Coming Home

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Singapore in many ways set the tone for my travels. Hong Kong was my first stop but Singapore held a special place for me. I arrived in Singapore for the first time on March 21st. If you can recall my old roommate Chris from college was there to greet me in the terminal. We spent three great days together in Singapore, I started to really feel like I was traveling, we ate terrific food, met some great people, and had an unforgettable time. If was my springboard to the rest of my travels. Now, almost three months later, on June 12th, my Mom and I boarded a plane from Bali to Singapore. For my last 4 days in Asia I’ll be staying at the Robertson Quay Hotel in the heart of downtown Singapore. I have four days to enjoy this city again. Having been through some other major Asian cities on my trip I can say with confidence that Singapore is my favorite. Now I have an opportunity to see more of it, taste more of it, and share all of it with my Mom. My final 4-day stay in Singapore materialized in just the last several weeks. I don’t think I could have planned it any better had I given it thought before I left. Singapore to start and to end a three-month tour through Southeast Asia is perfect. It is the most western city in Asia I have visited so it serves as a gentle transitional city coming from and going back to America. Singapore is the cleanest city I have ever seen. With strict penalties for littering, spitting, chewing gum, smoking, etc… the streets and other public areas are clean enough to sit down on and have a meal. The food in Singapore is unparalleled. And this will be the focus of my last blog. I ate my way through four days in Singapore. In the process of seeking out the best culinary delights I could find I was able to see so much more of this lovely city. I walked countless miles and visited many different neighborhoods, all in the hopes of finding that perfect bite. Where did I find it?

Mom and I arrived in Singapore on Thursday, June 12th and checked ourselves into our hotel around 4pm. Although the flight from Bali was only a short two and one half hours, any airplane travel is an ordeal. There is getting to the airport, checking in hours ahead of time, the flight, arrival and getting you bags, finding transportation to your hotel, and then checking in to your new room. The travel day started for us at 11am and finished 5 hours later. Having moved from city to city enough times in the past 3 months I knew how to approach our arrival in Singapore. Don’t rush out to go see everything. Take your time at the hotel and get settled. Unpack some things, take a shower if you feel mingin, pour yourself a glass of tea, get familiar with your accommodation (go look at the pool, feel the water, jump in if you feel compelled), and just relax for an hour or two. During that hour we found that our room had wireless internet access, made ourselves some tea, unpacked what we would need for the rest of our stay, gathered some dirty laundry to take to get cleaned somewhere, and after about 1 hour of relaxation we were ready to head out. We found a local cleaners to wash an outfit for Mom to wear back on the plane the next day. This was very important to her, as it should be for any traveler. Flying in clean cloths makes a different. Your cloths are going to be nasty by the end of a 20 hour journey back to the US of A, but at least do yourself a favor by starting the trip off clean.

Walking to find a dry cleaners was a perfect introduction to the neighborhood surrounding our hotel. It turned out to be an extremely lively area with lots of great restaurants and bars. The energy was terrific. It was around 5:30pm now and loads of people were sitting down at outside tables enjoying dinner and beverages. It put us in the perfect mood. So we set off down the river towards central. Our hotel was conveniently situated along the river, just a short walk to some of the more lively parts of Singapore. Clarke Quay was just adjacent to us; Central not much further past that, the Boat Quay was next, then the Esplanade Theaters. In another direction you could walk 20 minutes or so and find yourself on Orchard Rd. We were only 5 minutes walking from an Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) station. Once on the MRT you can get to anywhere of interest in Singapore in 30 minutes. However, during my stay in Singapore, I found the most joy in walking just about everywhere. No need for cabs or the MRT. The things I discovered by walking all over town would never have revealed themselves to me had I been in a cab or on the MRT. This is actually the biggest difference between my first visit to Singapore and my second. When I was here with Chris we took cabs everywhere. We also used the MRT quite often. When his company was paying for all those expenses we didn’t see a reason to walk. Now, having spent 4 days on foot mainly, I see why it might be a smart move to save the cab money and MRT fare and just hoof it.

