It seems that when we order large dishes to share, they almost never come with a serving spoon.

Then people have to do this:

They have to take the chopsticks that they've already put their saliva all over into the community trough. (For the record, the woman in the picture hadn't used her chopsticks yet and they are still clean. She's considerate like that.) I have been in several other situations where people I don't know have plowed their used utensils into shared items.

Nothing makes me lose my appetite faster. I don't know you and I don't know where you've been. Please keep your spit to yourself.

Thank you.

Ok. I've saved the final bombshell until the very end. I did so because it may cause you to dry heave or never visit a public bathroom in Singapore ever again. I apologize ahead of time for feeding you an apple from the Tree of Knowledge. Here it goes...

4) Abysmal, horrific cleaning practices of public bathrooms

My dear, sweet friend Sheryl shared this gem of a story with me a couple of days ago and it has haunted my dreams ever since.

She was at Paragon Shopping Centre a couple days ago, which just so happens to be where many of our expat doctors have offices, and she stopped into the bathroom.

While she was in there, she observed one of the cleaning staff cleaning the bathroom. (Not that she was monitoring them, she just happened to see this while waiting.)

First, the staff member used the toilet brush to clean inside of the toilet bowl and without hesitation, moved the brush up and around the seat. Yep. She used the brush, the one full of dirty toilet water, to scrub the part that people sit on.

But here's the kicker! Then, she took a rag, dipped it into the toilet water, wiped down the seat again, rang out the rag and moved on to the sinks.

SHE CLEANED THE FRIGGIN' SINKS WITH THE TOILET WATER RAG.

It's bad enough that she cleaned the seat with toilet water, but then she cleaned the sinks?! I just can't even wrap my head around it.

My stomach can't even get past it.

Thank the Lord above that my rear hasn't touched a toilet other than my own since I got here. I also thank the Big Guy for strong thighs. And hand sanitizer. Lots and lots of hand sanitizer.

Really though, this post isn't to bash Singapore. There are many many people here that are clean and sanitary in their daily practices. What I'm merely trying to find out is why we clash so much on the germ issue as a whole.

Like my husband also pointed out: In Singapore, restaurants are given a cleanliness rating of A, B, or C: A being the best and C being the worst. So basically, it allows them to have a certain level of filth.

C = a lot of filth.
B = just a little filth.
A = clean.

Back home, we have a system too. It's called sanitary or closed.

Granted, I know that the US has its problems in the food industry (and I am getting ready to read Sinclair's The Jungle), but these shops are what the general public can actually see for themselves. Wouldn't you want to keep your shop sparkling clean so people can at least think they're having a safe meal? Why doesn't everyone strive for an A?

(I'm getting off my soap box now. I tend to get a lil' wound up when I'm grossed out.)

Again, I'm really not trying to bash anyone. I'm merely trying to figure out why the vast difference in culture.

Is it that we Americans are just that germophobic?

The Fray comes to Singapore

2010-03-29T03:42:00.003-05:00

I finally got to see my favorite band, The Fray, in person, this weekend. They were here in Singapore as the headlining group for Timbre's Rock & Roots music festival.

I'm positively sure it was their first trip to Singapore. And kind of sure it was their first show in Asia.

But that may be a lie. I'm not positive.

The whole shibang was a two-day festival, but since we only really wanted to see The Fray, we only bought tickets for Saturday.

The shows were held at Marina Promenade, which if you have a chance to check out a show there, go. Actually, run. It is such a cool venue to see a live band.

The stage was set up right up against the Singapore Flyer and off to the left, we had an amazing view of the Singapore skyline. Under us, was the track of the annual Singapore F1 Night Race.

So yeah. It was pretty spiffy.

We had a blast. It was such a great night. Timbre really put on a great line up of artists and that's coming from an attendee who only saw one night.

While waiting for The Fray to come on (and when I finished my massive burrito), we listened to a fantastic band, Opshop, from New Zealand. After that, we watched Jools Holland and his Rhythm & Blues Orchestra. They weren't my fave, but judging from all the Brits, Aussies and Kiwis going nuts, I'm guessing they're a pretty big deal.

The Fray came out for a 17 song set and concluded a perfect evening. We were only three standing rows back.

Happiness.

...is just outside my window.

A Phuket Full of Fun

2010-03-25T04:16:00.004-05:00

This past weekend, Aaron and I visited the gorgeous island of Phuket, Thailand. (For the Americans out there, it's pronounced Poo-ket — and not the way you'd think.)

Hands down, it's probably the most beautiful place I've ever seen in my life. I was a very giddy tourist the whole time I was there...

...as you can see.

We started our adventure by venturing down to Karon Beach.

It was extremely pretty, clean and surprisingly calm. We spent the first half of our first day just walking along the beach.

To our surprise, the beaches in Phuket have an optional swimsuit top policy. That was a bit of a shock.

It was also shocking that the participants of this option seemed to be in either the "fairly older" or "somewhat larger" category.

For your sake, I did not take pictures.

You're welcome.

Instead, I took pictures of the locals doing local things.

After the walk, we headed up to Patong to check out the shops and book our excursions.

It was there that we discovered the wonderful world of Baht (Thailand's currency). Baht is the magical money that goes so much further than our Sing dollar and even the US dollar. Approximately 30 Baht is equivalent to our one US dollar.

Suhhhhweet!

In one day, we ate the best meal of Phad Thai we'd ever had for 50 Baht, got a facial massage for 299 Baht, and we went to a fish spa for 99 Baht a person.

(For those of you who don't feel like doing the math, that's US$1.50 for Phad Thai, a facial for US$10, and a fish pedicure for US$3. This can be translated into English as AWESOME.)

This is around the time that I fell in love with Thailand.

Also, just to note, Phuket is considered expensive compared to the rest of the country. So it just keeps getting better from there.

To finish off that first day, we took the touristy tuk tuk ride.

Day two of our trip was by far my favorite day. It was one of those experiences that will forever be burned into my memory. All day long, I kept thinking how incredibly lucky I was to be able to visit and see such an amazing place in person.

We took a day tour of the Phi Phi Islands.

To spare you the same embarrassment that I experienced, Phi Phi is pronounced like "pee pee". Not "fee fee", as I originally thought. Even so, I continually find myself refering to them as "fee fee". I just can't call the prettiest islands in the world "Pee Pee". To me, pee pee is something that a four-year-old does in a toilet. I just don't think "Pee Pee Islands" paints an accurate picture of just what these islands embody.

But I'm a silly American. What do I know?

As part of our tour, we visited seven different parts of the two islands: Phi Phi Don and Phi Phi Ley.

This was Maya Bay on Phi Phi Ley.

This is where The Beach with Leonardo DiCaprio was shot. It's astonishingly beautiful. The sand is so fine that it feels like walking on softened butter. The water is the clearest I've ever seen. You can stand in it up to your shoulders and look down and still see your toes. You can even see fish swimming all the way up to the sand.

I was awe struck. I am forever ruined for every other beach I visit in my lifetime. I don't see how anything else will ever compare.

After that, we snorkeled at Loh Samah Bay, ate lunch at Phi Phi Don, visited Monkey Beach (you know how much I love the monkeys), saw Viking Cave, gawked at the cliffs in Pi Leh Bay, and relaxed on Khai Island.

It was just a beautiful day. I couldn't stop looking at everything all around me. It was like being in a movie. It doesn't seem like a place that pretty can exist in real life.

The tour lasted until late in the day. So, by the time we got back, we were pretty tired. We had dinner at the hotel and crashed at 10 pm.

I don't think I've gone to bed that early while on vacation in seven years. Yikes. That's a sad realization.

Speaking of our hotel though, here it is.

This is the Pacific Club Resort in Karon Beach. We loved our time there. They had three different restaurants to choose from (one in the hotel and two accessible by hotel shuttle), a roof top infinity pool, and gorgeous views. The even better part: it costs less than US$70 a night.

The great thing about a trip to Phuket is that you can make your trip as cheap or as expensive as you want. There are hotels and hostels that rent rooms for as low as US$10 a night. There are also the hotels that rent rooms for several hundred. The same goes for food. There's cheap places and street food carts and there's also five-star dining establishments too. We pretty much stayed "middle of the road" for most things on our trip. I'm a pretty frugal person, but I also appreciate nice things while on vacation.

I am definitely glad that we stayed in the Karon Beach area though.

It had enough things to do to keep us busy, but was a lot less crowded than the Patong Beach area to the north.

The view was also much more exciting.

This was our last big trip in Asia. I'd definitely say that we ended it on an all-time high note.

I was so sad to leave our newly-found paradise, but also kind of glad that we hadn't discovered this place until we're about to leave.

If we had gone sooner, we would have spent all of our money trying to get back there every other month.

That's what you call a blessing in disguise.

Can I use my EZ Link card, like you said, please?

2010-03-22T00:18:00.001-05:00

In the past year, SMRT introduced these handy little boxes in the white SMRT taxis of Singapore.

The purpose of these things is to allow passengers to pay for their taxi fare by tapping their EZ Link card (the card we use in Singapore to pay for buses and trains) on top and having the total subtracted from the balance currently on the card.

In theory, these things are awesome. They further aid to streamline the public transportation system into one system in which you use one card for payment, no matter the mode.

However, these machines are falling flat, in my opinion. In the last ten SMRT cabs I've been in, only one had the machine turned on. (The one in the picture is also not powered on. Big shocker there.) The problem with this is when it's not turned on, it takes nearly ten minutes for it to boot up, if it does at all. I've had two fail to boot up for me which caused me to have to run up to my flat while the cabbie waited outside to grab cash.

It's not a big deal, but it turns something that supposed to make life more convenient into something that's a huge pain in the tuckus. I'm guessing that that wasn't their intention here.

No one likes a pain in the tuckus.

So basically, I'm hoping that we might actually get to use and enjoy these things sometime soon.

Hello? Anyone listening at SMRT?

Bueller?

My Little Hot Water Heaters

2010-03-18T03:13:00.004-05:00

This is one of the three hot water heaters we have in our home.

Obviously, it's installed at the top of a wall in our storage closet. This one supplies the hot water for both of the bathrooms in our flat. The other two are installed in a similar spot near the ceiling in the kitchen and laundry room.

This is quite different for me. In the States, it's most common for a home to have one big water heater that supplies the whole house with hot water, rather than several small ones scattered about. Also, these types of things are put in our basements or laundry rooms and are tucked out of the way where you don't see them as easily. I'm sure the layout and older construction of our current residence made a large water heater difficult to install in a semi-secret place, so they gave us three, all out in the open.

It's fine with me, most of the time.

However, the water heater for our bathrooms is located in a storage room right above where we store our luggage. We found out very quickly that it leaks.

It didn't ruin any of our rolling bags before we broke them first, thank goodness, but we do have to constantly check back there to make sure there's no standing water. (You can get fined in Singapore for having stagnant water in or around your home as it aids in breeding problematic mosquitoes.)

Then, on top of that, we realized that when both of us want to take a shower in our own bathrooms at the same time, hot water lasts for about two minutes. The small heater is just not made to handle two pokey shower takers at once. It's a no bueno type of situation. Nothing puts me in a crabby mood quicker than a cold shower...no matter how hot it is outside.

I'm not complaining though. From what I've discovered, a lot of people in Singapore don't even have what we do.

They have something like this:

It's a hot water heater that is installed inside your shower. That square-shaped thing is the tank. Can we say TINY? Imagine how quick those hot showers must be. I'd be an angry elf everyday.

How do you take a hot bubble bath with that thing? Do you fill it a little at a time? Wouldn't it get cold before you even get it full? Do they just not take hot bubble baths? How could you live in a world without hot bubble baths?

I just can't accept that as an answer. They must have another way.

The Men with Purses

2010-03-16T05:46:00.002-05:00

Ok, so I'm just going to put this out there.

What the heck is up with Singaporean guys carrying their girlfriend's purse around town?

There's a word for guys like that where I'm from.

And it rhymes with "zissy".

Just sayin'.

The Gecko Chronicles Continue

2010-03-15T01:00:00.001-05:00

As you can imagine, I'm still a lil' shaken up since the poop in the cereal incident. Before that, the gecko drama had been slowly building for a while, but that day sort of sealed the deal. I no longer think that these creatures are cute or endearing of any sort.

I'm over them.

What I didn't tell you last week was that something tragic happened at our home a few days after the "incident". I've been holding it back out of fear of judgment and PETA coming to bust down our door. But I think it's time I opened up about it.

I killed one.

On purpose.

And it was ugly. I didn't take pictures because it was a grizzly scene. And ya know what?

It felt awesome. (Not in a pre-serial killer kind of way, but more of a "Hey, your friend took a huge dump in my breakfast and I'm not cool with it" kind of way.)

The story goes as such: Remember the guy that lived in Aaron's bathroom?

Well, I can't be positively sure if it was him, but it looked a lot like him.

I went into Aaron's bathroom while he was still gone to do some tidying up so that I could improve my running in the Wife of the Year category (not really, but it sounds nice). As I entered the bathroom, that creature jumped out of his hiding spot under the window trim and scared the frickin' crap out of me. Because this happened like two days after the Poop Loop incident (thank you Gordon for coining that phrase for us), I was a little high on rage. Basically, I'd just had enough. I'd had enough fear, poop, reptiles, and crawly things that whole week. I was done.

So I started throwing Aaron's size US 14 shoes at him.

I managed to knock him off the wall and do little else but scare him really well.

But that just wasn't enough for me. I retrieved more shoes and kept chucking them at the little Geico mascot.

Finally, five shoes later, I grazed his side and immobilized him.

That is when the rage came to a head.

I took Aaron's big military, steel-toed work boot and slammed it down on him.

It wasn't pretty.

But revenge is a dish best served cold.

It's all fun and games until someone eats a bowl of poop. Am I right?

So anyways, after that day I thought that I'd feel better and things would calm down around here.

The geckos had other plans. Apparently their threshold for revenge is much larger than my own.

I don't know what happened when I crushed that reptile two weeks ago, but I can only guess that his whole family heard his little gecko screams that night.

Since that day, I've found three new geckos inside our house. A record, even for us.

It's made my gecko disdain into what is now becoming an obsession. I can't let it go either.

Whenever I find one now, I stalk it, photograph it and dispose of it. Like I said, I'm done with them.

Here are the current, documented perpetrators:

Gecko A:
Location found: On our kitchen floor (The mess around him are the things I unsuccessfully threw at him to scare him off. Obviously, it didn't work.)

Did you notice the Satanic glowing eyes? I did too.

Current residence: In the jungle behind our flat (Aaron flung him back there with a broom after I refused to leave the kitchen until he was gone.)

Gecko B:

Location found: The backsplash in the kitchen.

Current residence: Heaven. (An unfortunate misunderstanding of where the tea kettle was being placed is to blame. Mwah ha ha ha ha.)

Gecko C:

Location found: Scaling the living room wall.

Current residence: He is injured and hiding under my couch as I type. I knocked him off the ceiling with a broom and magically, the fall somehow did not kill him. The bugger scurried under the furniture before my broom could squash him.

It's a very frustrating battle I'm faced with.

I just told Aaron the whole sordid tale of my latest conquest and he was not at all willing to help.

He just shook his head and said, "You are a forest fire."

You know what? I like that. I'm going to adopt that mantra for my life in general.

Hot and Spicy Shaker Fries

2010-03-11T05:55:00.007-06:00

Tonight was a lazy dinner night. Neither of us really felt like cooking or leaving the house to scrounge up food either. So we did what any other lazy American would do if they had the choice...

We got McDonald's delivery.

It's the ultimate fat kid's dream. You get to have McDonald's french fries and you never even have to leave your couch (except to get the door). You don't even have to find your cell phone that's wedged between the couch cushions somewhere. They have a website to order from too.

It's scary easy how fat you could get if things got out of control.

Anyways...To make up for our lack of ambition for a dinner adventure, we decided to try McDonald's special of the moment: Hot and Spicy Shaker fries. McDonald's in Singapore pushes out a promotion every month or so that usually caters to the Asian palate. Shocking! I know.

I think the last one was the Prosperity Burger (which I did not try because it looked like a McRib with nasty black pepper sauce on it) and not too long ago, I saw a Wasabi Fish Sandwich with Seaweed Shaker fries (I also did not try this, but Aaron says the fries are really good).

This month it's a Double Spicy Chicken sandwich of some sort and these Hot and Spicy fries. We just got the fries because we cannot handle spicy McDonald's sandwiches. I learned this one the hard way when I got a McSpicy Chicken Sandwich last year. I couldn't taste food right for two days. I no longer challenge spicy Asian food. They win. That Wendy's Spicy Chicken Sandwich that made me feel "oh so cool" for eating without a Diet Coke back in Kansas is nothing but kiddie food over here.

Ok. Back to the fries.

It's somewhat of a process. They bring you a little shaker kit to make the fries into Hot and Spicy fries. I love projects so I was pretty excited. And because I'm a mean wife, I made Aaron wait to eat for ten minutes while he took pictures to document the process.

First, they give you a small, folded bag to put your regular fries into.

