Imports

My sister arrive this week from the states to spend the summer with us.  I've been looking forward to this for many months since it's been 8 months since I've seen any members of my family.  On Tuesday, we picked her up from the airport - she survived 22 hours and one international transfer all by her 15-year-old self!  At the airport, while we were waiting for Julie, I couldn't resist snapping a pic of this driver waiting for his fare:

Perhaps it's Lenny Kravitz's alter ego....?

 

Here she is! I do believe that about 75% of that luggage belonged to me.  The total amount of her luggage probably weighed more than she did... Everything in Singapore costs about double the price in the States so whenever anyone comes, it's the perfect chance to import in some of the things that I miss at Walmart prices.

So, what did she import for me?  Well some of this:

And of course, I couldn't resist ordering some of these:

This one's a special order for Baby Eng!  I can't wait to meet him :-)  He's gonna have one awesome blanket!

So now, I'm listening to my new (imported) Adele CD, enjoying a quiet moment while my sister sleeps in and tries to conquer her jetlag.  Think I'll introduce her to the wonder of Singapore's shopping malls today!

Rojak

The other day, I was at my lupus support group meeting and got to try something uniquely Singaporean.  I'm the only foreigner in the group so often times, my friends like to introduce me to new things (mainly foods).  One day, we were talking about Singaporean dishes and my friends asked me if I'd ever had rojak.  I hadn't and asked what it was.  The description I got was a bit vague.  They called it Chinese salad where you put rojak sauce on veggies, fruits, and other things.  So, the next meeting, one of the ladies brought in all the ingredients to make rojak.

The rojak spread.

So here is what goes into rojak:

You start by chopping up some cucumbers, guava, jumbu, mangoes, pineapple - basically whatever you've got on hand.  Then, you add in some.....Natural Jellyfish!  Surprisingly, the jellyfish is actually pretty tasty, although a little strange when mixed with pineapples and other fruits.  

Here is a look at my first try of rojak.  I had at it the group, but afterwards there were leftovers that I brought home to let Andy have a try.  See that black thing in the middle of my bowl?  That would be a lovely slice of century egg - another item that you can add to your rojak.

So once you have the "salad" together, you add the rojak sauce.  It's a thick syrupy sauce that at first glance looks like chocolate sauce...but don't be deceived. 

If you are wondering what this sauce is made of, here you go:

It's basically a shrimp paste with honey and chili mixed in.  Hmmmmm........ Yep.  That's what I thought at first.  But, once I tried it, it wasn't quite as bad as it sounded and smelled.  Not sure that it's my preferred salad dressing, but at least I can say I tried it.  I took it home and let Andy have a try, he wasn't too thrilled with it.  Definitely one of the stranger things I've tried since moving here!

Dining In Style

Been a bit behind with blogging lately.  It's been a mixture of being busy, feeling a bit uninspired, and being plain old lazy.  But, I have been working on some sewing projects while I stall on my clothing making adventures.  When we moved here, we brought our own furniture, but didn't bring our dining table.  I love my dining table, but it's perfect for a Texas-sized home, not a Singapore apartment.  When we got here, my first furniture purchase was a new "dining table".  I didn't want to get a formal table since I have one in storage, so I opted for a teak patio table that I can eventually use outdoors when we move back to the States.  

Teak stains easily, so instead of worrying about keeping the table clean all the time, I made a table cloth for it.  Also, after sitting in the chairs for awhile, we realized that the slats can become rather uncomfortable to sit on and left unsightly imprints on our bottoms once we got up.  So, I made some cushions as well.

I had brought the fabric from the states and was originally going to recover my outdoor wicker chairs and make some coordinating pillows.  I didn't have enough to cover four cushions entirely so I bought some red laminated polka dot fabric for the bottom.  Not the best match, but it's on the bottom and you can't really tell.

Now we can stop sitting on folded up towels (which is what I was using as cushions prior to these)...and we don't have to worry about having sore and imprinted bottoms!

Bird Skirt

Been working on some sewing projects lately.  I picked up some fabric in Ikea awhile ago and finally finished making a skirt out of it.  Although I'm taking a pattern-making class with a friend of a friend, we haven't gotten to skirts yet.  I figured, how hard can it be to make a simple A-line skirt?  Well, it's a bit harder than I thought....especially since it was my first time using an invisible zipper.  I have to admit, the skirt doesn't quite fit perfectly, but it's good enough for me!