Our dinner destination was No Signboard Seafood, down near the Esplanade Theaters, about 30 minutes walking. I chose this restaurant because I knew it served great crab. Chris and I had gone to have pepper crab when we were here last. The dish I was after tonight was chili crab. Chili crab is one of the Uniquely Singapore Dishes. It isn’t popular any other place. It’s famous. A giant Sri Lankan crab is served with giant spoonfuls of sweet and spicy chili sauce poured over the top. In the hot sauce they crack an egg or two and it scrambles itself in the heat of the sauce. Underneath it all are large cabbage leaves that get wilted under the intense heat and make for a very satisfying bite. The cabbage holds just enough crunch so each bites gives you a little texture contrast from the sauce and egg that smother it. But on our walk down to No Signboard we got so distracted by Singapore. The city was incredible. It was my first time walking the river at sunset and the colors were magnificent. The temperature was perfect and we soon found ourselves in no hurry to go anywhere, but rather just take our time, stop when we felt compelled to stop, and to look at life unfolding around us. Hours must have passed. It was dark soon and as we walked down the busy banks of the Boat Quay we were bombarded with invitations to dine at the countless seafood restaurants that line the waters edge. Suddenly I was hungry and because my Mom doesn’t care for seafood I couldn’t justify walking all the way to No Signboard just so I could have a Chili Crab that any one of these restaurants in front of us would gladly serve me. So we picked one restaurant out of the bunch and sat at a table facing the water. This location is way better than No Signboard anyhow. We could watch the finals color changes in the sky, see boats pass on the river, and enjoy a wonderful evening outside. To go with my Chili Crab there were some sautéed vegetables (kailan and brocolli), Mom had a beancurd (tofu) hot pot. I washed my dinner down with a soda water and Mom had a cold Tiger beer. The chili crab was sensational. The crab had so much meat, the chili sauce was sweet and spicy (a little more sweet than spicy for my optimal taste), and the eating event was entertaining and comical. They outfitted with a trash bag sized plastic apron to help me avoid the inevitable chili sauce splatter. I got laughs and looks from the guests at the table next to us. The meal hit the spot. Mom was really satisfied with her food as well, which says a lot for a restaurant that specializes in seafood. Mom dislikes even the sight of seafood. For the past couple weeks she has been building these cute little barriers that consist of bottles, glasses, napkin holders, and condiments in order to block her view of my fish while I eat. Tonight was no different. Again… what a trooper she is.

The next day in Singapore would be my Mom’s last day in Asia. She was scheduled to fly out at midnight. Her destination, San Francisco via Beijing, a 24-hour plus ordeal that has an 8 hour layover scheduled. I await a similar fate come Monday when I fly back to San Francisco via Hong Kong. My layover will only be an hour or two, but the thought of pulling a 20-hour travel day is making me want to make this last day for Mom special. How do you make a day really special? If you try too hard you could screw it up. Special days are often started the same way they always do. Those morning rituals are important as they set the days tone. Mom has her things she loves to do and I have mine. For example, she wanted to go out walking in the morning and find a place to have coffee. I was content to stay in the room, fix my own Nescafe/Dancow delight, and write in my journal. I wanted to exercise at some point and Mom fully supports me in that. So she found some things to do at the hotel in order to feel like she was ready to fly later that night. She did accompany me downtown to find a gym to workout at. Thank goodness for that. The reason being that had she not come I probably would have been stuck paying some ridiculous fee to work out, or alternatively just not exercised at all. We wound up trying two places, California Fitness (funny name considering), and Planet Fitness. California Fitness was a bust and Planet Fitness was almost the same. We were about to get turned away when Mom mentioned that I was a member of Gold’s Gym in California and did they have any reciprocal training deal set up. When she mentioned that the guy behind the desk lit up and talked with a few of his supervisors to ensure that I could be a guest for free. Terrific, I have a place to come exercise for the last four days I’m in Singapore, in Asia. So the morning was about ritual. Coffee, walking, journaling, exercise… By noon the day was in full swing, the morning rituals over, and a wonderful tone was set to the day. On my walk home from the gym I stopped to get my Mom and I food. It was that particular walk home that reminded me why I loved Singapore so much. It is a food crazy culture in this city. Go have a walk around Chinatown and the surrounding areas around noon on any weekday and you will see what I mean. There are eateries everywhere, hawker centers alive with energy, food stalls giving off mouth watering aromas… and the people are crazy about their food as well. Everyone has congregated in this massive food complexes and are fighting their way through lines to get a tasty lunch from the one dish hawker who is serving up a family recipe that dates back more generations than my family has been in America. It all comes at a fairly inexpensive price. I say fairly because relative to what I have paid in places like Bali and Laos it isn’t the cheapest, but compared to back home this stuff is pretty damn cheap.