Then you take your Hot and Spicy (and slightly blurry, sorry) Shaker packet

and shake it or tap it over the fries.

Then you fold up the bag to ensure that it is sealed and no fries will escape the Hot and Spiciness.

And then, you shake it like a salt shaker.

I really like that part....if you can't tell.

The fries end up with a good coating that's just right.

The flavoring tasted a lot like the stuff on Barbeque chips in the States, only spicier. It was really yummy.

It was so yummy that I forgot to use ketchup.

That never happens. I think a miracle has just occurred, people.

An herb naming issue and I feel dumb

2010-03-10T02:26:00.004-06:00

Photo from: Viable Herbal Solutions

As a resident of Singapore for the last two years, there have been many North American cooking ingredients that I've been unable to find. As a result, I've had to tweak many recipes or avoid them all together.

One thing I've never found: cilantro.

It was a difficult thing to go without since I cook Mexican food about every other day to make up for the lack in the entire country. (I consume enough to even us all out. Don't you worry.) Cilantro is a very important ingredient in a lot of Mexican dishes, including PW's Homemade Pico de Gallo that I wanted to try back in January.

So I sucked it up and tried my best to get by without it at all. Then, I even had Aaron's sweet Aunt Debbie mail us some dried cilantro to get by.

It seemed Singapore had a cilantro famine and I had given up all hope of finding it.

You know what herb they did have everywhere though? Chinese parsley.

Do you know what Chinese parsley is?

It's cilantro.

Someone just told me about it. After two years of living in the Cilantro Desert.

It is the same frickin' thing, just with a different name.

I've gone two years without this tasty herb in my Mexican cooking because of a simple naming discrepancy.

Is this common knowledge to everyone but me? Does everyone talk about this at all the dinner parties I don't go to?

What else do people in Singapore talk about that I don't know? Where to find Sonic cheeseburgers? Where the real sour cream is?

What else do you people know?

That's some expensive bird spit

2010-03-09T03:32:00.005-06:00

This is a display of the popular Asian delicacy known as Bird's Nest. It's a very sought after ingredient in Chinese cuisine and is most often dissolved into a soup. It's also very expensive.

Especially considering what it is.

It's spit.

SPIT.

And it's from a wild animal. And it's hard because it's been sitting around for a while.

It comes from a certain type of bird called a cave swift. These swifts build their nests inside caves using their very sticky strands of saliva. The strands solidify, slowly forming a nest. When they're finished, the nest looks like a shallow cup that adheres to the cave wall.

Here's a visual from Wikipedia:

So people enter these caves, harvest the nests, clean them and then sell them for vast sums of money. Then, the people who buy them use it in their cooking, like I said, usually for Bird's Nest soup. There's also several different varieties and one is called "red blood" nests. I can only imagine why it's called that. (*Dry heaving at the computer*)

Call me crazy, but I find it extremely odd not only to pay large sums of money for ANIMAL SALIVA, but then to turn around and EAT it.

I won't even kiss my dog on the mouth and I'm sure he has a cleaner mouth than a wild bird.

The Chinese will tell you that Bird's Nest is full of health benefits. These benefits include: aiding digestion, improving the voice, improving focus, alleviating asthma, and the kicker....

improving libido.

So basically what they're telling me is: they eat spit to get their freak on.

I don't know what gets your jollies off, but for me, making out with Mr. Bird Spit Breath isn't on the list.

Din Tai Fung Delicious

2010-03-05T04:39:00.003-06:00

Last night, our friends Jake and Karen took me with their family to one of their favorite restaurants in Singapore.

This is Din Tai Fung.

It is nothing short of amazingly delicious.

Din Tai Fung started in Taiwan by a Chinese man by the name of Yang Bingyi around 1980. It has since exploded in popularity and they have outlets in the United States, China, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Korea. It was named one of the top 10 restaurants in the world by the New York Times in 1993.

So yeah, it's good. Really really good.

Their specialty is xiaolongbao — or what those of us unable to pronounce that word call "dumplings".

These dumplings are technically "soup dumplings" because they are stuffed with a pork filling that contains a natural gelatin. This gelatin melts when the dumplings are steamed and becomes like a soup. Somehow the juice stays contained within the dumpling unless you're like me and accidentally poke it with your chopstick. If you're not a clutz, the dumpling is supposed to release the juices and meat when you bite into it. It's kind of like a mini soup surrounded by a thin dumpling shell. They are steamed in bamboo baskets and served stacked with the other five hundred you order.

Don't judge.

I'll admit that eating a dumpling was a bit jarring at first because I had no idea that it contained so much juice in there. When I ate my first (complete) dumpling, I almost felt like I was drowning because the liquid completely fills your mouth and goes down your throat if you're not ready. And I wasn't.

I avoided a scene and somehow did not have a choking fit when the juice shot down the back of my throat. I think karma is being nice to me after previous events from the week.

After that one though, I was good to go. They were so yummy. I ate like twelve of them.

These are the dumpling makers in the back. According to the Din Tai Fung website, they make each steam basket to order.

Can I just say that I'm loving the fact that they're wearing masks? You don't see that a lot in food service over here. However, they're not wearing gloves. I'm sure they can't form the dumplings with gloves on, but I don't see gloves a lot in Singapore either. I have only seen gloves in Subway restaurants. I've learned to live without that food safety precaution. I just pretend they have invisible ones on.

These are what I hear Singaporeans refer to as vegetables. Actually they call it "vegetable". They like to drop their "s"es and I'm trying to get over it.

I really like these, but I have an issue with them. They're blanched so that the leaves are tender, but the stalks retain their rigidity. And they're almost always covered in a savory sauce. Here's the problem though: How am I supposed to pick the friggin' things up with my chopsticks if they're all slimed with sauce?

It slides out of my chopsticks every time I try to pick it up off the plate. I've even tried the two hand approach with a soup spoon and my chopsticks, but it slips off the spoon too.

This is another one of those times that I miss my fork. It's just so much easier to stab food sometimes.

That issue aside, I love this place. I love it so much that I'm going to drag the hubs there as soon as he gets back. It might just be my new favorite place in Singapore.

I'm sorry Pepper Lunch, you may get beat this time.

The 25-year-old who's afraid of the dark and eats poop

2010-03-03T04:21:00.002-06:00

Obviously, as you can tell from the title, it's been a rough week.

Aaron has been out of the country for work related stuff and I have been left all by my lonesome in our Singaporean flat. I was kind of excited about this at first, but I got over that after my first night.

I forgot that I don't like sleeping in a place all by myself. I forgot this information up until the night he left, of course.

It's because I grew up in a house with four siblings and two parents. There were always at least two other people staying in the house with me at any given time. There was always noise and there was someone else there to intercept the Boogie Man first (my room was at the end of the hall).

I moved out of that house and into a college dorm filled with over 300 other people, then into an apartment with three roommates, and then into another apartment with two roommates.

I always knew that any noise in the night was because of someone else I lived with and any movement was one of them getting up to go the bathroom.

But the game changes when you're alone. You can't blame any of that on anything other than rapists, serial killers and the Boogie Man. Did I tell you about my very active imagination?

This is its specialty.

When I'm sleeping in a place by myself, I agonize over every creak, every click and every whistle I hear. I think I see movement in every dark shadow. Then, when I freak myself out enough, I turn on a few lights and then can't sleep because the lights are on.

So with Aaron gone and me living in a jungle-like area, I virtually get no sleep. I have tried sleeping with the TV on, but it wakes me up. I have tried sleeping with the hall light on, but it wakes me up. I even tried to suffer through a dark, noiseless night and that lasted until my colorful imagination thought that an axe murderer was in the kitchen. (It was the inverter clicking in the living room.)

Basically, I'm a 25-year-old woman who is afraid of the dark.

It's an awesome trait to have as an adult. And that is a lie.

So after several nights with very little restful sleep, it would be safe to say that my week has not been going so great to start with.

But of course, it doesn't stop there.

After spin class this morning, I came home to shower and eat some breakfast. I poured myself a bowl of Froot Loops (cause nothing's better than wrecking a workout with sugary cereal, duh) and began chomping away.

Halfway through the bowl, I noticed that one of loops had a really dark speck lodged in the center of it. At first I thought it was one of those burnt pieces that occasionally ends up in various snack food bags. Then I recalled the I'd never seen a burnt anything in Froot Loops. So I picked out the suspicious loop and poked the blackish stuff. It was gooey and slimy.

It was freaking gecko poop.

A gecko had gotten into our bag of Froot Loops, had a field day, used a piece of cereal as his personal toilet and then skedaddled. He didn't even grant me the decency to let his presense in my cereal be known before I ate his little reptile commode.

I ate a bowl of cereal covered in gecko dung.

Worst. Realization. Ever.

So I did what any rational woman would do...

I started bawling.

Not that it solved anything, but I just had no other outlet at the time to release my frustration. It was just one of those times when you just deal with so many things for so long that it builds and builds and builds and the gecko poop was the straw that broke Megan's back.

And I opened the waterpark.

Looking back, I really hope none of my neighbors heard the hysterical woman in my house. That'd be an awkward conversation later.

"I heard someone crying in your house yesterday. Is everything alright?"

"Oh yeah, that was just me. Don't worry."

"Oh no! Is everything ok?"

"It's fine. I just couldn't sleep all week because I'm afraid of the dark and then I ate some gecko poop."

Yeah. Let's hope for that not happening.

On a positive note, I'm really looking forward to tomorrow. I'm sure it will be a much better day.

Honestly, I don't think it can get much worse than eating poo.

The Red Love Seeds

2010-02-26T02:52:00.002-06:00

These are red love seeds.

I've been collecting them for the last couple of weeks to help put some color in our home.

A lot of the ladies in our neighborhood have been collecting them too. They gather thousands of them and put them in clear vases, candle holders and other decorative containers. It's a cheap and easy way to bring a pop of color into your room.

The seeds are hard, shiny and bright red in color (in case you're blind and can't see the photo). You can only find these seeds in this area of the world though. They come from the Saga Seed Tree which is commonly found in India, China and various regions of Southeast Asia.

The tree has long green pods that grow from the branches and in the Spring, the pods dry up and break open, releasing the red seeds all over the ground.

The locals call them red love seeds because red is the color of love and when you pick them from the ground, you're also supposed to gather thoughts of the one you love.

You know what I think about when I pick them up?

1. Holy crap, my back hurts from bending over and picking up these frickin' seeds.
2. I really hope no one is looking out their window at my big butt in the air.
3. It would really suck if a snake scared the bejesus out of me and made me drop all these seeds.
4. Isn't there a red love seed store?
5. My vase is gonna look awesome when I'm done picking these up in five years.

I spent 30 minutes back behind my house yesterday picking these things up off the ground. This morning when I woke up, my hamstrings were sore.

Explain that to me.

I've been going to spinning class since November and I don't get sore until I spend 30 minutes picking up seeds!

What is that about?!

For more info about the seeds, their uses and why the heck I'd even care about them, here's some sites:

The Red Love Seeds

Saga Seed Tree

Wikipedia: Saga (tree)

I'm not even worried about the MSG anymore

2010-02-25T03:03:00.004-06:00

This is what my friend Sandra found in her lunch today:

(WARNING: This picture will gross you the eff out.)

No, that's not a raisin. It's a fat, juicy fly swimming in the sweet and sour sauce. (Sorry it's blurry, we only had a camera phone available.)

It was the grossest thing I've seen since a Chinese grandmother hawked a lougie on the sidewalk a few months ago.

I think this is going to deter me from visiting hawker stalls for a while, especially the one at my office.

If you remember, hawker stalls are like the American equivalent to a food court in a shopping mall, only they're a little more on the rustic side. It's pretty common for certain stalls to pre-make their food and then set it in big containers under warmers. If you're having trouble picturing it, here's a visual:

They'll put food behind the glass for display or to keep it warm. The problem is that some of these stalls don't have glass to surround all sides. That's when the flies start buzzing around. Since most Asian dishes are served in a sauce, you can imagine how easy it is for them to get trapped and stirred into our food.

I mean their food.

I'm not eating it anymore.

Sandra was pretty shaken up about it. Several of us in the office have vowed to bring a paper bag lunch for a while.

Or maybe forever.

The Giant Durians

2010-02-24T06:23:00.005-06:00

This area is referred to as the Esplanade. Up until I did the research for this post, I incorrectly thought that the building was called "The Esplanade".

I was wrong. It doesn't happen very often, but alas it has happened.

I'm totally kidding, by the way.

Kinda.

Anyway. The building is actually one of two identical buildings in the Esplanade area and is correctly referred to as "Esplanade: Theatres on the Bay".

But I've never heard anyone call them that. That's just too many words.

I always hear "the Esplanade" or the "giant durians" — as in the nasty smelling fruit that my brother made me eat for his birthday.

The buildings look a lot like that fruit that is oh so popular in this part of the world.

I still don't get the appeal.

On a side note, I'd like to express my extreme excitement over the fact that the local grocery store I sometimes go to has stopped carrying durians and thus I no longer wish to rip off my nose when shopping for produce.

Hooray!

One down, 50 more to go.

The Last Birthday in Singapore

2010-02-23T06:05:00.003-06:00

Today is this guy's birthday. I'm pretty fond of him.

It marks the last birthday we will celebrate in Singapore.

I have mixed feelings about that.

Aaron does not. He's ready to celebrate birthdays with Boulevard Wheat again.

That's not a bad idea. Not a bad idea at all.

Bring it.

The Iconic Singapore photo: The Merlion

2010-02-22T01:01:00.004-06:00

It only took me two years, but I finally went to see the Singaporean equivalent of the American Statue of Liberty.

This is Singapore's Merlion. It is has the body of a fish and the head of a lion. The head represents the original name of the country: Singapura, which means "Lion City". It is said that the founder of Singapore, Sang Nila Utama, gave the city its name after seeing a large beast resembling a lion. Today's experts will tell you that lions probably never inhabited Singapore and that the beast Utama saw was most likely a Malayan Tiger.

Eh. Can't win 'em all. It's a good story though.

The Merlion is a popular icon on all Singapore souvenirs and has become the international symbol of Singapore. The country actually has five different Merlions that are recognized by the Singapore Tourism Board.

This one is the most popular...I think.

Yep. We're going to go with that.

I've seen the most popular Merlion in Singapore. It's just one more thing I can check off the long list of things to do before we leave.

A Mosquito Fog

2010-02-18T06:09:00.003-06:00

Yesterday, I was pretty sure that a forest fire had broken out behind my house. All I could see when I looked out my back window was a thick, smoky fog.

Rather than grab water or call the fire department, my first thought was "Oh crap! I need my camera. This'll be awesome!"

Yeah. I'm that kind of person. I blame J-school.

Record the moment first; seek help later.

So anyway, I went to grab my camera, fixed the settings and ran back to the window to open her up and shoot away.

And there was nothing. No smoke. No flames. No excitement.

It turns out that it was just the pest control people fogging for mosquitoes.

Wah. Wah.

Stupid skeeters killed my excitement for the day.

In Singapore, the climate is so wet that mosquitoes are a big problem. In our area, they must fog quite frequently to make being outside even remotely comfortable. They also do it to inhibit the breeding of the Aedes mosquito, which carries Dengue fever. I talked about it a long time ago here.

To make up for my lost photo op, I did semi-stalk the pest control dude from my window hoping that he'd at least fog something again.

Instead, he dropped his stuff and took a walk.

I thought the fogger looked a lot like a futuristic leaf blower. (Ignore the stupid light post that was in the way.)

So...I'm sorry I couldn't get you guys a forest fire. I know that would've been way more fun.

Bad burger, Good burger

2010-02-17T05:43:00.004-06:00

When I first arrived in Singapore two years ago, I had a major Asian food phobia. I was terrified to try anything from local restaurants and food shops. I blame the fact that most of the food either had a head still attached and looking at me, or at the very least, bones or shells to clog my esophagus. (Unless it's fried chicken, Americans don't do bones in our dinner.)

So one of the first foods I tried in Singapore was as American as it comes: a burger. I got it at the most American sounding place I could find too: New York, New York.

And it was the most disappointing American thing that I have ever eaten. I've never been so sad to be away from Midwestern cows.

I don't know why it is, but the Australian ones just aren't as delicious. (Sorry Aussie cows.) There's a weird flavor to the meat that I just couldn't get past.

I steered clear of burgers for a long time after that. Two whole years, in fact.

Then, Aaron brought me home lunch one day. (Which was incredibly sweet since it was a surprise.)

But it was one of those weird Singaporean burgers.

This one was even weirder than the first. See that there? That's white mystery meat again! The same crap they tried to put on my pizza a few months ago. What's even worse is that after I took a bite, I still couldn't decipher whether it was chicken, turkey or pork.

It was that bad.

I just threw it away. I couldn't even make myself eat it.

After that experience, I told my American friend at work about my sadness over eating bad burgers here.

And he knew of a cure:

Hello Carl's Jr.! I forgot all about you! Silly me.

And you have a Guacamole Bacon burger?! Sign me up!