Next time around, I learned that I need to draw the pattern on a curve for the waist.  See how my skirts looks rather boxy at the waist and gaps a little at the waist?  Curving the waistband will create a more fitted look.  So, now I can tweak my pattern so that it fits better next time.  But, I'm pretty happy with it and will wear it with pride.  Maybe my pattern making teacher will show me how it's correctly done.  Right now, I'm still working on my first piece - a blouse.  She showed me how to create a basic top pattern for my own body and we drafted the pattern for this shirt together.  Right now, it looks suspiciously like grandma's pj's, but I'm hoping that won't be the case when I'm done!

In other completely unrelated news, I went shopping and picked up a pair of shoes for S$9 -that's about US$7.50! Score :-) Maybe I'll wear them with my new skirt.

Day out

I'm finding that I'm really enjoying all the things living in a city/tropical island has to offer.  Usually on Saturdays, we try to go out and find something fun and exciting to do without breaking the bank.  If you have the money, there's lots of shows, restaurants to go to, but my frugal self usually opts for the fun and free activities.

This past weekend, we decided to hit up the Marina Bay area.  If you know, this is where the famous Marina Bay Sands is located (the hotel/casino that looks like three towers with a boat on top).  To get there, we took a train out to the downtown business area.  From there, we walked through City Link Mall, which is basically an underground mall that links the main business area to the Marina Bay area.   

While walking, we stumbled upon these:

Coke was running a promo with a piano.  Too bad the kids Coke hired to man the event hogged the piano and Andy and I couldn't do a BIG performance.  Those kids probably don't even know what BIG is.

We got free cokes!

The Hershey's store had a life size Hershey bar walking around.

We surfaced right by the Esplanade and got some dinner at the gourmet outdoor market that was happening right by the water:

Paella - yum. Made me wish I was in Barcelona again!

Chicken brats - they didn't have any pork...they really like their chicken sausages here...I think it's because of the high population of Muslims here.

Then we cruised around the area catching some of the free entertainment:

This guy was doing his sound check.  Apparently during the performance, he and the giant piano are hoisted 6  meters into the air and he performs up there with the piano acting as a movie screen.  We just watched the practice session and opted to watch this performance instead:

31 Circus Acts in 30 minutes.

He's juggling her with his feet.

Then we walked over to the Marina Bay Sands mall and watched the light show:

They spray a wall of mist and then project video on the water wall.  I felt like I was at Disneyworld.  The performance is complete with music, lights, lasers, and shooting flames.

All in all, a great day out.  Made for a happy me!

Shiok Ahh!

Here in Singapore, occasionally Andy and I order McDelivery from McDonald's.  You order online and 30 minutes later, a guy on motorbike arrives with it at your front door.  As a result, I've been put on McDonald's mailing list.  I occasionally receive emails about the latest promotions and products.  One of the latest ads I have received is this one:

If you were wondering if it's even possible to verbalize that ad, I found out how when I saw this commercial:

Singaporeans use the word Shiok to express happiness or contentment.  You can equate it with the satisfying feeling when you fill a food craving.  So, when describing a particularly good meal, you might hear one say, "It was very shiok!"  It's a Malay word, but has now been adapted into the wonderful language of Singlish.  If you've not heard me mention, Singlish is the unofficial language used here in Singapore.  It's a ghetto English where you use bad grammar, throw in a few Malay words, abbreviate some words that shouldn't be abbreviated, and throw a "lah" at the end of every other sentence.

I'm slowly becoming more accustomed to the language, for the first few months, when speaking with locals, I constantly had to ask them to repeat themselves.  Now, I'm getting better, and I've learned, if I have to ask more than twice, I should just change modes and speak in Chinese - it's just easier.

Only in China...

...have people perfected the art of the Asian squat and use it anywhere and everywhere.  

You have to give them some credit.  I tried Asian squatting and could only last a few minutes before my legs started to fall asleep.  These guys probably sat like that for a good half hour or more.

...can you catch a ride in this Mr. Bean car:

...can you enjoy the convenience of allowing your kids to wear split pants:

...can you find this kind of Engrish:

Excuse me, can you tell me where the oilet is?

It's important to protect those precious railings!

Which strees is the restaurant on??

The spelling is almost right....but the spacing makes it look so funny

Only tow persons allowed on the lift up to the great wall.

I love going to the tfmpif and musfum! 

It's exciting to know what the ttiptop air temp for today is!

This sign was up on the great wall at Mutianyu.  I didn't realize they allowed safe driving up there.  And what exactly is civilized sightseeing?

???

My favorite: Better watch out, there's a strong wino force today!