After walking around for about 45 minutes in awe I finally settled on my lunch. It is hard to make up your mind with so many choices, but it is always a safe bet to just pick the hawker with the longest line and order whatever everyone else is having. And don’t be turned off by what appears to be an “unsanitary” kitchen. “These people are not making a living by poisoning their customers” (Tony Bourdain). Just cue up and ask for extra chili sauce. My choice was Cantonese Roasted Duck. I’ll take a medium sized (you can get small/med/large). On the way back I saw this guy working out of a tiny little food cart and his line was enormous. He boasted the highest rating you could get from the Makansutra (Singapore’s guide to all things culinary) “Die Die Must Try” 3 chopsticks rating. And his signature dish, peanut pancakes. Jackie’s Peanut Pancakes. I knew instantly that Mom was going to love this and so I had him pack one up to go. Back at the hotel we gobbled up our food. Both of us would be satisfied until dinner.

Between the peanut pancake and dinner we enjoyed some relaxation by the pool. Both of us had great books we were reading so the time went by fast. Around 5pm we decided to head out and explore some of town. I wanted to show Mom Chinatown and we took a short MRT ride to get there so she could experience the train. I gave her a glimpse of what hawker centers are like when we stopped at the Maxwell Food Center in Chinatown. Having had just watched the Singapore episode of No Reservations on my computer at the hotel, an episode the shows Tony Bourdain eating chicken rice at the Maxwell Food Center, I thought this would be a nice place to visit. Even Mom got a little excited when I said that this was the place that Tony B was eating at in that episode we just watched, “see this is the table he was sitting ate, and there is the chef that was making the food on the TV program.” It was exciting for me too, even though I had been here before and eaten from the same food stall almost three months ago.

The stop at the Maxwell Food Center got us both hungry for dinner. We both figured that if we just headed down to the Boat Quay like we did the night before we could find another great meal. You pay a little more to have dinner on the river, that is to say the prices are little higher at these restaurants, but in comparison to a meal of similar quality back home it was a bargain. So we found a new restaurant, not far from last nights joint, and Mom order up her vegetarian dish and I gave the waitress my seafood selections. Tonight I wanted to try another Uniquely Singapore Dish, BBQ stingray. To accompany my stingray I had myself a bamboo clam as an appetizer. The clam was good but the stingray was the star of the show. I was really shocked at how much meat there was on this stingray. It was a very big serving. The sauce that was served over it was a nice medley of citrus, spice, and onions with garlic. I didn’t mention this but at the Boat Quay you will without question have restaurants competing to get your business. Each one will have someone standing on the walkway trying to convince you to eat at their restaurant. Problem is they all have about the same menu. So we went for a place that had satisfied looking customers, was positioned along the river to give us a great view, and finally the one that offered us a free drink with dinner. Mom had an ice cold Tiger beer served to her in a glass that had been chilled to subzero temps. She doesn’t normally drink beer but a cold Tiger is one of the most refreshing things you can treat yourself to in Singapore’s hot equatorial climate. It was a perfect end to two perfect weeks together. We paid our bill and made the slow walk back up the river banks to our hotel, passing through the ever popular Clarke Quay. By the time we reached the hotel it was time for mom to grab her things and get in the cab to the airport. I walked her down to the roundabout where she loaded her one bag and herself into the taxi and with a hug and kiss I said goodbye. Of course I would see her in three short days, but it wouldn’t be the same. As I closed the door and watched her drive off I couldn’t help but feel like I had just closed the door on a significant part of my journey. Sharing the travel experience with another person is very different than going about it on your own. Both have their pros and cons. I am grateful for having had the opportunity to share two weeks with another person. The fact that the other person was my Mom made it a true blessing. Another twist to the tale of my travels. One that I could never have anticipated when I left home, and now that it is over, one that I could not image having gone without.