See that kids? That's American beef, baby. And it's delicious.

So the quest for decent burgers ended at an American fast food restaurant. Not perfect, but compared to the competition, a distant number one.

On a side note, I haven't tried the burgers at Chili's, TGI Fridays or the soon-to-open Applebee's yet. I bet they're good; I'm just a little scared to see what the Singaporean prices are for a hunk of beef on a bun at these places.

Chinese New Year: Year of the Tiger

2010-02-11T22:38:00.002-06:00

While the Americans are swooning over Valentine's Day and buying chocolates for their sweethearts this weekend, the Singaporeans over here are getting pumped up for Chinese New Year.

I mentioned some information about this Chinese celebration last year, but since I have more Chinese friends now, I thought I'd share some interesting customs and traditions of CNY.

Chinese New Year is a very colorful and important holiday to Singaporeans, especially those of Chinese decent. This 15 day celebration gets them two full days off from work and begins at midnight on Sunday this year. (12AM 14th February to be exact) To mark the importance of this holiday in their culture, think of it as the equivalent to Thanksgiving for Americans, minus the obsession with turkey.

They do have certain foods and traditions that are always followed for this celebration every year. As I mentioned last year, traditional foods and customs of CNY usually rhyme with words that you'd like to associate with your life in the new year. Words such as prosperity, luck, abundance, fortune, wealth are all things that are associated with traditions for CNY.

To better illustrate the traditions, I called my friend Cat to ask her what some of her family traditions are for this celebration. Here's what she told me:

We cannot sweep our floor on the first day of Chinese New Year. By doing this, it will sweep away our luck for the new year.
My mother will not let us wash our hair on the first day of CNY. The Mandarin word for hair rhymes with prosperity, so therefore we believe that washing our hair on that day will wash away our luck.
The same goes for getting hair cuts. We must do this before or after the first few days of CNY.
At the stroke of midnight on the first day of CNY, we open all doors and windows in our home to "let in the God of Fortune". Some people will even visit an astrologer to more accurately determine the exact time that the God will come. My family sticks to the midnight time.
You will also see a lot of people with joss sticks standing outside of the temples right before the first hour of the new year. They believe that the first person to place a joss stick at the altar at the first hour will have good luck for the rest of the year. (A joss stick is similar to or the same as a stick of incense.)
People are not encouraged to wear black or white during CNY as these are not auspicious colors. Most people will wear bright reds and oranges.
We eat a lot of traditional food that is based on their Mandarin pronunciation. We eat shrimp because the Mandarin word for shrimp is "ha" which sounds like laughter. We eat fish because the Mandarin word sounds like abundance. We also give Mandarin oranges because the word sounds like gold, thus meaning we wish wealth to their family.
The first two days of the CNY celebration are usually spent visiting friends and family and having big meals together. You will also see a lot of people at movie theatres too. People are laying low, but doing things together.

These are just some of the things that my friend and her family either witness or participate in while living in Singapore.

If you are Singaporean and have other traditions, please feel free share in the comment section. I'd love to learn about them and so would some of the other American readers.

The Voice of the MRT

2010-02-10T03:00:00.002-06:00

I have this weird thing: Whenever I hear a recorded voice, I always want to know what the person looks like.

This goes for cartoon voices, movie voice overs, and public service announcements played over speakers in public areas.

It's like a game.

The best part is that usually the person looks nothing like what you picture in your mind from hearing their voice.

So I was pretty excited when I found a video on YouTube of the lady who is the voice on the speakers in the MRT trains and stations.

For the Americans who've never been to Singapore, here's a video of one of her announcements on an MRT train:

And this is what she looks like:

Surprisingly, she doesn't look that different than what I imagined. She's quite pretty.

Victoria's Secret in Singapore

2010-02-09T01:46:00.003-06:00

Among the many attractions and shops in Resorts World Sentosa, one of my favorite stores has opened their first location in Asia.

Singapore, Vickie's has landed. Get ready to live.

Of course, it's a much smaller version compared to the two monster stores that I'm used to, but as the saying goes "Beggars can't be choosers". It'll definitely do.

Because I'm my mother's child, I decided to do some price comparisons even though I didn't plan on buying anything.

As you can see in the above photo, the original US prices have been marked out with a Sharpie.

The new price is listed on the ledge.

I braced myself for some sticker shock. I was pleasantly surprised though. The original price was $16.90 US. The new price is approximately $22.56 US. Not too crazy of a difference. If you figure in how much it'd cost in shipping to get here, it's almost a bargain.

All in all, it's a cute little store that has a sampling of popular Victoria's Secret merchandise.

I was a bit confused by one missing component though:

There is not one bra to be seen anywhere.

I'm not even kidding.

Hello?! That's like opening an ice cream shop and only selling sprinkles and hot fudge.

I have no idea why they wouldn't sell bras in the only Victoria's Secret in Asia. I only own bras from Victoria's Secret because they're so awesome (and my best friend used to work there). I think these girls in Singapore should get to experience them too.

Aaron says it's probably because Victoria's Secret doesn't make bras that small.

Very funny. Mean, perverted boy.

Resorts World Sentosa, as of now

2010-02-08T03:57:00.006-06:00

Yesterday, Aaron and I decided to go check out how things were coming along at Resorts World Sentosa.

This has been a major project for Singapore and has been under construction for almost three years now. It is expected to be a major attraction for tourists, visitors and locals for nightlife, restaurants, shopping and vacations.

It's still not completely finished, but they're allowing people in to see the progress.

The design of the entire place is very modern with Asian and Western tones. The entire complex was primarily designed by American architect Michael Graves. He's one of my favorite designers and I own several of his house ware goods that are sold at Target.

When I heard he was taking on a huge part of this project, I was very excited to see it.

The complex is enormous and could keep someone busy for hours and hours.

Perhaps the biggest attraction and the one we first heard about was the casino.

The casino is a big deal in Singapore. It's the first of two planned casinos in the country and will be segregated. (*UPDATE* After digging a little deeper, it appears that the segregation only takes place upon arrival in order to gain fees from locals. Once through the entrance, everyone plays on the same casino floor.) The fee that I mentioned is for Singaporeans and PRs. They are required to buy a S$100 day pass or S$2000 for a yearly membership pass to be able to even enter the casino. There's also a list of approximately 29,000 Singaporeans who will not be allowed to enter the casino because of known gambling problems.

Drah-ma. I'm not even going to get into it.

The complex will house six hotels in total, but only three were open as of yesterday.

Here we have the Festive Hotel.

and the Hard Rock Hotel

I really loved the decor in this hotel. It was edgy and modern.

My favorite of the three we saw, had to be Hotel Michael, obviously designed by Michael Graves.

It was gorgeous. I loved it and all I saw was the lobby and waiting area.

So aside from the really cool hotels, the upcoming oceanarium and the casino, the other big anticipation is Asia's first Universal Studios.

They were testing the rides while we were there and the rumor mill says that they're planning to open by late Spring/early Summer. Just in time for me to miss it.

It's ok. I'll live.

I thought the whole resort complex was really cool and fun to walk around even without everything being opened.

It was actually pretty refreshing to be able to walk in Singapore without being smothered by other people. I'm sure this will change when the rest of it opens.

So all in all, I think it'll be a great place for families, younger people and everyone in between.

I'm only slightly jealous that I won't get to see it in all of its completed glory.

Side Car equals Awesome

2010-02-03T04:31:00.002-06:00

Someone in Singapore drives a side car.

And I am incredibly jealous.

Thaipusam, version 2.0

2010-02-02T03:17:00.004-06:00

Saturday was the Hindu celebration of Thaipusam in Little India. If you've been reading this blog for a while, you'll recall that I went to this last year.

I wasn't going to go again this year because it's really one of those things that your stomach can only handle once.

Then, my friend Danielle reminded me about the sweet DSLR camera my husband got me for my birthday and said that it'd be a great way to get some good shots in. (She got one too this year.)

I caved. I desperately needed camera practice.

So we went and I am now sharing my favorite shots of the day:

I found the experience much more enjoyable on my weak stomach this time around. The shock factor was gone and it became all business as I was still learning my camera.

Even though I got another sunburn, I'm loving the shots I got.

Yay new camera!

Hang them out to dry

2010-02-01T03:49:00.002-06:00

I hate laundry. I hate it so much that I own more than a month's worth of underwear just so I don't absolutely have to do it so often.

Yes. I consider underwear the one thing that cannot be worn more than once between washings. Everything else passes a sniff/stain test.

Call me gross, but I guarantee that I get to relax way more often than you do as you shuttle back and forth to the washing machine with your basket full of almost clean jeans.

Much like everything else in life, Singaporeans do laundry a little different than we do.

You see those poles of damp clothes hanging out of the window of the HDB flats?

That's the Singaporean equivalent of a dryer. Most of the country's residents cannot afford a dryer (and sometimes a washer) and have to tackle laundry the "old-fashioned" way. However, since nobody has a yard to put a clothesline up, they have to attach poles under their window and hang the clothes to dry that way.

So naturally, this rose up all sorts of questions inside of me. Big shocker there, right?

I asked the girls at work my random, crazy, American girl questions:

Me: So what if your clothes fall off the pole?
Them: Why would they? You attach them with clips or loop the sleeves through, lah. It rarely happens.

Me: Doesn't it take forever to have to wait for it to dry before you hang more up?
Them: No lah! You do a little everyday only so that it doesn't take so much time all at once.

Me: Will you ever buy a dryer? It's quicker, isn't it?
Them: They're very expensive here. Plus, the electricity bill would be to the roof. (Electricity in Singapore is about five times more expensive than it is in Kansas. That's also the reason most people don't have air conditioning.)

Me: Don't birds poop on it?
Them: No, crazy girl! That never happens. What I don't like is when the people above me hang their dripping wet sheets over my clothes that are almost dry. Ai-yo! I get so mad.

I actually could probably handle this part of Singapore life. I tend to hang dry most of my clothes on a clothes rack even though I have a dryer. I find the clothes don't shrink, lose their shape and generally last a lot longer that way.

I could not live without a washing machine though. When I do finally do laundry, I want to spend as little time as possible on it. I have no patience for soaking, scrubbing and wringing bedsheets.

I don't even think I have the muscles required for that kind of work.

But you all look the same...

2010-01-28T05:16:00.002-06:00

When Aaron first started working here in Singapore, he often heard the same phrase from the locals in his office: "All you Americans look alike. I cannot tell you apart."

One of the guy's children even confused my tall, skinny husband with dark brown hair with his short, chubby coworker with light brown hair.

It was so weird to us. Then again, we could not tell any of the locals apart from each other either. They all had black hair, smaller bone structure and slanted brown eyes (except for the Indian-Singaporeans).

I experienced the same situation when I showed up to work for the first time in Singapore. My Chinese-Singaporean boss was going over everyone's name in the office and I got stuck on one person.

I asked her "Is that the blonde?"

My boss got a really confused look on her face and said "I have no idea. I don't pay attention to that."

I was so baffled by this. How do you not notice the color of someone's hair? It's one of the first things I notice about someone right along with their eyes.

Well almost two years later, I finally have my answer. A new study published in ScienceDaily found that Caucasians and Asians assess and recognize faces in a totally different way. They also explained a little bit as to why we have trouble telling people from the other race apart.

"Caucasian and Asian subjects excelled at recognizing someone of their race, yet both had the same level of difficulty in identifying someone of another ethnic group. According to Blais, this says more about the analytical approach of Caucasians and the holistic approach of Asians." -University of Montreal (2010, January 27). Caucasians and Asians don't examine faces in the same way. ScienceDaily.

According to ScienceDaily, Asians study faces as an overall picture and Caucasians tend to break down the face into specific parts.

Specifically, Caucasians tend to focus on the triangle of the eyes, nose and mouth. Asians just focus on the nose and observe the whole face at once.

I found this crazy interesting. It totally made sense of the conversations we'd had with Singaporeans here. I'm sure the facial structure recognition also goes along with the fact that they don't notice hair color, eye color and so on.

I did later ask my previous boss what features she notices about people when she first meets them. She told me that she more often notices face shape and body type. At the time, I thought she was just weird.

Now I realize that I just grew up in a place where different things matter (i.e. hair color) in aiding our recognition.

In a place like Singapore, where the majority of the population is from surrounding Asian countries, those same things don't help at all. Everyone has dark brown or black hair (naturally, at least) and dark brown eyes. So they've grown up learning to recognize completely different things to tell their friends apart.

This is such an "Aha!" moment for me that I feel really slow for not putting this all together until now.

It's interesting though, right?

I Didn't Know I Loved My Microwave This Much

2010-01-26T04:20:00.004-06:00

What's the longest amount of time you've gone without a microwave?

We went five days.

It. Was. Torture.

Our microwave decided to conk out on us last Friday with a very loud and distinct "POP". After that, it's like it just forgot to warm up the food we stuck in it. It's not a very fun game for hungry people to play.

We're lucky that the US Government furnishes us with one of these appliances as part of our living arrangement here. We're unlucky in that if it breaks, we must wait until the maintenance office either opens or has time to replace it. Since it broke on a Friday evening, we had to go all weekend without the miracle food warmer upper. Then we waited a couple more days until our "number" was up at the maintenance office.

All I can say is this: You really don't know what you got till it's gone.

We felt like we were a part of Little House on the Prairie. We had to "manually" warm up everything. Leftover coffee, queso, cold pancakes, etc. It all had to be either put in the oven, in the toaster or on the stove. We even had to get out a saucepan to warm up maple syrup for our pancakes on Saturday. I didn't even know you could do that!

See there? That's sad.

It's sad that I've never gone long enough without a microwave that I had to learn to reheat things the conventional way before now.

I definitely have a new found respect for who have the time, patience and will to live without a microwave.

I just still don't see how or why you do it.

I'm not going to lie, I skipped making quite a few things to avoid having to heat it up on the stove. I also admit that I ate cereal for dinner twice and it was awesome.

Sing us a song, you're the piano man

2010-01-25T02:59:00.004-06:00

I have a mild obsession with piano bars. I think they are the greatest places to unwind on a Friday or Saturday night. They play good music (requests from the audience, so you're guaranteed to hear what you want) and incorporate humor and activities to embarrass other people on everyone's behalf. It's fun, it's hilarious and you have to have a sense of humor to enjoy it.

Therefore, it weeds out the douchey type people. I would love it for that reason alone. Yet, there are many reasons why I love these magical places.

I get ridiculously excited when I live next to one.

When we heard there was a Howl at the Moon in Singapore. We went there for my birthday.

It was a blast. One of the pianists was from Chicago and the other was from New Zealand. It was a very interesting show because the guys combined their two styles of music, humor and playlists. I was laughing the whole night.

Until we got our bill. That part was not at all funny. (For the record, I don't blame HATM for it, I blame Singapore and their outrageous alcohol taxes.)

So you can imagine just how ecstatic I was to find a piano bar in my old college town when we were home. When I left to move to Singapore, the closest piano bar was in Columbia, Missouri.

If you know anything about the KU/MU rivalry, you know how painful it is for a jayhawk to step foot in Columbia.

And as much as I like the pianos, I just couldn't bring myself to go there again. (I also can't easily go to the recently opened HATM in Kansas City because it's an hour's drive from where we stay.)

So thank you Piano Gods for bringing me a piano place of my own in Lawrence.

This is The Barrel House.

I friggin' love it. Not only are the players there extremely talented, but the place is huge and has four private rooms.

The manager let us hang out in the Blue Moon room for the evening.

(Picture from http://www.thebarrelhouse.com/photo_tour)

It was awesome. All 20 of us had a perfect view of the stage, our own waitress (you can hire your own bartender if you choose) and plenty of seats.

We had enough privacy to talk amongst ourselves without interrupting the show and yet could hear and participate in everything that went on down on stage ― which was quite entertaining.

We got there early because the weather wasn't cooperating with us and it was pretty mellow at first. We walked right in from the snow without having to wait at all. Things really picked up around eleven when all of the students finally staggered in though. I'd suggest coming just a while before then to avoid standing in line.

It was a great night.

And when we got this bill, we were again shocked ― but this time at the incredibly low amount. It was a fourth of what we paid at the Singapore place for relatively the same amount of drinks.

So yes, I love The Barrel House. If you're in the Lawrence area, you should definitely check it out.

(As always, no one paid me to say any of the above statements. I simply like to tell readers when a place rocks.)

Giveaway Winner

2010-01-21T01:55:00.004-06:00

The winner of the Bump-its is......

Entry #3:

Jenny, please contact me at singaporejhawk@gmail.com to arrange delivery of your prize. Thank you to everyone who entered. I loved reading your responses.

Maybe I'll give away a Snuggie next!

Just kidding. I don't even own a Snuggie. I live in Singapore. We don't have much use for Snuggies over here.

Giveaway!

2010-01-19T05:18:00.005-06:00

Remember my rave about Bump-its?

Today, I'm giving away a set to one lucky reader.

Yep, fo FREE.

And all you have to do is answer the following question in the comments section:

"What is your favorite hair product for humidity?"

