Great Law Firm Name

Come on. It's funny. =) 

More Christmas Spirit

I cannot help it, I love all the mall Christmas trees. They are crazy. 

And its totally trippy to see all these Christmas trees out and about while you are sweating and getting a sunburn in the tropical heat. 

This one was fun. I like blue lights. 

Most unusual Christmas ornament award goes to...... hahaha. 

Ubin- Part 2- Chek Jawa

The main attraction in Ubin, besides of course the beautiful trails through the jungle and pretty beaches, is the Chek Jawa wetlands. The wetlands are the last of its kind in Singapore and home to diverse plants and animals. I was really hoping to see a starfish, but had to settle for some creepy looking crabs and a pig instead, but it was still a great trip.

Checking out the beach, looking for starfish. 

Right before an official came to yell at us and tell us we were not allowed on the beach. Opps. 

It wouldn't be Singapore unless there were rules. 

Probably eating a starfish. 

Check out the claw on this fiddler crab. He's a big guy.

More looking for starfish. 

These were the weirdest little fish things that were crawling through the mud with their little flipper arms. 

Crabby crab. 

Check out this cool mangrove. Love the wild and crazy roots. 

No idea, but its very cool looking. 

View from the top of the observation tower that I made a very tired man climb to the top of. 

"Wild" boar. 

Calling this guy "wild" is really generous. The pig was at the visitors center eating pieces of white bread provided by the park ranger. Sure, I cannot walk on the beach, but they can feed the pigs. Unfair. 

Yup. This "boat" was our ride home. 

Sketchy, I know. 

But you cannot expect much for S$2.50 a trip I suppose. 

Till next time Pulau Ubin, thanks for a really fabulous Saturday. 

Pulau Ubin Adventures

Little known fact- Singapore is not just one island- there are actually quite a few little islands that surround the main Island that we live on, and some, like Pulau Ubin, are even inhabited. The thing to do in Ubin is rent a bike and pedal around the island while enjoying a welcome respite from city life. We like bikes. We like nature. So this has been on our to-do list for 8 months now. Work has finallllly let up a bit for both of us, so we jumped on the chance to spend a Saturday out of town.

Our trip started with a very long cab ride, past the Changi airport, to the Changi Jetty, which was a surprisingly nice building. The boats however were.... not so nice.

As we passed this lovely yacht on the way down the jetty to our yet-to-be-seen boat, I think "man, look at that crappy old boat, wonder what those things are used for"

Turns out it and its ilk are used for ferry boats to Ubin. This was our fancy water transport.

It was however a HUGE step up from the "boat" we took back from the island later in the day....

Luckily the boat ride is all of 5 minutes, and you can always see land, so I figured my swimming skills were strong enough to avoid death should the boat go down. 

We arrived in Ubin, ready to see out rental bikes. 

Picking out Bikes- Take 1

The village is bike-rental city. Seriously, bikes everywhere. 

Dave turned my offer to ride a tandem bike down, again. He is no fun. 

Bike fail. It is possible to ride with out gears, but turns out it is impossible to ride when part of the gear wedges itself in the spokes. Luckily we were not too far out. 

Picking out bikes- Take 2. 

We learned out lesson and gave our bikes a little test run before heading out to the wilderness. 

I wasn't sure I really needed a basket, but it turned out to be critical in transporting our very important supplies.

OK. Not totally sure what this is telling us.....

Enjoying the view. 

This was the beach of napping puppies. 

This is Dave telling me to stop taking pictures of napping puppies and get back on my bike. 

Our map of the island suffered a bit of an accident in my basket. It would seem that the ice cold Tiger beers may have inadvertently gotten it a bit wet... opps. Good thing its a small island. 

We stopped in a little hut to enjoy our Tiger Beers and the jungle, and the sounds of the oncoming rainstorm. It was great, almost like being back on the front porch at Bradley watching a thunderstorm come in off the Atlantic. I love the sound of rain. What I don't love is the sound of 20 people yelling in Chinese at each other after they invaded our peaceful hut to wait out the rain. Being stuck in a tiny shelter in a down pour with teenage Singaporeans must be one of the inner rings of hell. 

As a reward for surviving the rain storm with out killing any locals, and not dying on the muddy gravel roads, we treated ourself to a feast. It was delicious! Dave at that entire plate of friend sesame chicken all by himself. This might explain why it is 8:00pm and he is still not hungry for dinner....

Food and Tiger Beer coma. 

More pics after the jump...

Take Me Out to the Ballgame!

Today, after many a-rain delay, the long awaited day was here- opening day for the Singapore X-Men baseball team!

The National Baseball field....very fancy =) 

And for the X-Men, starting at 3rd base, batting 3rd, wearing number 6-

Daaaavvvviiiddddd Curtisssssssssss 

Taking in a little batting practice before the game. 

#6 at bat. 

Right before nailing a line drive down the left field line for a stand up double. 

The first of two prettttty impressive pokes- his team now calls him MVP. 

A good day at bat for #6. 

Woot woot- 2nd base. 

No small feat considering the muddy field must have been like running in quick sand. 

As the party responsible for laundry in this house hold, I was just thankful he didn't slide =) 

More after the jump...

Adventures in Grocery Shopping

I convinced Dave to take me to my very favorite grocery store today, which involves taking a taxi to and from. I know, seems excessive when there is a government subsidized Singaporean grocery store right across the street from our condo, but the local grocery store is well..... catering to local tastes. And well.... I have become a bit of a fussy eater in Singapore. The smells of the local stores can be a bit much for me and the selection can be pretty limited (and sometimes pretty scary).

My grocery store on the other hand is like little America. It smells normal. It has packaged food in bright shiny environmentally un-friendly packaging. They carry 100 calorie packs! All the bells and whistles. The first time we happened upon it I nearly cried tears of joy I was so happy to see good old American food. All of our favorite food- bagels, fancy peanut butter, frozen meals, everything! Thank god for Tanglin Mall Marketplace.

Its almost like shopping at home... but one thing is noticeably different.....see if you can figure it out......

Yup, that is 10 dollars for Almond milk. 

Also cute is the explanation on how to read US labels- because it is apparently difficult? 

5.15 for Yoplait. Not 10 for 5 dollars. That is 5.15 for ONE yogurt. 

I love me some fat free zero-point chocolate puddings- but at 16.70, I had to pass. 

Graham crackers anyone? 10 dollars. And 10 extra bucks says they are stale. 

Lean Cuisine- formerly a big part of my diet. Not so much at 12 dollars a box. 

Pretty funny considering a freshly made dinner at a Hawker can cost less than 2 bucks. 

Ice cream? 

A bargain at 24 dollars for 2. 

Fat free cool whip. 

Often 99 cents in the US. 10 bucks here. 

Last week it was on sale for 5 dollars (likely because it was nearly expired)- I should have bought 2! 

Thomas Original English Muffins. 

I was thrilllllllled to find english muffins- I hadn't seen any and my Mom brought me some from the US which I hoarded from Dave. At 8 dollars a box, I basically still hoard them from Dave. Don't feel too bad for him, we spend about 10 dollars for a bag of bagels too. 

OK- there here is what we bought today. 

(No commentary on the randomness of our purchases please)

• Dole frozen raspberries
• Dole frozen blueberries
• Philly cream cheese tub
• Bag of pasta
• 2 Pints Ben and Jerrys's
• Box of 100 Calorie Kudo bars 
• Jar of apple sauce
• Jug of Gatoraid mix

Two bags total.

How much do you think this cost?

Answer after the jump.....