But hold on just a bit longer… this trip aint over yet. It is Saturday morning and I wake up to an empty room. Just me… It feels a bit strange. I engage in my morning rituals. I have my last Dancow/Nescafe latte (the Dancow is gone and they don’t sell it in Singapore… sadness). I play around on the internet and then journal a bit while I watch bits of Tiger and the U.S. Open. I head down to Planet Fitness around 10am and stop on the way for an egg breakfast. I find a place that serves up half boiled eggs for one dollar. This beats the hotel buffet for $8 where the only palatable thing is eggs. My workout is great. In fact, it has been a long time since I said a workout wasn’t great. Any chance I have to go into a nice facility and move my body in premeditated and familiar ways is great. The traveling workouts have seen a variety of different environments. Workouts in a small cramped guesthouse where these is barely enough room to do a push-up, to open fields in the middle of Luang Prabang, to beach all over Southeast Asia, and finally to ultra-modern fitness centers in downtown Singapore. I’ve made them all work. It was a great reminder to me and to everyone that not having a gym to workout at should never be an excuse for not moving your body. You don’t need a thing. Just yourself and the will to move.

After the gym I walk across town to a used bookstore I read about online. I pick up a couple books, most important of them the 2007 Makansutra Guide (2008 not yet released). The Makansutra Guide is a rating guide of all the best hawkers in Singapore. Organized by both location and dish, you can either search a particular kind of food you want to find the cities best ones, or you can just look up Chinatown for example and see what tasty delights are located in this city hub. With my new Makansutra guide in hand I begin the walk back across town to Chinatown. I’m really hungry when I get back having walked almost two hours round trip. So I walk into the Hong Lim Market & Food Court, the first hawker center I come across in the Chinatown area. I pull out my trusty guide and search for any stalls in this complex that have the highest rating. As luck would have it there is a stall just upstairs that is serving Ipoh Hor Fun. The place is busy when I arrive. They are serving up crayfish and prawn Hor Fun. The chiken is sold out (no problem for me). I get a medium and order to go. The lay down a beg of rice noodles, sautéed veggies, half a male and half a female crayfish, and three halved prawns. Because I ordered it to go they put the soup broth in a separate bag rather than right on the noodle, crayfish combo. This would be called ordering it “dry”. I guess I inadvertently ordered my dish dry. I’m very glad I did however. This is the way you got to do this. The broth/soup on its own is heavenly. Plus this way you can control how much broth you want on your crustaceans. I like to really taste the seafood so I didn’t put much on at all. They also have bags of chili sauce that you can take away with you. I had to grab two of these little baggies. The home made chili sauces that these vendors put out are often the best part of each meal. While they are all very similar, each is unique and for me is half the fun of trying all the new places. I waited till I was sitting down at the river to eat my food. As fun as the hawker centers are I really like to eat outdoors and riverside across from Clarke Quay is a perfect spot for a weekend lunch.