I'd really like to know. I swear by Phyto, but I'm sure everyone has their own rock star hair stuff. I want to know what it is.

*This contest is only open to readers in the United States and Singapore. Also, please only enter once (I will check and disqualify you for cheating if you enter more than once! I have a thing with cheating). The contest ends on Thursday at 4pm (Singapore time) when the winner will be randomly selected by the handy dandy tool at Random.org.

Good luck!

SORRY! Contest time has ended.

Apple pie, improvised

2010-01-18T01:35:00.003-06:00

One of the first things I ever learned how to bake was an apple pie. Yes, I know it's stereotypical. The American girl bakes apple pies. Big surprise.

But anyways. That's what I first learned to make.

Here's me at age four, first learning to make an apple pie in my Grandma Jackie's kitchen.

(Did you notice that my 4-year-old self already knew the importance of costume jewelry when baking? It's all about the details.)

I've always loved apple pie. It's tangy, sweet, buttery and gooey. It's even better with ice cream on top.

Fast forward to the year 2010. I'm craving apple pie, but I live in Singapore.

Problem.

The first and last time we bought apples here, they were smaller than my fist and already rotten in the center. They also made us buy five because that was the special. In Singapore you only buy what the special says. You cannot buy two or three if the special says "Five for $5". You buy five. Trust me. They get really confused at the register and call their manager over. You must buy five if the sign says five.

So basically, we had five nasty apples and a headache from trying to explain our desire to only purchase three apples.

This was so something I never wanted to deal with again.

But I wanted apple pie. So it's a good thing that Aaron's grandma sent us this stuff.

It also worked out that I had a pie crust mix that desperately needed to be used as well. We're in "Operation Clean Out our Pantry" mode and things like that are better to be used than packed and shipped back to Kansas where they may sit in storage for weeks and weeks.

So I mixed the crust mix with water, rolled it out, filled it with the pie filling and baked it.

Ta-da! Apple pie in Singapore. It wasn't perfect, but it was apple pie.

And sometimes that's all you need it to be.

Success.

Two very different Decembers

2010-01-13T01:53:00.002-06:00

This is what December looked like in Kansas.

This is what December looked like in Singapore.

I feel very fortunate to have experienced Christmas in both places.

Although, I'm not gonna lie. It's really hard to sing all of those Christmas carols about snow when you're sweating your butt off in shorts and flip flops.

The American Chinese Restaurant

2010-01-12T03:29:00.003-06:00

When I first moved to Singapore, the question I most often got from my parents was "What do they eat there?"

To which I'd respond, "They eat Asian-style food, Mom."

And my dad would say "Oh! You mean like Red Fortune's food."

Red Fortune is the Chinese-style restaurant back in my hometown. My family has been eating there since I was in the 3rd grade. We've been there so many times that we know the owners (actually the owners' adult children) by name (Maria and Dom) and give them hugs whenever we enter the door. They know everything about us and we know all about them.

Basically, they're awesome and we love them.

But I had to break it gently to Mom and Dad that Red Fortune isn't anything like the food we are eating in the actual Orient.

I believe my words were, "They don't have crab rangoon here, Dad."

To that I heard "WHAT?! You're kidding me?! But that's Asian food!"

Nope. It's not. And it makes me sad to say it because crab rangoon is my ultimate favorite thing at Red Fortune.

Singapore has never heard of crab rangoon.

A sad, sad day.

So to introduce Singapore to the American version of Chinese-style food, I brought my camera to Red Fortune while we were home.

Drum roll please.

Ladies and gentlemen of Singapore......

I give you.....

The delicious Crab Rangoon

It's an ultra crispy wonton filled with a mixture of cream cheese, crab and some other secret ingredients.

Basically, it's a happy party in your mouth. I dip mine in sweet n' sour sauce and spicy mustard (also two sauces that they do not serve as dipping sauces in Asia).

I ate three crab rangoons. I'm an American piggy who can't say no to cream cheese anything. It's a really good thing that cream cheese isn't popular in Singapore. Otherwise I'd be the size of the Merlion statue.

For the actual meal part of our dining experience (the crab rangoon is strictly an appetizer, duh), Aaron ordered the Szechuan chicken with a side of fried rice and an egg roll.

It's very different than anything I've consumed on this side of the pond. While the Chinese dishes in Singapore do usually come with some kind of sauce, they are not near as thick or sweet. Also, the vegetables are not usually the ones pictured above. They use a lot of greens, tofu, and bean sprouts...but mostly just greens.

The Chinese restaurants in the US have "Americanized" their menus to ensure that people will actually eat their food. They've added much more sugar and salt, switched out the limp, cooked greens for vegetables more common in the American diet, removed all bones and heads from the food, and added things like the decadent crab rangoon. (I'm also fairly sure that the egg roll is an American creation as well.)

For my lunch, I ordered the Cashew Chicken with a side of fried rice and a crab rangoon (because I obviously need to attend a 12 step Crab Rangoon program).
I've seen Cashew Chicken on a menu in a Chinese restaurant here in Singapore, but I did not get a chance to try it yet. Therefore, I have no idea if it's similar or not. My guess is that it's probably not. The one from Red Fortune is delicious and I kind of like the idea of not tainting it in my mind with an authentic "imposter".

And to finish our meal, we got the token American-Chinese fortune cookie.

The fortune in Aaron's said that he would travel to far away places.

Those cookies are smart little suckers.

One of the seven little reasons...

2010-01-11T02:56:00.002-06:00

that my trip back home was awesome.

This is my youngest nephew, Cooper. He is the epitome of a ray of sunshine. His cute little voice forces you to smile, no matter what mood you're in. So basically everytime he speaks, I just want to squeeze him. It's like a reflex. And I can't control it.

When he and my other cutie pie nephew, Tyson, get together, it's cuteness overload. That's when I have to look away so I don't burst from all the cuteness.

We got to spend a lot more time with our little people this trip home. We sat by them at dinner, we made Easy Bake oven cookies, we fed the small one a bottle, we played dress up, we played with new toys from Santa and we kissed and hugged them until we got on their nerves. We had so much fun and it made it that much harder to leave again.

Living in Singapore is a wonderful experience. The weather is always Summer-ish and the walking keeps me somewhat slimmer than my Kansas-dwelling self.

But I just can't resist all this cute.

I've got to live by the cute again. In a few months. :)

(See you soon Aidan, Rachel, Ava, Jack, Tyson, Cooper and Lexi! Remember, Aunt Megan always has candy!)

Well hello there

2010-01-08T17:55:00.004-06:00

I just wanted you all to know that I did not fall in a hole somewhere for the last two weeks.

I've been on a much needed holiday back home to the United States. The picture above accurately depicts what our Christmas, New Year's and every other day that we were home looked like. We were so busy running from house to house, store to store and restaurant to restaurant that I barely touched a computer. My iPhone was the only thing that kept me linked to the rest of the world.

So it's only my second day back in Singapore and I've been welcomed back with one of the signature headaches that I seem to so often get here.

So as soon as that's gone, and as soon as I sort through all of the 500 pictures that we took while we're home, I will be a much more productive blogger.

Hope your holidays were as wonderful as ours were.

Say it in Singlish

2009-12-19T03:28:00.002-06:00

Singlish: This time cannot.

American English: We can't do it this time.

Singlish: Last year we have. This year don't have.

American English: We had it last year, but not this year.

Singlish: I like this also wan.

American English: I like this too.

Singlish: You no like?

American English: You don't like this?

These are very simple snippets, but ones that I hear almost everyday. I've learned that the Singlish sentence structure is like this because they've combined the structure of their native tongue (usually Mandarin) with the English words. That's why it comes out all jumbled to the American ear.

The Christmas Kelong

2009-12-16T01:35:00.007-06:00

For my office's "Holiday" celebration this year, we went to an authentic Singapore kelong.

A kelong is basically fishing hut that is either floating or on stilts just off the shore. There are not many left in Singapore as the fishing business has become more modernized.

Yet, the few traditional kelong fishermen left in Singapore live and work in these fishing huts. Some also host lunches and dinners at the kelong for those who want to dine on the freshest seafood in Singapore.

That'd be us. We heard it'd be fun. And we brought along our family type people too.

Aaron was horrifi —uh —thrilled!

When we pulled up to the kelong, we saw Kujo here raising a ruckus from a rusty chain.

Aaron goes, "Oh God. That's lunch, isn't it?"

My husband is such an optimist sometimes.

Actually, the kelong housed many nets that held the catch of that day or week. That was lunch.

I only walked around the kelong for a minute to take the needed photos for proof that I was there. Here's why:

I wasn't all that confident that my flip flop wouldn't go right through these planks. They weren't lookin' too sturdy.

The kelong was set up for all twenty of us to eat around two tables. It took up most of the outdoor living area, leaving only the walkways and fishing nets clear.

Here is the owner/chef preparing our vegetables.

In Singapore, they refer to leafy greens as vegetables and often cook them in a sauce. Americans would usually put these in a salad and eat them smothered in Ranch dressing without cooking them. It took some getting used to, but I like them either way now.

I've expanded my veggie horizons. Mostly out of fear of starvation.

P.S. I have no idea how Chef Dude doesn't have a million splinters in his feet since he walks around the place barefoot. Calluses of steel? Sorry. That's gross of me to say.

Here are some of the dishes that were served. Ignore the chicken dish. Sometimes Americans just need a seafood buffer.

It was a perfect December day in Singapore. We lucked out and didn't get a drop of rain while we were cast away.

We were out on the kelong for almost three hours. They allowed us to bring our own beer, wine, soda and water for the luncheon.

After about an hour of gulping down wine and beer, we discovered a problem.

This was the bathroom:

There's nothing like a hole in a bunch of decrepit planks over the ocean.

The beverages flowed a lot slower for the ladies upon this little discovery.

I still don't understand the physics of that whole thing.

The job hunt, inspired by song

2009-12-13T20:30:00.004-06:00

As we prepare to move back to Kansas in the next year, the job search is, by far, the most daunting task. In this economy, job hunting is about as much fun as going to the dentist everyday.

That's why when I saw this little ray of sunshine, I felt a little less nervous.

There IS a place out there just waiting for me to join the ensemble of awesomeness.

Now if only I could just figure out what company these people work for.

The Martha Stewart of Singapore

2009-12-10T03:21:00.003-06:00

I spent Saturday with Martha Stewart's twin.

Ok, not really.

They look nothing alike, but their baking abilities mirror each other to a "T". So for that, I've crowned my friend Sandra as the Martha of Singapore.

In her kitchen, she makes everything from scratch. Everything. No joke. Cans and mixes do not live in Sandra's pantry. She also only uses fresh ingredients. It's equal parts impressive and intimidating to the girl whose favorite cookies involve a cake mix and take less than thirty minutes.

So when Sandra invited me to help her make her signature pineapple tarts for Christmas this year, I jumped at the chance. I desperately needed to expand my cooking horizons.

She was even kind enough to make the whole day a learning experience for me and allow room for me to potentially mess up her Christmas tradition.

She's a sweet-tart. (Ha ha, get it? Lame? Ah-hem. Sorry.)

To start, we had to make pastry dough. Now, I'm a "run to the store and buy the pre-made, refrigerated dough" kind of girl. This whole "make dough from scratch" world got me a little anxious.

Sandra called me silly and handed me the ingredients anyway.

So with a bag of flour and two blocks of butter, I dove in. She told me to put everything in a bowl and just mix it with my hands until it was dough. Easy enough.

This is what I came up with:
(Oh and by the way, some of these pictures are blurry because I was taking pictures with dough covered fingers.)

So yeah. You see that mess all over the counter? That's how good I was at that task. I also had a flour and dough covered gut from leaning against the counter. It was a beautiful site.

Then, the expert, meaning "Martha", took over to roll out the dough cuz I was sure I wouldn't do it right.

Next was the pressing stage of the lesson. To make the tart base, we used a plastic press to push the dough into a mini tart-like shape.

Sandra demonstrated it for me first.
Then I tried.

And failed.
The two at the top are hers. The two at the bottom are mine.

I was fired.

So I tried a new job.

I, instead, took the tart bases (pressed by Sandra) and filled them with pineapple jam.

Sandra makes her own pineapple jam from fresh pineapples that she gets from the wet market. I missed that part of the tart making lesson because of the Thanksgiving holiday.

Here's the jam:
It smelled amazing. I really wanted to eat the jam with a spoon. But I didn't. Sandra already thinks I'm weird. I didn't need to give her more reasons to think so. Plus, I'd already been fired from one task, I didn't need to put my other job in jeopardy.

So I just kept to putting the jam in the tarts — instead of my mouth.

Then after I filled over 50 mini tarts, it was time to brush them with Sandra's special egg wash.

I've only ever used egg whites for an egg wash, but Sandra uses the yolks mixed with a bit of butter. She said it gives the tarts a nice color.

Since I don't know anything, I just did what I was told.

She was right. The wash gave them a really pretty golden color and made them look so scrumptious.

They were like a party in my mouth. The pastry part is the perfect blend of crusty and buttery while the fruit is sweet and tart. We both ate way more than I'd admit on the internet.

And then she sent me home with more.

I've since had to ration it out and put some in the freezer to keep my butt in the same size jeans. That won't last long though. Those tarts are still calling to me.

Those suckers are addictive. There needs to be a 12 step program to get off of the tarts.

So I declare my first Singaporean cooking experience a success.

Just don't ask "Martha". I'm sure I messed up a bunch of things.

But she'd never admit it. She's way nicer than the real Martha.

No Thank Queue

2009-12-08T02:41:00.002-06:00

This arrived in my Singapore mailbox today:

It made me laugh out loud, right there at the mailbox.

"Long Queues mean Great Deals". That's the exact opposite of what my American brain thinks.

(Oh and for the Americans just joining us, a queue is the British word for "line", as in waiting in line).

In my own American terms, it means "Wait two hours in line to pay the same price or much more than what you'd pay back home for your Christmas gifts."

It's not their fault though. Singapore is a smooshed country. It's the second most populated country behind Monaco. Lines and queues are inevitable. Even if they put seven outlets of the same store in a mall, there'd still be a line. There's just too many people on the island.

As an American, we're brought up in a world where lines indicate that an establishment or employee isn't doing their job. Customer satisfaction is the first priority and having a customer wait more than five minutes to give you his or her money is just unheard of. Why should you have to be inconvenienced to give a certain store business? You could take your money elsewhere and not wait in line.

At least that's the American line of thinking.

So when I see that a mall is boasting about their long queues, I immediately take note to not go there and order online instead.

I'm sorry, I'm a spoiled American brat who has better things to do than wait in a line.

And I like it that way.

Happy Birthday Cori

2009-12-04T02:16:00.003-06:00

Ever since I named my favorite Barbie doll "Cori" and learned how to curl and tease my bangs, I've wanted to be just like my big sister.

Back then, I mimicked her every move. I listened to the same music she did. I watched the same TV shows that she did. I even played in her room when she was at school just so I could be around all of her "cool" stuff.

All of this resulted in a five year-old girl who watched 90210 in her hand-me-down New Kids on the Block t-shirt and got repeatedly locked out of her teenage sister's room.

It didn't matter. My big sister was the coolest person on Earth and I wanted to be as pretty and grown-up as she was.

She taught me all of the important things in life: how to curl my hair, mix cookie dough in the living room, eat soup out of a mug, tell the "My name is Chubby" joke and countless other valuable lessons.

I can still remember crying on my bedroom floor the day after she moved away to college. It was the first time I had ever experienced what it felt like to genuinely miss someone. My little heart ached, I missed her so much.

Twenty years later, I am thousands of miles away and again, I miss my sister.

Today is her 35th birthday. She has become an even more amazing woman than the teenage girl I followed around.

She's now a loving wife, a caring nurse and an amazing mother. She cooks the best food, arranges the cutest wedding and baby showers, gives the best speeches, and teaches me everyday how to be a better person.

She's the best example of everything I strive to be as I enter each stage of my life. I look up to her now just like I did then.

(Only now she has better taste in music, hair styles and TV.)

Happy birthday Cori. I'm so glad you're my sister.

Holiday Tipping Etiquette

2009-12-01T02:47:00.004-06:00

Many of us spend more time than usual at restaurants during the holiday season. Whether it be for a work gathering, a break from shopping or simply avoiding another long day of cooking for out of town relatives, it seems more of us seem to seek refuge in a building under a neon sign with a kitchen full of cooks.

But let's not lose our heads in all the Holiday twinkly lights and glitter.

(This post won't seem extremely relevant to the Singaporean readers out there, but it may provide some insight into the world of American restaurants should you find yourself visiting anytime in the next ten years.)

In Singapore, tipping isn't quite the standard practice that it is in the States. Here, a ten percent gratuity charge is added to every bill. In most cases, that gratuity is then given to the establishment who then divides it evenly among the servers. (This is what was told to us by a local server, if you are a server in a restaurant that doesn't do this, please share!) The point being, tipping isn't the big deal it is in the States. The waiter or waitress is not expecting you to lay down 20% when you leave the table.