The next few hours back at the hotel I sat by the pool and familiarized myself with the Makansutra Guide. It is more than just a directory for hawker centers. There is a whole lot of information about Singaporean food that I was very interested to read about. In the section that alphabetically lists all the different dishes that are popular in Singapore, along with the best places to get each one, you can read about each dish and learn what the ingredients are, where the dish came from, and special facts that help the novice know what to order. While this may seem boring or uninteresting to some of you, if you have read any of my blogs then you can imagine how interesting it is to me. I got lost in the book for hours it seemed like. I had also hoped that after reading for so long I would have settled on a great place to eat dinner. But having read all those wonderful entries on the great variety that is Singaporean food I was lost. Where will I eat? I decided that since I had some cash, was saving money by not paying for hotel or gym, I would treat myself to another nice dinner. The last two nights were very memorable so I thought a sit down restaurant would be nice, rather than a hawker center for dinner. This narrowed my search a bit. I also wanted a unique dining experience. The steamboat seemed to fit the bill. A hot pot dinner that you cook your own food in. The place, Magic of Chong Qing Hot Pot @ the Tanglin Shoping Center. About 45 minutes of walking and I found myself in a very quiet building with all the shops closed down except a couple of restaurants. The wait was about an hour. I can do that. And so I sat there, my appetite building up just a bit as I watched many satisfied customers dine and leave. My table opened up and immediately I was served a specialty Chinese herb tea. The cup was filled with different herbs and throughout the meal I was getting refilled with hot water. The flavor never got any weaker and the tea remained consistent. As for the food, it was an all you can eat restaurant. They bring you a very large pot of steaming liquid. Half the pot is a chicken broth and the other half is a fiery hot chili flavored broth. The hot chili broth is more than just hot. I have to say this stuff was nuclear hot. Both liquids are for cooking your meats and veggies. Then come the endless plates of thinly sliced meat, pork, chicken, fish, and if you ask, prawns. The vegetable variety is endless. Greens, cabbage, mushrooms of all kinds, carrots, other things I couldn’t even identify… Each broth gets a plate of fish paste. Everything you add just adds to the flavor of the broth. By the end you have a delicious chicken broth soup. The chili broth is terrific for cooking the meats but the veggies end up soaking up too much of the broth and are way too hot. Perhaps the best part of the meal is the sauce you get to make for yourself at the table. They have four condiment containers. One has slices of garlic and chili in chili sauce, one has sesame oil, one has a sweet sesame sauce, and the last has a sweet chili sauce. I mixed up the sesame sauce and garlic and chili. This was my favorite combination and I must have had 6 or 7 helpings of it. As for meat I was actually most impressed with the chicken. Chicken breast is usually not my thing but it was just right tonight. The veggies were all terrific but the mushrooms topped my list. The whole meal was hot. From the hot pot, to the chili broth, to the garlic and chili sauce, the hot tea, you could pretty much forget about staying cool. And they don’t give you a napkin, just one moist towelett in a package for the end. It was all good except the fact that my nose got a little runny from all the chili. Oh well, I can shower later. I did my best not to over indulge, an easy task when you are at an all you can eat dinner. Get your moneys worth by filling up on the expensive ingredients like meat and fish. I love veggies too so I capped off the meal with mushroom and cabbage soup, the chicken broth a perfect compliment to these two veggies. I had no appetite for dessert and instead just paid my bill and made the long walk home.

The following morning I was up very early, before the sun, and nature was calling. I ate too much damn chili last night. That red chili broth, while delicious, put a minor hurt on my tummy. I woke up to the gurgles, an all to familiar feeling, with a very predictable outcome. So rather than go back to bed after my trip to the toilet, I decided to stay up. I had only about an hour before the sun came up and with my view from the 10th floor it was nice to watch Singapore transition from night to day. I also flipped on the TV in the room, a luxury I have not had for months now, and watched Tiger Woods pull off one of the most amazing rounds of golf ever, all on a broken leg and torn ACL (what a competitor). The morning came with the rising of the sun. My coffee and milk today wasn’t the Dancow I had come to know and love, but it was very good. I sat on the windowsill of my tenth floor room at the Robertson Quay Hotel, drinking coffee and then tea, catching up on the last three days in my journal, and watching Tiger Woods do his thing at Torrey Pines back in the great states of California. At some point I went to get my egg breakfast and then continued on to the gym for a workout. I had already planned out where I was getting lunch after the gym. The map told me to take the MRT to Bedok and from there walk to the Bedok Food Center. The meal was Cuttlefish Kangkong.