However, this is an entirely different ballgame in the States.

My husband and I were both servers in college. We've experienced this under appreciated job first hand. I even worked at four different establishments as I moved around the place during my studies.

It is hard work. It is stressful work. It is mind numbingly aggravating work at times too.

And people are rude.

I made a lot of friends with my coworkers over the years and I heard just about every one of them say at some point, "It should be a law that you must have worked as a server before you're allowed to go to a restaurant."

Servers are the lowest paid workers in the United States according to their base pay. Servers make a measly $2.13 an hour (at least this was the case when I was a server). The Federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. Yeah, big difference.

So when you go into a restaurant with your three friends, order water and an appetizer to share, we hate you. Your bill will usually only be about $12 and you'll leave us about $2. So that hour or 45 minutes that we refilled your waters, delivered your food and cleared your plates only earned us less than five bucks.

Now I'm not saying that you should have to order things you don't want or needlessly overtip, but do keep in mind that the people busting their butt to keep you happy for one measly meal are also trying to buy presents for their nieces, cousins, brothers and so on.

I think there's a lot of things about the restaurant industry that people don't know. That's why when I ran across this article on Reader'sDigest.com, I really wanted to post it to the blog. I think a lot of people are clueless as to what really goes on and what goes through the minds of the people at the local Applebee's or Chili's.

So in addition to the list of 30 waiter secrets listed in the above article, Aaron and I have come up with an additional five.

5 Things Restaurant Diners Should Always Remember

5. You are not the only person in the restaurant that your waiter or waitress is tending to. Most servers have between 4 and 5 tables that they are serving at any given time. If all of those tables are full, that's approximately 18-25 people in his or her section. Not only are they fulfulling the request of each of these people including your own, they probably are having to do other remedial tasks such as make salads, drinks and run other people's food. So when you wonder why your cup of ranch dressing doesn't magically appear in 30 seconds, it isn't because he or she is a crappy server. To avoid this, try ordering your dressing with your food if you require extra. That way the server can make a note of it on the computer and someone else can bring it out with your food.

4. The nicer you are to your server, the more time they will focus directly on you. If you make an effort to make small talk, learn his or her name or genuinely act like a nice human being, your server will more than make it up to you. Your food will come out faster, with less errors and have any special requests met to a "T". Just by doing those simple things, you will then stick out in his or her mind, thus making your server want to make you have the best meal of your life. You'd be surprised just how many people are naturally rude. A simple kind word will do wonders in a restaurant.

3. Yeah, the tips can be great. If you're good at your job, you can make a killing in tips. This is what most people think happens to every server. However, most of us only have a great night about one or two days a week (and that's only if we get the good sections). On the other days, servers work long hours with few tables and a lot of crappy sidework. They have to do stuff like rolling silverware, refilling salad dressing containers, dusting table ledges, windexing windows and restocking cups. The majority of this work is done when the server has zero tables. That means they do this work for their measly $2.13. So really, when you figure it all together, the couple hundred they made on the weekend just made up for the $30 they made for working 10 hours the previous Tuesday.

2. We're not your babysitter or your kid's maid. One time when I was working in a pizza restaurant, a huge family came in with 15 children under the age of 10. Once the adults got situated with their beers and conversation, they allowed all of their children to proceed in a restaurant-wide game of hide and seek. While we were trying to serve other customers, these children were running around, hiding under tables and almost knocking people over. Not only were the other customers pissed, but some people almost got hurt. The parents then got irritated with us when we told their children to stop. Seriously, that happened. Also, when you forget your baby's toys to keep him occupied, it is never OK to let your baby play with the sugar caddy and rip open every packet of sugar onto the table for us to clean up later.

1. Fifteen percent is a crappy tip. No joking. Also, 10% is an embarassing tip (unless your server was the worst you've ever had). For good to decent service, 20% is the standard. For excellent service, 25 to 30% is great. Servers work hard to make sure that one meal in your lifetime is perfect. If it's not, they stress about it, freak out on people and yell at cooks. They're the one batting for you and the ones who will beg the manager to comp your meal just to appease you. It's a shameless job. Reward them for it. They'll remember you the next time you come in and automatically work even harder to keep you happy.

*Amendment* We forgot one very important thing.

1a. NEVER go to a restaurant that closes within 30 minutes. The cooks are trying to close down the grill. The servers are tired and trying to clean up the place to get out of there at a decent hour. When you walk in at 15 minutes till close, you anger the entire restaurant. Ever wonder if you've eaten someone's saliva in your food? If you've broken this rule, chances are, you have. Seriously, don't do this. You're better off at McDonald's 24 hr drivethru.

So when you are beyond cranky from the crowds of other cranky shoppers, don't take it out on the person serving you your lunch. Their job isn't as easy as it looks and they've probably had a far worse day than you. They have to deal with jerks everyday, not just during the holidays.

On top of that, you should NEVER mess with the people that touch your food.

Have you seen the movie Waiting? There wouldn't be a movie about it if it wasn't true.

5 Days of 5 Thanksies: Day Five

2009-11-27T03:29:00.003-06:00

From the time I was a rebellious teenager, I'd been planning my escape from Kansas. I was sure that there were much more interesting places to live. I was NOT going to spend my life in somewhere as boring as Kansas.

Then, I did move away. I moved probably about as far away as I could physically go. I moved to the opposite side of the globe.

For that I'm extremely thankful...but not in the way you'd think.

You see, it took me moving this far away to realize that that boring little place called Kansas is exactly where I belong. Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled to spit that I got to have this amazing experience. I'm just a Kansas girl at heart. It's were I'm supposed to be.

So my last list of thanksies are the things that make me thankful to be from the State of Kansas.

5 Thanksies of a Kansas Gal

5. Barbeque. Kansas City is the one of the BBQ capitals of the world and I had no idea how much I loved it and took it for granted until I came over here.

You just can't beat the combination of smokiness, caramelized sugar and tang that the Kansas City people do. It's unmatchable.

4. Going to the lake.

This is Aaron's gorgeous sister Jessica and I on their boat at Lake Perry. Our family absolutely loves trips to the lake. Usually, we just go to Lake Perry, but occasionally some of us may make the trip down to the Ozarks for a long weekend. It doesn't matter which lake it is. There just needs to be water and some brews in a cooler. It's the best way to spend a hot day in July.

3. Being a Jayhawk.
Long before I attended the University of Kansas, I was a jayhawk. My dad taught me the Rock Chalk Chant as soon as I could speak. During the Big Twelve tournament every year, he'd let us skip school one day and go watch the team practice at Kemper Arena. He took me to my first basketball game in Allen Fieldhouse when I was a junior in high school. When most girls were crushing on Jonathan Taylor Thomas, I was crushing on Ryan Robertson, Scott Pollard and Jacque Vaughn. I was a jayhawk long before I was officially a jayhawk. It's a great university, an awesome fan community and glorious basketball team. (We just won't talk about the football team this year.)

2. Wide open spaces.

This is the view from my in-laws' back door. I love it. In the fall, the trees are beyond pretty. Just a few years ago, I hated the huge expanses of nothingness. To me, it just meant that I was missing out on all of the things that people in big cities enjoyed. Now that I've lived in one of the most densely populated countries in the world, the nothingness seems very appealing.

1. These people.

This is my family. Of course, this photo is a bit outdated. I think that's my 5th grade self standing in the back there. I love these people. We're also super close. Since this picture was taken, we've added five spouses, five babies and have two more on the way. They are the main strings pulling at my heart to come back to Kansas. I'm a very lucky girl to have them. I'm also a very lucky girl to be a part of another wonderful family that belongs to my husband. If I had a picture of all of them together, it'd be on here too. I miss them all like crazy.

So after this whole Singapore thing is said and done, I'm going back to Kansas.

I'll bring Aaron with me too. :)

5 Days of 5 Thanksies: Day Four

2009-11-26T04:19:00.004-06:00

It's finally Thanksgiving day. I've been hoarding food for this day for weeks in fear that certain ingredients will not be stocked for today.

So now we can eat, eat some more and then take a nap.

For Aaron and me, this was a busy day. We cooked from 8am until 2pm. Our kitchen was scorching hot by the time we finished (Most Singaporean kitchens do not have air conditioning, ours is one of those).

So since we were missing about 60 of our relatives, our thanksie list for today is going to focus on what we were did have with us today.

5 Thanksies for Thanksgiving Day in Singapore

5. Pumpkin pie.
I could only find the large, double-sized cans of pumpkin puree here in Singapore so I had to make two pies. It's ok. That just means two times the fun. BUT, the frozen pie crusts I found were way too small for the recipe. Therefore I overfilled the pies to keep from having to throw out a whole pie's worth of filling. (That's why they look a lil' burnt and strange.) Oh well, Thanksgiving cannot be Thanksgiving without pumpkin pie and Cool Whip.

4. Turkey.
We were lucky to get turkeys at the Navy Exchange for fairly cheap. Out in town they're selling 10 pound turkeys for S$43. Yeah, that's so not happening at our house. We don't pay that much for turkey. However, if there were a turkey famine on Thanksgiving, I might cave. My absolute favorite thing about the actual holiday is having the entire house smell like roasted turkey. It reminds me of when I was a kid and waking up to the smell of turkey on Thanksgiving. I'd always hurry downstairs and hover over the stove until it was time to carve it. My dad would let me "assist" him in this carving process, which really meant that I could stand there and he'd give me small pieces of turkey when my mom wasn't looking. He's a good dad like that.

3. Homemade dinner rolls.
After finding out that the only dinner rolls they had in the grocery store near our house were either vanilla flavored or filled with beans and corn, I took matters into my own hands. The Pioneer Woman has a wonderful recipe for dinner rolls that looked easy enough for me to do alone. It took me a bit to do, but it was so worth it. They are delicious. Plus, homemade dinner rolls also make your house smell amazing. I may make these periodically just to make my house smell like that again.

2. Hungarian wine.
My big brother and his adorable wife from Hungary gave us this bottle of wine the last time we went home for a visit. They got it when they visited her parents two summers ago. We've been saving it for a special occasion and picked today as the day. It was deliciously sweet and the perfect treat for our Thanksgiving lunch/dinner. Thank you Mat and Imola!

1. This guy right here.
My biggest thanksie of the day is my husband Aaron. He's the funniest, sweetest, most interesting person I know. He's my favorite person in the whole world and the one that I'm thrilled to pieces to be attached to for the rest of my Thanksgivings. I thank God everyday that he's my husband. I'm such a lucky girl.

Happy Thankgiving to all of the Americans out there. I hope your Turkey Day was as delicious and great as ours was.

5 Days of 5 Thanksies: Day Three

2009-11-25T01:08:00.002-06:00

Until I lived thousands of miles away from home, I never put much thought into the products and services that I use on a daily basis. Most of the time, I didn't ever do or use the same thing for longer than a month. I was constantly trying out new things and checking out the latest and greatest of everything that I could afford.

Fast forward to May 2008.

And take away everything that I've ever used to get ready in the morning, everything that I've ever watched on TV and my dear sweet junker of a car.

Add in a heavy dose of heat and humidity, a TV that plays shows that are at least three years old, and a transportation system consisting of walking, riding, standing, squeezing and shoving.

That's the recipe of a life that I was faced with when I stepped off the plane.

It was way more difficult than I anticipated. I mean really, how often do you think about things like the kind of hairspray that you use? Or the kind of makeup that you wear? Or the fact that you won't be able to find any of it again in a store for 2-3 years?

I sure didn't before. But I sure do now.

My thanksie list today consists of all of the products that I cannot live without in Singapore. And I mean CANNOT live without.

5 Thanksies for 5 Amazing Products for Expats in SG

5. Bags. I'm talking totes, reusable grocery bags, duffel bags, laundry bags, shopping bags, canvas bags and backpacks. Any kind of bag that is made is on my list. I've never appreciated a bag so much in my life. As a resident in Singapore without a car, a bag is a must. I don't have that luxurious hunk of metal and plastic to house all of my stuff, like I did back in the States. I have to carry everything I need for that entire day with me all the way to where ever I'm going. After a while, I even converted my laptop bag into an extra large purse just to be able to carry everything I need. It's now falling apart from over usage. I need a new, bigger and better bag. Seriously, I'm obsessed with bags now. I couldn't have cared less as a Kansas resident.

4. Too Faced Shadow Insurance. Singapore melts many things. It melts ice cream on the walk home from the store. It melts a chocolate bar left in a laptop bag at a picnic. It also melts makeup in a way that I was not prepared for, especially eye makeup. You see, I've always had very dry skin and never even understood what people were talking about when they said that their makeup kept "sliding" off. I'd never experienced such a phenomenon. Well Singapore sure taught me that lesson. Makeup simply will not stay on my face here for an entire day. The humidity and heat slick it right off before noon. That is until I found Shadow Insurance at Sephora. I just put a dap of this stuff on my eyelids before I put on eyeshadow and it's like magic. The makeup will NOT move until I take it off with soap and water. It even stays on overnight if I forget to wash my face. It's amazing and worth every penny.

3. PHYTO's Phytodefrisant Hair Relaxing Balm. If the humidity here can do such mean things to makeup, you can't only imagine what it will do to hair. Phytodefrisant is like an imaginary shield to this steamy climate. Without it, my hair turns into a giant red afro that resembles a clown wig. With it, my 'do lays almost as if the humidity did not exist. Almost. This stuff is awesome and the best weapon against the weather that I've found. Occasionally I can find it in John Little, a Singaporean department store, but more often than not, I have to order it from Amazon.com or Drugstore.com.

2. Slingbox. A Slingbox is a magical little box that enables you to connect to your home's cable connection from anywhere in the world via an internet connection. In simpler terms, it means that we can watch television being broadcast from Kansas all the way in Singapore on our computer. When you get a Slingbox, you can also watch your cable TV from your phone, laptop or international location as long as you are connected to the internet and have the proper software installed. I heart it a lot. Singaporean TV isn't horrible, but it isn't good either. They show a lot of American shows, but they are usually a few years old. So when we need a good TV fix, we just hop on the computer and catch up on our favorite shows as they're being aired from Kansas.

1. Skype. Hands down, best invention ever for people who travel or live abroad. With Skype, we can make calls to anywhere in the world with our computer. We can call landline phones, cell phones and other computers that have Skype installed on them. We've even set up our account with a local Kansas City phone number so that people can call our computer from any phone without being charged a long distance rate. AND! If we ever miss a call, we've set it up to transfer to our Singapore home phone so that we can take a message. It's been a real life saver. Before we discovered Skype, Aaron and I were spending about $50-60 a month in calling cards. It sucked. Now, we only pay $5 a month and that's solely just to have our local number. The Skype service alone is free. It's made living so far away a lot easier.

Without all of these products, living in Singapore would be ten times harder for the kids from Kansas.

Oh and should probably add one more thanksie: I'm thankful to Amazon.com and Drugstore.com for always shipping us our goodies.

(P.S. As I've said before, no one pays me to say nice things about their company. I say them if the company is deserving. So everything above is my real, honest, true to goodness opinion.)

5 Days of 5 Thanksies: Day Two

2009-11-24T03:53:00.003-06:00

Ok. Day two of the Thanksies kinda goes along with the Singapore theme of day one. I can't help that everything overlaps. It's just how my life works sometimes.

Today I'd like to give thanks for the lovely internet websites that make my world keep turning in the correct direction as I live on the opposite side that I'm used to. These sites are what keep me in tune to my American peeps back home.

Here we go:

5 Thanksies for These Amazing Websites

5. ThePioneerWoman.com Seriously, I love this site. It's written by a woman named Ree Drummond who lives in Oklahoma and is one of the most interesting bloggers ever. She covers a broad range of topics such as photography, recipes, ranch life, Christmas gift ideas and homeschooling. It is because of this woman that my husband started to actually like the food that I cooked. Her recipes are phenomenal. It's also so refreshing to see pictures on her site that look just like home. She photographs cows, horses and the midwestern landscape. She even does tutorials on photography and photoshop. It's just a great, fun site. I'm so sad I wasn't home when she came to Kansas City last week on her cookbook tour. I'd love to meet her.

4. Twitter.com It took me a while to get into this one. Mostly I blame my stupid phone which is not internet compatible. Furthermore, for me to connect, I must SMS Great Britain...which doesn't sound like such a great idea for my bill. They already charge me for stupid things I don't want. However, Twitter is a great source of quick information and up-to-the-minute news. Newspapers, magazines, celebrities, news channels and random "tweeters" are on and constantly posting updates. I hear it's also a great way to find out about discounts and specials at stores and restaurants. I wouldn't know though. I live in Singapore. I'm lucky if places here even have a website. A Twitter account would be asking too much.

3. Digg.com Digg is a website in which people sign in and "digg" certain online articles, videos, photos and such. When someone "diggs" something, it keeps a tally. I then go onto Digg's site and check the most "digged" items in the last 24 hrs. It will then bring up the most popular items in the last day. It's the best way to find out about viral videos, interesting news items and just what people are talking about everywhere. I hate feeling left out and Digg helps with my issues.