The map I was using was fucked… They failed to mention that if you go one stop past Bedok on the MRT you get dropped off about 10 minutes walk from the Bedok Food Center. Instead the map suggested that I get off at Bedok and walk from there. Well that little discrepancy wound up costing my almost an hour walking in the very hot Singaporean sun. But the food that awaited me at my final destination made that distance seem small. Cuttlefish Kangkong at the Bedok Food Center is a “Die Die Must Try” rating in the Makansutra for good reason. This is the highest rating one can get, a three chopstick score. There was no line when I arrived so I assumed that they were out of cuttlefish, a potential tragedy. The woman working there said they had plenty and asked if I would like some. “Yes please.” She wanted to know if this was my first time eating this dish and I told her it was. She made sure I was OK with a little spice and again I told her I was. Moments later I had one heaping plate of Cuttlefish in my hands. The dish is very simple looking and the presentation itself makes the mouth start watering. The dish is a large pile of cuttlefish (squid like stuff), green veggies, pineapple, tofu, peanuts, and a sweet chili sauce that quite possibly is the best I’ve ever had. I’m in heaven with the first bite and laying on a cloud blissed out with the very last bite. I can’t even move after I finish. Maybe that is because I’m exhausted from the long journey to get here in the hot sun, or maybe it is because the food was so damn good. Either way I just sit and enjoy the environment, the shade, and the fabulous tastes that are still floating around my mouth. Eventually I decide to go pay and say thank you to the chef. Up at the food stall I handed the woman and her husband my plate that had been licked clean. They asked me if this was my first time to Singapore and why I had come. I said it was my first time, which in retrospect was a lie but I didn’t say it with an intent to deceive. I added that my reason for being here was to eat. They laughed and then said six words that catapulted this dining experience to the upper echelon of dining experiences in my life. “This one is on the house.” Wow! Free lunch. Not that I wasn’t prepared to pay the 8 Singapore dollars for this meal. I would gladly have paid 3 or 4 times that. It was just the shock and surprise of the gesture. It was so unexpected and kind of them. This was their way of welcoming a foreigner to their home. I thanked them very kindly and fought back some tears that began to well up in my eyes. This was a surprise to me too. All of the sudden I had an impulse to cry. Over a free 8 dollar lunch in nowhere important Singapore. But rather than focus on the absurdity of my emotional rush following this chance encounter with two restaurant owners, I was just happy. Such simple things bring me close to tears of joy.

For my last night in Singapore I could think of only one place I wanted to go and eat. I didn’t want adventure tonight. I didn’t want to wander the streets in search of something new. I wanted a sure bet, some familiar tastes, and a comfortable environment to enjoy my last dinner. So I went back to Glutton’s Bay. If you can recall from my first Singapore Blog, Glutton’s Bay is the Makansutra’s outdoor food court. It is a collection of some of the best hawkers in Singapore. There is tremendous variety, good prices, a nice location, and Chris and I had eaten here our last night together in Singapore almost three months ago. So it seemed to be the perfect place to dine. On that memorable night 3 months before Chris and I had shared an oyster omelet that still remains one of the more memorable dishes of my trip. So I naturally wanted to revisit those flavors. I also wanted to try the BBQ chicken wings that I saw last time we were there but never had a chance to try. So my dinner was already set before I even got to Glutton’s Bay. The oyster omelet was just like I remembered it. Again, perhaps the best part of the dish was the chili sauce they served with it. And the Chicken Wings rocked my world. I’ve had some great BBQ chicken in the last three months. Thailand, Laos, even a couple times in Bali. But these bad boys take the cake. They are hands down the best I’ve ever had. With a squeeze of fresh lime juice and a dip in the chili/ginger sauce, I was back on the cloud in no time.