2. Google.com Really though, how did the world function without Google? I Google at least ten things a day. It's so second nature to me that I have a Google search bar at the top of my browser. As an American girl in Singapore I Google the same questions a lot, such as: "How many milliliters are in a cup?", "What is 350 degrees F in celsius?" and "How many pounds are in 500 grams?". Google has saved our dinner many an evening. It's really an expat's best friend.

1. Facebook.com I literally could not function if Facebook crashed tomorrow. It. Is. My. Lifeline. Because of the time difference and limitations in people's Skype abilities, it is often times the only way I get to hear from my sister, my best friend and all of the important people back home. It's how we get to see how big my brand new niece is getting, how much fun our nephew's 4th birthday party was and how cute my BFF's new hairdo is. These are people that I used to see on a weekly basis. Now we don't see them for six months at a time. It has become an absolute necessity. And now that my two big brothers have both joined, I'm beyond pumped.

So to conclude this list, I'd like to extend a thanks to the internet people out there who create, maintain and put together these wonderful sites. They have made my life a lot easier and happier.

For that, I am very thankful.

5 Days of 5 "Thanksies": Day One

2009-11-23T03:37:00.008-06:00

In my family, on Thanksgiving, we all gather around my uncle and aunt's kitchen and one by one say what we're most thankful for. My Grandma Jackie started the tradition and while I hated being put on the spot the first few times, I grew to love this moment every year. I feel it's important to cast aside all of your stresses, problems and worries and just be thankful and enjoy the day.

So since I can't be there with my family again this year, I'm going to make up for lost "thanksies" -yeah, that's my word.

I'm going to do a 5 Days of 5 Thanksies. Each day I'm going to list five things I'm thankful for. Why five? It just sounded like a good round number.

Today, I'd like to address our life in Asia. I don't hide the fact that I'm crazy homesick and I long for the day that I can eat a Cheesy Gordita Crunch again, but I think I dwell on it far too much. To force myself out of this mode, I need to remember the many positive things I've gained from living on this small island.

Thus, my first list is dedicated to Singapore.

5 Thanksies as a Singaporean Expat

5. Mastering the art of driving on the wrong side of the road...and car. Not many people can claim that they've driven on both sides of the automobile and I think it's an awesome random fact for future ice breaking opportunities. (i.e. "Please tell us your name and one random fact about yourself", "Hi, I'm Megan and I've driven on both sides of the road and car.")

4. An appreciation for decent rice. I'm sorry to tell you this, but Uncle Ben doesn't know squat about rice. In fact, most American rice is just plain gross. It has no taste, is hard and is beyond boring. In Asia, rice is a very important part of every meal and they do not mess around with the quality. They appreciate the flavor (and yes, good rice has that), texture and grain size. There's a type for every dish and several different kinds. This was an excellent lesson to learn. We will never buy Uncle Ben again...unless it's an emergency.

3. The introduction to Indian food. Before we came to Asia, Aaron and I were terrified to touch Indian food with a ten foot pole. We both saw the scene from Along Came Polly and we never wanted to have an incident such as that. I'm so glad we got brave over here. Indian food is now my second favorite food (right behind Mexican). I now constantly crave prata, naan, briyani, mutton curry and just about every other Indian item that's ever been put on my plate. It's delicious.

2. Exposure to such a wide array of cultures, people and traditions. We have both learned more in the last couple years than we ever learned in our many years of schooling. From weird things such as using urine as an eye healing remedy to surprising things such as finding a red envelope full of money in the mailbox at Chinese New Year, we've seen and heard a lot. We've been introduced to things that they don't write about in travel books and we'll come back with an education that we'll never even be able to fully describe to our friends and family. For the record, we did NOT adopt the urine remedy.

1. Learning to use chopsticks. As sad as that is, it is my favorite lesson of living in Asia. Aaron took me to a sushi restaurant in Lawrence, Kansas for our second or third date and the whole chopstick thing was a disaster. I could not figure the friggin' things out. I kept dropping the sushi or splitting it in half. It was messy and ugly. I had to end up using a fork...which is really embarrassing for me to admit. So yeah, I learned this lesson the first month we were here. In a lot of hawkers, a fork and spoon are not an option. You either learn to use the choppers or you starve. I'm now a black belt chopstick user. I can even eat rice with them. Booyah.

You're jealous, I know.

Except for you Singaporeans. You just think I'm weird.

Once again, I'm ok with that.

So that's today's list. Now I'm off to make the first dish of our solo Thanksgiving feast.

Great Christmas gift idea and they ship internationally!

2009-11-17T02:26:00.008-06:00

In case you haven't heard, Christmas is coming. I'm sure you've all been reminded by the endless string of commercials that seem to start earlier and earlier each year.

If you're anything like me, you need all the ideas and help you can get. Also, if you're anything like me, you need all the ideas and help you can get as early as you can get them.

For those of us with family on the other side of the world, Christmas shopping happens ridiculously early. We started planning and budgeting in August.

We learned our lesson on that one. When living abroad, DO NOT wait until December to plan and purchase gifts for half a dozen nieces and nephews, two sets of parents, two grandmas, four gift exchange recipients and various friends.

It is not a fun way to spend Christmas Eve. "Have you gotten your box yet? It should be there by now! No? Look again!"

It's also not fun to be confined to your house for a month while you wait for a payday that won't go to bills and gifts.

So yeah. We're planners now.

Here's a great gift idea for those of you who are also planners, whether reformed or by your natural neuroses.

It's a photo book that I created and purchased from Shutterfly.com.

This one is the 8 x 8 photo book. I think they usually go for about $19.99, but they were 20% off the last time I looked.

They're so simple to make. Really. It's completely computer idiot proof.

You simply upload the photos you want to use (just like you do on Facebook). Then you pick a design for the cover, spine, back cover and the pages in between. You even get to choose how many pictures you want on each page and the layout.

I made this one a few months ago when they were having a big discount just to test it out. That's the thing I love about Shutterfly. They always have discounts going on. I've never paid for an item and the shipping. I've either gotten the item free and paid the shipping or paid for the item and gotten the shipping free.

I just love them.

So much so that I get my Christmas cards from there too.

Oh yeah....back to Christmas. I just thought that these books would be a wonderful gift for a friend or a loved one. If I lived closer to my family and could take more pictures of them with my own camera, they'd all probably have one of these.

I just think they're friggin' cute and a very unique way to preserve and display memories.

(By the way, I am in no way affiliated with Shutterfly. They did not pay me to write these things, nor did they bribe me with free stuff for doing so. Although, it'd be pretty sweet if they did. I just genuinely love them.)

Mmmmm....Toasty

2009-11-13T01:31:00.004-06:00

I'm probably going to get hate mail for this, but I don't care.

We went to Quiznos on Wednesday. Yes, I'm aware that it has nothing to do with my Asian experience.

And I enjoyed every bite of it anyway.

This Quiznos is at the new-ish Orchard Central mall.

It's right next to the Carhatt store. How's that for a slap of home? It was like a shot of tequila to my homesickness.

The menu is a tad shortened, but we've grown accustomed to American things being scaled down in Asia.

Everything looked very much the same as the shops in the States, right down to the pepper bar.

Aaron got the Zesty Grill Steak. I got the Smokey Chili Turkey --only because they don't carry the Chicken Carbonara. Otherwise, I'd never cheat on the Carbonara (hold the mushrooms).

It was honestly the best sub sandwich I've had in Singapore. I ate every single crumb.

I'm not kidding. I scooped every bread flake up with my fork. It looked like I hadn't eaten in days by the way I was hoovering this thing down.

Best part of all? The pepper bar had banana peppers. Singapore is experiencing a serious banana pepper drought. I think I ate 15 on my sandwich alone just to compensate for the lack in my diet.

Then just to top off our Singapore American experience, we picked up our own trash and threw it away.

Just like they do in the States.

Ka--chow!

Christmas Season, Singapore style

2009-11-12T03:45:00.003-06:00

When Sandra, the Singaporean coworker of mine, sees weather like this, she excitedly goes to the window and says,

"Yay! I love this Christmas weather!"

And when she does that, I am always sitting in a state of confusion.

"Uh, no it isn't. That's rain, Sandra. Christmas weather is snow and cold."

Then she reminds me that she's from Singapore and the rainy season marks the beginning of the holiday season and that I'm from Kansas and don't know anything.

Ok. She's nicer than that, but I do forget that I was raised in a Christmas snow globe of a world sometimes.

Kansas Christmases are white and freezing and make me want my Grandma's hot cranberry tea, a cozy blanket and a fire in the fireplace.

They do not make me want my umbrella and a dry pair of pants.

I'm obviously still a work in progress. Singapore, I'll get it one of these days.

The Thanksgiving Song

2009-11-06T02:58:00.002-06:00

Because we just bought our last Thanksgiving turkey abroad...

Because I love Adam Sandler...

Because everyone here skips Thanksgiving and goes right into Christmas...

Because I really needed some American festivities.

Keep your shoes on!

2009-11-04T04:00:00.003-06:00

In Asia, it is the custom for every person entering your home to first remove their shoes before walking through the door.

Simple, right? Ha, no. Aaron and I have a ridiculously hard time adhering to this one.

Yet everyone does it. EVERYONE.

The guys that moved our stuff into our apartment even removed their shoes. They would get a box from the truck, carry it up several flights of stairs, remove their shoes at our front door and then carry it to the desired room. Then on the way out the door, they'd put their shoes back on to grab the next box. It was a maddening thing to watch. How much of their day is wasted messing with their shoes? So after watching them fumble to remove their shoes while holding our heavy bedroom mattress, I finally had to stop the madness.

"Please just leave them on! I'll have to clean the floor anyway! It's fine, I swear."

They were very reluctant, but finally agreed that it'd be easier.

Yet, every maintenance guy that comes to our place refuses to keep his on. It's just not something they are equipped to do.

So fine. We got used to that part. And we got used to having to remove our shoes when we went to Simon's house or any other local's house.

What we do still have trouble with is our American friends.

It seems that every single American person we know in Singapore immediately picked up this Asian custom as soon as they stepped off the plane.

I cannot remember going to a single person's house in America where they made me take off my shoes before I was allowed to come inside. (That is, unless it was raining, snowing or muddy outside, but that's common decency.)

Seriously though. Why the flip as soon as we enter Asia? Are there shoe police somewhere that I don't know about? When did all of my American friends adopt this?

I have a real problem being barefoot in a stranger's house. It makes me feel very vulnerable. I even feel hesitant to remove my shoes when I'm getting a pedicure. I'm always thinking:

"Is their floor clean?"

"When was the last time they cleaned it?"

"Does anyone in this house have athlete's foot?" (call me crazy, but I got this once as a child from a gymnastics studio and that is a road that I NEVER want to travel down again)

"Am I going to step on anything?"

"Is my pedicure chipping?"

I know I have issues. I just don't feel comfortable being barefoot in someone's house that I don't know that well.

Aaron has issues with it as well, only his worries a different. He says that he's always thinking:

"Are my toenails dirty?"

"Do my socks match?"

"Are there holes in my socks?"

"Do my feet stink?"

Yeah, we're both a bunch of anxiety-ridden weirdos, I guess. Sometimes we just keep them on to see if we can avoid the whole thing and then feel like goobers when people send us back out to remove our shoes.

Not fun.

I've never told anyone this, but each time I remove my shoes, the scene from SATC always plays through my head.

I too, always want to exclaim "But this is an outfit!"

But really, if my shoes ever get stolen, I will never take them off again.

Not that I have any worthy of stealing, but still.

An Incredible Halloween

2009-11-02T03:17:00.002-06:00

Thanks to my super sweet sister, we were the Incredibles this past Halloween. Of course, we came without a Dash, Violet and Jack Jack (like my sis' family last year), but we were Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl: The Early Years.

My sis mailed us the costumes for our superhero themed party and we had so much fun with them, that we just wore them to everything, all weekend.

Don't worry Sis, they're still in one piece and unscathed. :)

One thing that surprised us though was just how many people asked to have their pictures taken with us. I'm not even talking about at the parties we went to, we kept getting stopped by Singaporeans walking along the street. We probably got stopped by at least eight random strangers to have our pictures taken as we were walking to our numerous destinations.

The conversations usually went as such:

"Uh sah, can I take a photo?"

"Sure. Why not."

"Oh great. Mr. and Mrs. Superman."

"Uh no, but sure. Whatever you wanna call us."

Several people said this. Now, I know The Incredibles is an American movie, but come onnnnn people. I know Singapore has at least been exposed to it.

For the locals that were this clueless, I'm sure they didn't even know we were celebrating Halloween. To them we're just the freaks walking around like super heroes.

I'm alright with that.

American MSG meet Asian MSG

2009-10-28T04:23:00.002-05:00

This is MSG.

The one on the left was bought in the United States. The one on the right was bought in Singapore.

There is a lot of controversy surrounding this food additive and I'll be honest and say that I never really paid that much attention...

Until I moved to Asia.

Ever since we moved to Singapore, I get frequent headaches that seem to come out of nowhere. It's not because I don't drink enough water and it's not because I'm outside in the heat. I get them while typing at my desk in my air conditioned office while drinking a liter of water. I also get them while riding on the MRT in the middle of the day. I could not find a common link to solve the headache puzzle.

After months of this, someone told me that it's probably all of the MSG I'm eating in the food over here.

Interesting.

Like every paranoid American, I hopped on the Internet to Google it.

There, I found this website called MSGtruth.org. It's full of information about what it is, why it's used, what it does to your body and what it could potentially do. It was enough to make me uneasy.

Here's some snippets:

MSG tricks your tongue into making you think a certain food is high in protein and thus nutritious. It is not a "meat tenderizer". It is not a "preservative". The food industry is trying to confuse the issue by focusing on the "fifth" taste sense they call umami. Free glutamic acid is detected by the taste buds as a simple way to signal the presence of protein in a food, just as there are fat receptors to detect fats and receptors that sense carbohydrate or sweet flavors. The purpose is to help us discern real food from inedible matter. It changes your perception of not simply taste but the nutritious qualities of what you put into your mouth. However, and here is the main problem with free glutamic acid - It is the very same neurotransmitter that your brain and many organs including your ears, eyes, nervous system and pancreas in your body use to initiate certain processes in your body.

MSG stimulates the pancreas to produce insulin. So many diets these days are concerned about the Glycemic Index of foods and yet none of them address the fact that MSG and free glutamic acid stimulate the pancreas to release insulin when there doesn't even have to be carbohydrates in the food for that insulin to act on. The food industry has found their own "anti-appetite suppressant". It's a convenient way to keep consumers coming back for more. The blood sugar drops because of the insulin flood. And you are hungry an hour later. Sound familiar?

Um yeah. Everytime I eat Chinese food, I want a friggin' Big Mac like an hour later. I always thought it was the rice that did it.

But seriously, food shouldn't make you feel that way. Food is supposed to be filling. It's supposed to satisfy hunger, not antagonize it!

So after all this research is when I decided to search our cabinets and found the container of Accent. I had no idea that it was straight MSG. That makes me feel really good about all of those dinners of canned green beans that we douse in chemicals.

Aaron and I didn't stop the search there though. We rummaged through our entire pantry. You know what we found?

ALL OF OUR FAVORITE FOODS HAVE MSG.

Every bottle of Ranch dressing. Every package of Jalapeno Ranch Chips. Every granule of Parmesan cheese. Every Dorito chip. Every container of Lawry's Seasoning Salt.

It was one of the saddest and most guilt-ridden days of my life.

That is when it dawned on me.

I've been eating these MSG laced foods my ENTIRE life. Nothing bad has happened to me yet (that I know of). How can they prove that MSG is the thing making my head hurt?

I lived on Doritos and Ranch dressing for the entirety of high school. I don't ever remember getting a head ache. (A stomach ache and huge love handles is what I should've had. Yet, those gems did finally arrive later.)

So I think I'm over it. I do still think that they put a lot more MSG in Chinese-style foods and I am going to make a conscious effort to not to eat those as much. But really, it'd be near impossible to avoid it all the time.

Plus, I really like Ranch dressing too much to let it go.

We're still pretending it's Fall

2009-10-27T07:09:00.005-05:00

Because we apparently live in a constant state of denial, we decided to make another Fall themed dish at our house tonight. It is not Fall in Singapore. Nor has it ever been.

But it is at our house.

Aaron's (aka my newly adopted) Aunt Debbie sent us a yummy sounding recipe for pumpkin soup the other day and we just couldn't get it out of our heads.

So a week and four ransacked grocery stores later, I finally had all of the ingredients to make it. I'm getting better at this. When all other grocery stores fail, always go to Jason's Marketplace. They always have crazy expat stuff like canned pumpkin puree. I grabbed two big cans...because that's all they had. Go big or go home. So I figured I have one for our upcoming, mandatory Thanksgiving pies and one big can for our soup.

Have you ever had pumpkin soup? I know it sounds weird at first, but give it a go. It's surprisingly delicious. We had ours with sour cream and bacon on top.

Bippity boppity BACON. Just cuz it goes with everything.

Yes it does. Don't argue with me.

Oh and the Shiner Bock? It's just there because it needed it's picture taken. We never see Texas beer 'round these parts.

We always get pretty excited when Midwestern things find us in Asia.

American electricity in Singapore

2009-10-26T04:07:00.002-05:00

This little box is my life.

It controls whether I blow dry my hair, get to play Wii, use 99% of my kitchen appliances or get to use my computer at all.

It is the magic box that converts the British system of 220V electricity to our modest US system of 110V electricity. It is my favorite thing in our Singaporean house.

Without it, I would cry. A lot.

We have about six of these magical boxes in our home. For two kids from Kansas who never planned to live abroad, that means that we have six plug-ins in our entire house.

Yeah. Imagine living like that.

Because we have only five items that are made for Singaporean outlets/voltage systems, this means most all of our stuff is for US voltage systems. That was a fun realization. The five things we finally cracked down and bought were the only items we couldn't get around not re-buying upon our move here. There are just some things that aren't meant to be plugged into an inverter.

A hair straightener is one of them. Hair straighteners get really pissy when you plug them into an electricity inverter. I learned that the hard way when I came to visit. My hair was not anywhere close to straight that whole month.

So anyways, this is a post merely to thank Uncle Sam for giving us inverters. I tend to be a little hard on Uncle Sam sometimes.

And sometimes I'm sorry.

Not so much today, but some other times I am.

Christmas in October

2009-10-22T05:03:00.003-05:00

I know it's a little early for a Christmas post, but I've been finding a lot of interesting things out lately that have to do with traditions and customs on this side of the globe.

One of the most shocking being this:

One of my work buddies has had his Christmas decorations up for almost two months now.

Yeah. Jumping the gun a bit, huh?

Actually no. You see, he's married to a Filipina and in the Philippines the Christmas season begins very early compared to the American custom. His family puts up the decor at the beginning of the "-ber" months. So the tree goes up in September and stays up throughout October, November and December.

I also found this article here that says some Filipinos even start the festivities before that. In fact, the Philippines are said to have the longest Christmas season in the world.

Can you imagine the sheer torture those poor children have to endure? When I was a kid, just the length of time between my birthday and Christmas was painful (it's really only 11 days. Yes, I was a dramatic child). That was nothing. These kids have to worry about making the naughty list for four agonizing months.

Then again, I could go for some Christmas lights for that long. Christmas lights make me giddy like a 7-year-old hopped up on sugar. When I'm in Kansas, I force the people I love to drive me around for hours just so I can look at them.

In Singapore, they light up the entire stretch of Orchard Road. It's just crazy awesome. I love how festive the whole atmosphere is.

Singaporeans too, start Christmas very early. Sandra, my good friend and one of the mystery coworkers that I'm always talking about, told me today that she puts up her tree in early November. She says that she likes to enjoy it as long as she can.

I can relate to that. We often don't take our tree down until February....because we want to enjoy it longer. Not because we're lazy. No, definitely not because of that. We like prolonging the joyful Christmas spirit into Valentine's Day. Yep.

But really though, if we didn't have these "buffer" holidays like Halloween and Thanksgiving, wouldn't we be putting up the tree a little sooner too? It's only weird to put it up now because it's like "Hey! You skipped Halloween!" or "Hey! We haven't had turkey yet!"

Everyone who's not a freak loves Christmas. Who wouldn't love to enjoy some twinkly lights for a few more days?

USA Today, I'm disappointed in you

2009-10-20T03:16:00.004-05:00

Dear USA Today,

I just wanted to give you a pat on the back and say thanks for proving that people in the US aren't self-absorbed idiots with little regard for the rest of the world...like so many people in the rest of the world already believe.

I refer to this article here.

I'm guessing that since it was on the Idol Chatter page, that one of your high school interns probably wrote it. That could be the only logical explanation for your lack of editing or fact checking.

Referring to Singapore as a city in Malaysia not only makes your paper look ridiculously idiotic, but it also proves the care in which you take in reporting factual information. Whether it be about entertainment issues or not. Don't you have a map or better yet, access to Google?

The people here in Singapore that saw that article were more than a little peeved. It'd be like calling Lawrence a town in Missouri or Columbia a place in Kansas. (This is just to put it in perspective for my jayhawkers out there.)

So thanks for making the Americans look stupid again. We've needed a lot more help since Bush left office.

Sincerely,

The American girl in Singapore

**UPDATE - The article has been edited to properly show that Singapore is not in Malaysia. So if you're going there to see what they messed up, you won't see it now. Thanks USA Today for correcting your error. I'm still a lil mad at you though.

The Navy Ball

2009-10-18T01:41:00.003-05:00

We spent last night at the US Navy Ball which was held at the famous Fullerton Hotel in Singapore.

Isn't it gorgeous? I love that hotel.

We had a blast and I finally took pictures to prove it.

I forgot last year. Wine does that to my brain sometimes.

I'll post some more later, but I need a nap right now. We got home waaaay after our 9 o'clock bedtime. Singapore has made us into geezers that go to bed at unreasonable hours for 20 somethings.

I made Halloween cupcakes

2009-10-15T05:04:00.003-05:00

...because they don't celebrate Halloween in Singapore.

...because they don't make anything pumpkin-flavored to celebrate "fall".

...and because I needed an excuse to make homemade cream cheese frosting.

I think any of those excuses shall work.

Everyday is a good day when you get to eat cream cheese.

Singapore...Then and Now

2009-10-13T04:53:00.004-05:00

I like to think of Singapore as a revolving door. It's constantly moving at a steady pace within it's "door frame" of values. New business opportunities and ideas easily take their place in the rotation and just as rapidly, the stale ideas and failed business ventures go out. It's a constantly moving marketplace.

And it never stops moving.

To maintain its foundation is the mixture of Asian and Western values which I think of as the door frame. These are what keep the nation in harmony. They anchor this revolving door and keep it from falling off it's hinges.

For example: New restaurants come in (i.e. Chili's) and the failed attempts go out (i.e. Taco Bell).

This is also the same for shops, companies, hair products and even Boston Baked Beans.

Yes. I was deeply upset about the sudden lack of my BBB's.

But back to what I was saying.

It's amazing to me just how fast and how often this little island reinvents itself. It's like it never sits still. I'm constantly being rerouted around construction sites around the entire country and I don't even recognize the area between the mainland and Sentosa anymore. It's changed dramatically in just the year and a half that I've lived here.

So when the gals at work sent me emails with pictures of the "old" Singapore. I was beyond intrigued. This place has changed so much more than I even thought. It doesn't even look like the same Asian city.

I've shared a few of these treasures with you below. Next to each one, I've attached the modern day equivalent. Some of the differences are so astounding that you can't even recognize it as the same space.

The Singapore River

Sembawang Beach

Orchard Road

The NCO Club (as it was referred to in the 1960s)

Eu Tong Sen Street

The Esplanade

Clifford Pier (as it was referred to in the 1960s)

Capitol Theatre

*Some of the buildings I've shown you have been placed on the historical registry (or the Singaporean equivalent) and are kept in their natural state. That's why a few aren't that different.

In all though, it's amazing to me just how much Singapore has evolved in the mere 44 years that it's been an independent country. It went from jungle to metropolis in an astounding amount of time. Most countries take hundreds of years to build themselves into what Singapore has become in just decades.

Pretty sweet, huh?

Thoughts from 25-35 year olds

2009-10-10T03:14:00.004-05:00

Sometimes I run across something on the internet that makes me laugh so much that I cannot not share it with everyone I know.

This is one of those times.

It's an entry on Funny.com by a guy who is only identified as John S.

I think Mr. John S. is a genius.

Or a stalker. I swear I've thought every one of these sentences in my head at least some point in my life.

Thoughts from 25-35 year olds

posted by John S.

-I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.

-More often than not, when someone is telling me a story all I can think about is that I can't wait for them to finish so that I can tell my own story that's not only better, but also more directly involves me.

-Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.

-I don't understand the purpose of the line, "I don't need to drink to have fun." Great, no one does. But why start a fire with flint and sticks when they've invented the lighter?

-Have you ever been walking down the street and realized that you're going in the complete opposite direction of where you are supposed to be going? But instead of just turning a 180 and walking back in the direction from which you came, you have to first do something like check your watch or phone or make a grand arm gesture and mutter to yourself to ensure that no one in the surrounding area thinks you're crazy by randomly switching directions on the sidewalk.

-I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.

-Is it just me, or are 80% of the people in the "people you may know" feature on Facebook people that I do know, but I deliberately choose not to be friends with?

-Do you remember when you were a kid, playing Nintendo and it wouldn't work? You take the cartridge out, blow in it and that would magically fix the problem. Every kid in America did that, but how did we all know how to fix the problem? There was no internet or message boards or FAQ's. We just figured it out. Today's kids are soft.

-There is a great need for sarcasm font.

-Sometimes, I'll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and suddenly realize I had no idea what was going on when I first saw it.

-I think everyone has a movie that they love so much, it actually becomes stressful to watch it with other people. I'll end up wasting 90 minutes shiftily glancing around to confirm that everyone's laughing at the right parts, then making sure I laugh just a little bit harder (and a millisecond earlier) to prove that I'm still the only one who really, really gets it.

-How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

-I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.

- I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.

-The only time I look forward to a red light is when I’m trying to finish a text.

- A recent study has shown that playing beer pong contributes to the spread of mono and the flu. Yeah, if you suck at it.

- LOL has gone from meaning, "laugh out loud" to "I have nothing else to say".

- I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.

- Answering the same letter three times or more in a row on a Scantron test is absolutely petrifying.

- Whenever someone says "I'm not book smart, but I'm street smart", all I hear is "I'm not real smart, but I'm imaginary smart".

- How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear what they said?

- I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars teams up to prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers!

- Every time I have to spell a word over the phone using 'as in' examples, I will undoubtedly draw a blank and sound like a complete idiot. Today I had to spell my boss's last name to an attorney and said "Yes that's G as in...(10 second lapse)..ummm...Goonies"

-What would happen if I hired two private investigators to follow each other?

- While driving yesterday I saw a banana peel in the road and I instinctively swerved to avoid it...thanks Mario Kart.

- MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

- Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.

- I find it hard to believe there are actually people who get in the shower first and THEN turn on the water.

-Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.

-I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.

- Bad decisions make good stories

-Whenever I'm Facebook stalking someone and I find out that their profile is public I feel like a kid on Christmas morning who just got the Red Ryder BB gun that I always wanted. 546 pictures? Don't mind if I do!

- Is it just me or do high school girls get sluttier & sluttier every year?

-If Carmen San Diego and Waldo ever got together, their offspring would probably just be completely invisible.

-Why is it that during an ice-breaker, when the whole room has to go around and say their name and where they are from, I get so incredibly nervous? Like I know my name, I know where I'm from, this shouldn't be a problem....

-You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you've made up your mind that you just aren't doing anything productive for the rest of the day.

-Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after DVDs? I don't want to have to restart my collection.

-There's no worse feeling than that millisecond you're sure you are going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.

-I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to.

- "Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this ever.

-I hate being the one with the remote in a room full of people watching TV. There's so much pressure. 'I love this show, but will they judge me if I keep it on? I bet everyone is wishing we weren't watching this. It's only a matter of time before they all get up and leave the room. Will we still be friends after this?'

-I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Dammit!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voicemail. What'd you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run away?

- I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.

-When I meet a new girl, I'm terrified of mentioning something she hasn't already told me but that I have learned from some light internet stalking.

-I like all of the music in my iTunes, except when it's on shuffle, then I like about one in every fifteen songs in my iTunes.

-Why is a school zone 20 mph? That seems like the optimal cruising speed for pedophiles...

- As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers, but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate cyclists.

-Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.

-It should probably be called Unplanned Parenthood.

-I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

-Even if I knew your social security number, I wouldn't know what do to with it.

-Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, hitting the G-spot, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey - but I’d bet my ass everyone can find and push the Snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time every time...

-My 4-year old son asked me in the car the other day "Dad what would happen if you ran over a ninja?" How the hell do I respond to that?

-It really pisses me off when I want to read a story on CNN.com and the link takes me to a video instead of text.

-I wonder if cops ever get pissed off at the fact that everyone they drive behind obeys the speed limit.

I'd like to thank John S., whoever he is, for saying what we've all been thinking all along.

A Singapore Wedding Story

2009-10-08T04:51:00.003-05:00

Last night, Aaron and I attended the wedding of our friends Mia and D. It was the first wedding we've been to in Singapore and surprisingly the first wedding we've been to since our own.

We had no idea what to expect before we went because Mia is from this part of the world and D is from the States.

It ended up being very similar to American weddings and yet had some very cool local customs too. It was a lovely combination of the two cultures.

This is Sugee cake they're cutting. Sugee cake is a delicious traditional Eurasian cake. It's difficult to find, but oh so worth it when you do. It is a coarse cake made from ground almonds and semolina. It's not as sweet as our cakes in the West, but the texture is a refreshing change. It is usually topped with marzipan and royal icing. Sandra will probably get on here and correct me, but I think that's what she told me.

After the ceremony, dinner, cake and performances by friends and family, the couple then sits on the ornate bench (for lack of a better word in my American knowledge) and the guests take turns having their picture taken with the couple.

Aaron was a little jealous that we didn't get to sit for pictures at our wedding. He'll tell you that I made him do acrobatics, millions of poses, and run all over Kansas for our pictures.

Then I'll tell you that he's a fibber.

We only went to two places in Kansas.

This is actually the second attempt of the bouquet toss. The first attempt ended with an unfortunate landing in a pool of curry. It all worked out in the end. Only a few flowers were coated in sauce.

Congratulations Mia and D! We wish you a happy and wonderful life together. Thank you for inviting us to share in your big day.

A Cloudy Sunday in 3D

2009-10-06T04:34:00.004-05:00

What's more adorable than a husband in nerdy 3D glasses at a Sunday afternoon showing of the latest children's movie?

Ok, maybe a lot of other things. To me though, this picture is just precious.

I took it when we went to see Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs in 3D last Sunday.

Yes. We're the goofy 20-somethings that go to kids movies without a kid with us.

If we were home, we'd totally snag a niece or nephew to make it look like we're babysitting, but that wouldn't really be the case. It's just an excuse to go to a kiddie movie. (Animated motion pictures that is, none of this Hannah Montana or Daddy Daycare crap.)

So.....we'd been planning to go see this movie pretty far in advance. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett was one of Aaron's and my favorite books as a child. I remember reading it over and over and over to anyone who would listen. When we saw the movie poster for this one, we got overly excited.

We went to the Cathay theatre in AMK Hub to watch it. I love this theatre. It's very possibly my all-time fave. It's never too crowded. The people are always extremely nice and have wonderful customer service skills. They never give us a hard time or ask us for a FIN or passport number. Numerous theatres have almost refused us tickets that we've already purchased because we had not memorized this magic little number.

AMK does not hassle the hoff. For that alone, I love them.

Also, they don't freeze the place out. Most movie theatres in Singapore as so cold that we come armed with jackets and hoodies. By the end of most movies, I cannot feel my toes.

Not lovely AMK. My toes were toasty throughout all of the flying meatballs and pancakes.

It was a perfect Sunday evening out for two very homesick Kansans.

In Singapore without a Dollar

2009-10-05T02:51:00.003-05:00

Yeah, I'd like to see that happen.

This commercial has been played at the beginning of every movie Aaron and I have seen for the past six months. It is false advertisement at it's best. I'd love to see ANYONE try to travel to Singapore with only their credit card.

It is impossible. I know this for a fact because a great majority of my time in Singapore has been spent searching for an ATM.

In fact, I'm sure Aaron and I could tell you where the ATM is in every mall/eating place in Singapore.

I'm not trying to offend anyone with this statement, but I've got to say it:

Singapore, you people are way behind in modern forms of payment.

And it's beyond frustrating.

Aaron and I never used to carry cash before we came here. We never ever needed cash either. We always used our debit card (for you Singaporeans, a debit card is the American version of a NETS card, but they accept it everywhere that they accept credit cards).

We even tried to be like the Singaporeans and get a NETS card. When in Rome...

However, we quickly discovered that most places won't even accept that.

I once tried to buy $8 worth of grocery items at a Fair Price Xtra (a big grocery store here) and was told that I was not allowed to use my NETS card unless I spent $10.

Are you friggin' kidding me?! Is it really going to kill your profits to run a transaction for $8? I'm pretty sure that 30 minute queue I just stood in, more than paid the amount it costs to make the transaction.

So I had to set down my things, leave the store, search AMK Hub for fifteen minutes for my bank's ATM and zip out cash. Then return back to the store, find my items (that had since been restocked), wait in line again and pay.

Really. Really?

Then, last night we went out for a movie and decided to get a snack beforehand. The place we went to not only would not accept credit cards, they wouldn't even accept NETS unless our bill was $20.

People. I used to use my debit card in the States to buy a 99 cent pack of gum. Do you think Walmart shed any tears over that?