After dinner I found myself laying down on the side of the river. This city is so clean that I was laying down on the sidewalk, no worries about it. I stared up into the sky to see that the bright lights of the city had lit up the puffy white clouds that were overhead. In my periphery I could see the skyline of Singapore. And I lay there for a couple hours I think (I don’t wear a watch). I went over in my head many of the great memories I had from the last 3 months. I transported myself back home, tried to recall the feelings that accompany my house, family, and Mill Valley. I found so much comfort in those thoughts. It was laying there on the stones in Singapore that I connected with the inescapable truth that I was returning home tomorrow. I wasn’t anxious, worried, fearful, or upset. This was a sharp contrast to the last time I came home from Southeast Asia, almost two years ago. Instead I was very peaceful about it. No part of me felt like there was something unfinished. I had a tremendous journey, one that I created from nothing. It had been almost two years since my last international travel experience. I knew back then I would travel again. The trip got put off several times but did eventually happen. I am so happy it took place when it did. The last two years prepared me to have the experience that I did. It would have been a different trip a year ago or 6 months ago. I’m set an intention a long time ago to travel again. What began as just a thought materialized in to one of the most exciting and fun times of my life.

I eventually picked myself up off the ground and found my way back to my hotel room bed. In the morning I packed up my bag and went through my ritual. I planned one last meal of Chili Crab and it did not disappoint as my last meal in Singapore. But I said goodbye to the city and embarked on the 24-hour trip back home. Excited for the possibilities that lie ahead of me and the transformations that have taken place in my life over the course of the past few months. Every step in the journey of life is an opportunity to create something. A three-month adventure of Southeast Asia is just an example of what I can create in my life. There is so much more to come that I cannot possibly be sad to be leaving Asia to go home. It is just time to close the book on this chapter and begin to write the next one in the novel that is my life.

I cannot begin to say how grateful I am to everyone who made this blog what it is. Your messages, comments, emails, and love that you have sent me along the way have made it my most enjoyable outlet during the journey. I never thought writing could bring me as much joy as it has through this blog. So I’ll end this just the same as I do every blog and remind you again how much I love each and every one of you.

LOVING YOU BEYOND LIMITATIONS!!!!
Marcus

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Photos

Downtown
The city planners in Singapore are geniuses. Everything is so well laid out, the buildings are so beautiful, public transportation is efficient and easy, the city is the cleanest perhaps in the world, and crime is low. Almost everywhere you look there is a great photo opportunity. This is just one of the many great looks of downtown.

Back in Singapore
Mom and I found a hotel down by the river to stay at. This turned out to be a great decision as everything was walking distance from the hotel and we were able to see so much more of the city this way. Here is a view of Central taken from one of the bridges that crosses near Clarke Quay.

Boat Quay
We ate dinner on the river at the Boat Quay on the first night. This was the view from our table.

Bars and Restaurants
Busy by night, the Boat Quay in the morning is a tame environment. Here are the many Bars and Restaurants that line the river and give Singapore a terrific night life scene.

Roberston Quay
This is a view from our hotel room at the Robertson Quay Hotel. We lucked out with this place. Each morning I sat on the window sill and drank my coffee and tea, while writing in my journal and taking in the view.

Back by the river
On our last night together, Mom and I walked the river and took some pictures on the way.

Raffles Place
In the heart of downtown Singapore you'll find Raffles Place. This was where I came each morning to exercise at Planet Fitness. I told them I was a member of Gold's Gym in California and they let me work out for free for 4 days. Incredible.

Bean Curd hot pot
A ceramic bowl that is placed over a fire until it boils all the contents inside. A mixture of veggies and tofu with a broth and oil.

Chili Crab
A dish that is uniquely Singapore. A Sri Lankan giant crab that is steamed and then served with a sweet chili sauce smothering it. A little bit of greens lines the bottom of the plate and some egg is scramble into the chili sauce.

A proud Mother
My bib to protect me from the inevitable chili sauce splatter. I finished off the whole crab and we posed for this post dinner picture.

Glutton's Bay
Hawker's, the pure essence of Singaporean food, are small food stalls that usually specialize in one dish or a few similar dishes. They can be found in hawker centers, kopitams, coffee shops, as single establishments, or here at Glutton's Bay, a collection of some of Singapore's finest hawkers and a great place to come to get a decent priced meal.

Oyster Omelet
My dinner at Glutton's bay started with this. An omelet cooked with some simple seasonings and underneath are some wok cooked oysters. Topped with a red chili sauce. Divine. If you go make sure to get the version that is lightly dusted in potato starch before being fried up.

BBQ Chicken Wings
The second course at my Glutton's Bay meal. This was my last dinner in Singapore and these chicken wings were perfect. Marinated for hours, cooked to perfection, fresh lime squeezed on top, a side of delicious chili sauce that has a ginger undertone to it, these make a perfect snack. I could see having a huge bucket of these with some friends and watching a football game. They give even the best buffalo wings a run.

Roasted Cantonese Duck
You know the places, they have roasted ducks hanging in the window, you are a little skeptical of the health standards this place is following, I mean how long has that duck been there. My suggestion is to let down your guard a little, order some duck, served over noodles and veggies, and smother it in that special sauce they give you. You'll be glad you did.

Ice Cream Sandwich
The real deal. Start with a giant block of ice cream, cut off one rectangular piece, put it between two wafers, and then wrap it in a piece of colorful wonder bread. This one goes out to my main man Ben (hope you see this).

Mom visits her first Hawker Center
I wanted to show Mom a proper Hawker Center so I took her down to Maxwell Rd. Food Center. We bought this little mean pie thinking it was vegetarian. Oops! She didn't eat any of the meat thank god.

Dinner on the River Part 2
For dinner our last night mom and I went back to the Boat Quay. I had this bamboo clam as an appetizer and the baby Kailan for my veggies.

Main Course
Another Singapore specialty is BBQ stingray or Skate. It was so meaty and the sauce was sort of sweet, citrus flavored, and had hints of garlic.

Long line is a good sign
If you aren't sure what to have for lunch then walk in to your nearest Hawker Center and find the longest line you can. Order whatever it is that each person in front of you is getting because it is going to be good. If Singaporeans are waiting 20 minutes to get a plate from this food stall then you might just love what you taste.

Crayfish and Prawns Hor Fun
Rice noodles, sauteed veggies, half a male and half a female crayfish, three half prawns, and I ordered it dry with the soupy broth on the side. The broth was terrific on its own mixed with chili sauce. The Female has eggs on it that were delicious, the prawns werr juicy and their heads fantastic.

Cuttlefish Kangkong
I had this dish with Chriso when I was in Singapore 3 months ago. Might as well have been a completely different dish, I don't remember it being anything close to as good as this. I took a 20 minute train ride, walked 1 hour, and finally found this place that serves up this delicious meal every day of the week except Mondays. There are veggies, pineapple, tofu, cuttlefish, peanuts, and a sauce that is sweet, spicy, and the only sauce from my entire trip that I can still taste vividly in my mind. When I was done and went to pay for my meal, the owners were so happy I had made the trip to visit their stall and because it was my first time eating their dish it was on the house. I really did have to fight back a few tears. This was a beautiful eating experience.

Last Supper... well Lunch
My last meal before getting in the cab to go to the Airport started with Baby Kailan with minced garlic. Very tender, garlic not overpowering.

Final Note
It just seemed right to end my trip with this meal. I don't think I'll be able to get this anywhere else in the world. Plus, as far as Chili Crab goes, this restaurant is supposed to do one of the best in the city. Thanks to my nifty Makansutra guide I was able to find this restaurant a short walk from my hotel.