This is just getting ridiculous and I've seen that friggin' dancing man commercial one time too many.

Get with the times. Accept credit.

And somebody please stop that man from dancing.

How am I the weird one?

2009-09-30T04:19:00.003-05:00

I was having a conversation with my Singaporean coworkers today about table utensils. We often talk about random things. It makes for the most interesting conversations, as you will soon read.

The conversation began with me feeling bad about continually using plastic utensils at lunch that I just throw away after each use. It's not very green of me at all. So I told them that I wanted to find some inexpensive metal utensils, but also didn't want to have to buy a whole set either.

The conversation went as such:

Singaporean 1: Oh, dat's ok Megan. I just bring some in for you. What you want, just a spoon and fork, lah?

Me: You know, I really just eat with a fork and knife. I rarely use a spoon.

Singaporean 2: Oh that's right. Typical American. Always eats with a knife and fork.

Me: Yes, because I need a fork to cut my food.

Singaporean 2: You use a spoon for that, just like the rest of the world. There they go again. Americans always have to be different.

Me: What? The rest of the world uses a fork and knife too. It's common sense. When you need a utensil to cut something, you use your knife.

Singaporean 2: You can use a spoon! The spoon works just as well to cut.

Me: Why would I use a blunt, round utensil to cut when a knife is made for just that?

Singaporean 2: Nevermind you, it's a British thing.

Me: The British do that? I thought they used a knife and fork too?

Singaporean 2: No no no. That's just an American thing.

Ok, I call Bullhonkey. This cannot be just a weird Americanism.

So I consulted Google. In fact, I've been Googling this issue for over an hour.

This is what I found: The Brits use a knife. Proof is here. In fact, most American table manners are derived from Britain. Also, most of Europe also uses a knife.

Not only that, but only in Southeast Asia is it even acceptable to hold both a fork and a spoon at the same time while eating.

But that's not really the issue we're discussing here today.

I'm still stuck on the whole "knife is better than spoon" pish posh. Where on Earth did Singapore get the idea that a spoon is a better cutting utensil than a knife?

It makes no sense.

I know it's not just my coworkers that think this way. It's a collective opinion in Singapore. Not a single hawker stall that we've gone to has provided a knife. It's either a fork and spoon, or a spoon and chopsticks. Knives seem to not exist here.

It's not usually a big deal as most Asian food is served bite-sized. However, in the event that they serve you chicken with the bones still in it (which is usually the case), it'd be nice to have a knife to cut it off. We've had many an accident trying to that with a spoon.

And by "accident", I mean chicken flying across the table and onto the floor or in my lap.

So no. I'm not convinced that the spoon is a better alternate to the knife. Several curry chicken stains to the crotch can count as my proof.

BUT, I will say this. Eating Asian cuisine with both a spoon and fork in your hands at the same time has proved to be much easier than the American one-handed utensil method. It's a better rice getter. Forks by themselves just make a mess of rice on your plate.

There, I've said my peace.

And now I can sleep tonight.

Joi Chua, is that a microphone....

2009-09-29T06:02:00.004-05:00

or are you just happy to see us?

RazorTV posted the following video today:

Um....I don't think its your sexuality they're questioning (although that may come later.) I think they're questioning your gender, Joi Chua.

What is that thing?

Glee for Singapore

2009-09-28T07:14:00.003-05:00

Last week, Singapore was mentioned on Glee, my newest favorite show. I was pretty excited.

I was all "Hey! I live there! Yes! They cane the crap out of people! It does work! Hey, I'm here now!".

Then, I mellowed out and realized that it's a little sad that the only thing Americans know about this little island is that they cane the crap out of their criminals.

I'd just like to say that they have delicious chicken rice and BBQ stingray as well.

Tailored for the Sailor Ball

2009-09-24T04:27:00.003-05:00

After...

months and months of agonizing,

weeks and weeks of stressing,

and many many conversations in which I talked myself out of hundreds of choices,

I finally found a dress for the upcoming Navy Ball.

This time I got smart about it: I ordered it online. I was NOT going through the headache and stress of shopping for one here again. Remember last year's dilemma? Yeah, me and the overpriced Christmas ornament dresses were not going round and round again.

Thank God for Nordstrom.com. I found a really pretty dress and had it shipped here for almost the same amount that I paid for last year's dress.

Sweet. Even sweeter because the quality is waaaay better than last year's dress.

It arrived in six days. A friggin' record for shipping times to Singapore. The only problem? It was just a smidgen on the large marge side. An inch and a half needed to be taken in on it for Victoria to keep her Secret.

What I really needed was my mom. My mom hems all of my clothes that are too big. Even with MS she can still fix the trickiest of seams. She's come to my rescue about a million times.

But Mom's not here. She's in Kansas. So I needed a Singaporean that knew how to sew. And sew pretty dang well, at that.

I enlisted the help of my dear Singaporean friend from work. She'd told me a few times about how cheap it is to have things tailored here and how she has stuff altered all the time. I was a tad skeptical of her claims.

Until I needed a tailor myself. Then I decided to shut up and trust her.

Because she's a very nice person, she agreed to take me herself, to the tailor she's been seeing for years.

Here's where she brought me:

I know what you're thinking. I was thinking the same thing. It's a swimsuit store.

But au contraire, my friend. It's a swimsuit/alteration store. There's a cute little Asian seamstress pluggin' away at a sewing machine in the back. She doesn't speak a lick of English, but she's a cutie. Cuteness always bridges the language gap. It also made me less nervous that she couldn't understand what I was saying as I showed her the tricky seams and problematic beading. She just nodded and kept being cute. No conversation needed. I was sure she'd know what to do. She's cute. Cute people can't mess up things.

At least this is what I told myself through this whole nerve-racking process. "The cute girl can't mess up your dress, she's too cute!"

So anyways, they had me try on the dress to put the pins in at the right spots.

Where do you do that in a swimsuit shop?

Right here is where.
Oh yeah. That little curtain is the fitting room. In the middle of the shop. The curtain swings around and gives you as much space as you'd find in a closed tanning bed. It's a little tight. I make do with what I'm given in Singapore. It's best not to cast your spoiled American thoughts around here. People call you mean names when you do that.

So I went with it.

After I was pinned and content with the new seam positions, I changed and handed over my dress and another button up dress shirt that I'd also been needing to get taken in.

The little old man (who I'm assuming owns the shop) told us it'd be ready anytime the following week. That's pretty impressive considering we were there on a Thursday.

Even so, we went ahead and gave them a full week before we picked anything up. I don't like to rush people that have semi-expensive things of mine.

As soon as we walked in a week later though, it was ready to go. I tried it on and it was perfect. It looked like nothing had been done to it at all, only it was a size smaller.

And then something crazy happened.

They only charged me $18 (US) for the alteration of the dress AND the shirt. Isn't that insane? Less than $20 to alter a gown and a dress shirt!

That's crazy talk. I didn't even have that much altered on my wedding gown and that chick charged us well over a hundred bucks for that alteration. I felt like I was almost stealing.

"Excited" can only begin to describe my mood upon leaving this place. I could've danced out of there.

I'm gonna go play in my closet this weekend and see what else I can "fix" now. It's cheap here!

Stupid Paparazzi

2009-09-23T04:38:00.003-05:00

There are two reasons I rarely go out in Singapore

This is one of them.

It's inevitable. Someone always catches me doing something awkward and embarrassing.

There are endless pictures of me on Facebook with ridiculous facial expressions and odd poses.

This time, I was changing my shoes. Singapore is mean to people wearing heels. It makes you hike long distances to find things like bars and taxis and bathrooms.

I rarely wear heels here. Apparently, my feet can still feel pain. I've not yet developed the tolerance of the high-heeled Singaporean women. I think their feet are permanently numb from years of high-heeled hiking.

Oh and the other reason I don't go out?

A friggin' cocktail costs $18.

I can buy a whole bottle of vodka for that amount and play Guitar Hero at my house.

And feel like a rockstar while doing it.

It's all milk in my milkshake!

2009-09-22T04:11:00.002-05:00

Singapore, your milkshake does not bring the boys to the yard.

I'm sorry. I had to say it. I loved that song back in the day.

But honestly, the milkshakes here are pretty lame.

I didn't even know I cared that much until a fellow blogger asked me the other day if I'd found a decent milkshake in this country. The blogger, we'll call him Greg because that's his name, has been on a quest for a milkshake that doesn't make him have to fly over the big blue ocean to find it. (And no, McDonald's doesn't count. That's a mix; it's not authentic.)

Oh and you should check out Greg's blog too. He's an American guy in Singapore and he lives in another neck of the jungle. So he has a whole other perspective of the island.

But back to what I was sayin....

Greg wants a good milkshake and he can't find one.

And now I want one too. It sounds so good after walking around in this heat everyday.

Our beef with the local milkshakes? I think they take the name too literally. They taste like flavored milk that's been shaken up. No thickness. No ice cream. No brain freeze.

The stuff doesn't even get stuck in the straw.

What's up with that?

Even Dairy Queen messed it up on Orchard Road.

I know, right? I couldn't believe it either.

My latest milkshake test was last week. My friend from work treated me to Haagen-Dazs at Junction 8 Shopping Mall. We both ordered the Belgian chocolate milkshakes (pictured above).

While the Belgian chocolate part of the equation was delicious, the shake was still merely cold shaken milk.

It was a giant tease. No one likes a tease either.

So, if you know of a place that serves real milkshakes on this island. I think you would be our new best friend if you wrote it in the comments section.

American Food!

2009-09-20T21:49:00.004-05:00

America exploded into our house.

Our Aunt Debbie and Cousin Jenny (they're technically Aaron's but I like them so much that I think I can claim them as mine now too) sent us some goodies last week.

And by "goodies", I mean THREE boxes of American goodness. Three!

Aren't they just the sweetest gals ever?

After I put everything away I realized something funny. We have not a single thing in our pantry/fridge that wasn't made, purchased or sent from the USA.

Aren't we patriotic?

Ha ha, not really. I bet most of those "American" products were really made in China.

But I'll just pretend that they weren't.

A million thank yous to Debbie and Jenny. You made our whole week. :)

Now I'm going to sit down and pick out a dinner recipe from the family cookbook. Yay American food!

(P.S. See those mini tubes of Degree deodorant? Jenny sent those for me to combat the stinky pits on the MRT. Isn't that the sweetest and funniest thing ever? Do you think I can swipe people's pits without them noticing? Ha.)

Even Hitler's upset with public transportation

2009-09-16T07:52:00.004-05:00

This video was brought to my attention by my lovely Singaporean coworker. She's such a funny.

Type Thai

2009-09-15T06:52:00.005-05:00

If you're from Kansas and you still don't understand how people in Asia type, this picture is for you.

This is a Thai keyboard. Obviously, it's got English letters too. This belongs to a friend's girlfriend. She thought I was a weirdo for wanting to take a picture of her keyboard.

I told her, "But my friends in Kansas have never seen this! They probably have no idea how you type in Thai!"

So if you did know, my bad.

If you didn't know, you're welcome.

The Peace Sign

2009-09-14T04:52:00.004-05:00

What's up with peace signs in photographs here?

It's something that really irks me. I don't know why, but it does. I just can't figure out Asia's obsession with holding up a peace sign in photos. Everyone seems to do it. Everyone also seems to do it in every friggin' photo.

I know we Americans were all about it in the 60s and whatnot, but it seems that the hand gesture has lost no steam over here. I thought we stopped doing that like 30 years ago. Didn't we?

Yet, every photo op I see is filled with peace sign holding Asians as if they never got the memo that people stopped doing it.

It bugged me so much that I Googled it.

And found this video.

It's pretty cute. Not only does it talk about the peace sign, but it also references all of the annoying poses that your friends make in their Facebook pictures.

I'm not gonna lie. I'm totally that girl.

However, there's one face I refuse to do anymore.

The "kissy-face".

Can we please ban that thing? Ick.

I knew someone was going to get upset...

2009-09-10T03:20:00.002-05:00

CNN just posted a story about Skin whiteners being labeled as racist in Asia.

I'm not gonna say "I told you so".

Oh wait, I kinda just did. Didn't I?

Well, I told you that this wasn't a nice thing way back in February. The proof is right here.

I don't care if it's a difference in culture or not. It's discriminatory and it continues society's belief that you must look a certain way to be beautiful.

That is wrong wrong wrong.

Everyone is beautiful in their own way. Brown skin, yellow skin, pink skin; it's all beautifully different.

Let's throw away these bottles of whitener and love the skin we were born with.

It's time for society to teach self esteem rather than an unrealistic standard of beauty.

I'll get off my soap box now.

Pepper for Dinner

2009-09-09T05:06:00.004-05:00

Have you been to Pepper Lunch yet?

It is one of the most delicious restaurants in Singapore. Aaron and I ate there before a movie date last Saturday and it was one of the best meals we've had in a while.

The gimmick of this place is "Do It Yourself Teppan". I'm guessing that teppan is short for teppanyaki, which I've talked about before here.

The way it works is such: You order your food at the counter. Then they bring it to your table in a searing hot grill plate. It reminded me a lot of ordering fajitas in a restaurant back in America. The only difference here is the food is raw on the hot plate.

Then you mix the ingredients together with chopsticks and a spoon while it cooks. When it reaches the appropriate doneness, you pour sauce over the top to stop the cooking process.

Easy peezy.

And you can't screw it up. That's good news for the kids that are clueless about Asian cooking.

It's American proof.

So here's what it looks like:

Aaron got the Pepper Beef.

And I got the Pepper Steak.

The weird yellowish stuff on my steak is actually pepper butter and it's delicious. Aaron has some in his dish too, but it's hidden in the bed of rice. I'm convinced that it's what makes the entire dish so tasty.

But then again, the place is called Pepper Lunch so I'm sure the roasted black pepper plays a part too.

The food is just so so good. It's a little on the pricey side if you're used to hawker prices. We, however, are used to Applebee's and Houligan's prices so it did not scare us one bit.

I wish I could bring my mom to this place. She'd love it. The woman coats everything on her plate in pepper at nearly every meal. This place perfectly speaks her food language.

I should take her there. Just not in Singapore. That's a bit far from Kansas.

Momma don't fly that far.

Looks like I have another recipe added to the list of things to learn before I leave Asia.

Super.

Heels and Talons

2009-09-08T04:18:00.004-05:00

It's not that I don't love high heels.

I wear them religiously in countries that require less walking than Singapore, but that's not my beef with these. It's just that th....

Wait, a minute.

Hold the phone.

Is that a? Oh wait yes. It definitely is.

Check out the length of that toenail.

She better watch out or she's gonna pop the back tire with that thing. I bet it could even be considered as a deadly weapon. Look at it! It could totally cut someone's Achilles tendon.

Yet, this is not the first or second or third time I've seen heels paired with something uber casual and eagle talon toenails.

Women here love love love their heels. So much so that they often don't even care if they coordinate with the outfit's style or color.

Pajama pants? Let's wear the four inch stilettos! Grubby t-shirt and shorts? Put on the red sequined heels! Athletic pants and a sports bra? Platforms all the way baby.

While I appreciate a cute pair of shoes, I'm not digging the whole idea of "dressy on the bottom, casual on the top". It's like fashion's equivalent of a mullet.

Then come the toenails (that are usually sticking out of the above mentioned heels). I'm sorry, I know this is a cultural difference, but it just absolutely freaks me out. Some of the toenails here are longer than most fingernails I've seen.

So I have some questions.

How do you wear normal shoes?

Don't you hurt people when you walk too fast behind them?

Haven't you cut someone with those before?

Those cover the basics of the questions I have. I'm sure I'll have more later. Now I have to go trim my toenails because I just feel "eewy" after seeing that much toenail.

Hi-ho, hi-ho

2009-09-07T04:47:00.002-05:00

It's back to work I go.

After a nice long and relaxing weekend, it's back to the daily grind.

This is what awaits me tomorrow morning:
Yes, it's that dark when I leave for work. And no, the lens of my camera wasn't smudged. That's how friggin' humid Singapore is at that lovely hour.

When I look outside with my naked eye, the lights are still blurry because of the dense humidity.

I once described it to my grandma-in-law as walking into a bowl of warm soup. I don't take it back either. The moment you step outside, it just envelopes you. Your clothes feel moist, your hair goes in every direction it's not supposed to and you curse yourself for even bothering to shower.

Because you immediately want to take another one. Like right then.

Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't trade it for a Kansas winter morning. Those hurt in a such a way that you don't get warm again for months.

But I would like to have just one good hair day. Just one!

A Moment Alone

2009-09-04T03:53:00.004-05:00

A rare occurence in one of the most densely populated countries in the world, I got a moment to myself in a public place.

The peaceful and uncrowded five minutes I got on an empty bus was pure bliss.

This will be the happy place I go to next time I'm squished in the MRT next to Mr. Stinky Pits and Ms. Elbow Shover.

I'll just close my eyes and come back to my empty bus.

Ah. So relaxing.

On that note, have a great Labor Day weekend my fellow Americans. I will be sleeping all weekend and dreaming of my empty bus.