Close Encounters

We took to the trails today and walked about 9 kilometers. Most nature trails are simply one stretch of the same type of land, but Singapore's trails offer a wide variety of sights, sounds and smells. We started off climbing a lot of stairs that eventually led a to a walk-way above the ground, giving visitors a new way of viewing the land and an easier trek. These overhead "canopy walks" gave us not just great close-up views of animal and plant life, but they also linked 3 or 4 different parks together across the city. There were several look out points and gardens along the way.
http://picasaweb.google.com/kateandadam09/HikingIn?feat=directlink



We were just bopping along the high, tree-top trail and then, whoa there was a Macaque. (I called him a baboon by accident in the video) I think he was hoping for a treat from us.

Apparently the macaques are quite common in Singapore: http://www.wildsingapore.com/places/monkey.htm

East Coast Seafood Centre

As you may have guessed, we love Singapore's food. It is arguably the best food city in the world, and we are on a mission of culinary exploration! On Saturday night, we went to one of my favorite places in the city, East Coast Food Centre.

Located along the South East coast of Singapore, this centre boasts an array of 7 of Singapore's best seafood restaurants all clumped together in an open, sea-side location. With waves gently lapping the shore, and hundreds of open-air tables under the equatorial stars, we enjoyed a great meal at "No Signboard Seafood."

The restaurant started as a small hawker stand that perfected the recipie of the White Pepper Crab, and customers came to know and love it as the seafood restaurant with no signboard. While that has changed, the name stuck, but they range all over Asia, and the Pepper Crab is certainly fantastic. We also ordered some pan-seared, dry chili scallops which were pretty much to-die-for...

Chinatown

We took our first trip to Chinatown last night to grab some food and get a lay of the land before we head back this weekend for the lunar new year celebrations. It was already crazy and packed! It would be easy to get lost in the maze of food and product vendors lining the narrow streets. Fresh fruit, red decorations and some jelly things were the most popular items for sale. I loved being able to buy a coconut that they crack on the spot and give you a straw.




Adam decided to get chicken's feet. Call me unadventurous but that is one dish I won't be trying.

Workin...

So this posting probably is not as fun as the rest, but I thought it was noteworthy. This week has been more of a standard International work week. I have a customer here in Singapore who I have been helping develop a prototype with our software. This meant that I was going to their facility a few times a week and teaching them how to write code with our stuff so they could customize it to their needs. It is pretty cool, and they are sharp, but it was a lot of effort in a short time. Getting help from the US also meant some late nights...

As chance goes, this week also overlapped with a conference at which I had to present a paper. I gave a presentation on how to add "Geodynamic" mission planning to standard mapping applications. This was mostly explaining how moving things like planes and satellites that change over time need to be taken account in planning surveillance missions and things. You can predict which sensors could cover which part and make sure your plan didn't miss any areas and make sure two aircraft aren't in the same spot at the same time.

I feel bad because I haven't been home much and I've had to pull some late hours, but Kate has been busy looking for jobs, looking for accessories for our new apartment, and taking care of all sorts of things around the apartment. We're getting closer to signing on our permanent place, so we're really excited to get moved in. It should be Feb 1.

I hope everyone is doin well out there. Gong Xi Fa Cia (Have a happy and prosperuos new year!)
Chinese New Year's Eve is this sunday... More about that this weekend!!

Singapore Zoo

The Singapore Zoo was everything I wanted it to be and more. Located at the northern most region of the island it took about 45 minutes of public transportation to get to one of the most popular destinations in Singapore. Forty-five minutes is an eternity in Singapore time. It's funny how quickly you get used to having everything located so closely regardless of your location in the city.

I was especially excited about the zoo because they have free-ranging Orangutans. A series of ropes and trees in a large area allow them to roam from tree to tree, right above your head. There was even an adorable baby. All of the animals had very nice enclosures and feeding times were posted near each animal so you knew when to catch the action.

http://picasaweb.google.com/kateandadam09/SingaporeZoo?feat=directlink
The expertly designed landscape makes it feels like you are on a nature walk and just happen to run across a lion or some zebras. The foliage is just as enjoyable as the animals. After watching an elephant show we got to feed the Asian elephants! Loved it!

Sentosa Island

Yesterday we explored Sentosa, a small island south of Singapore. It's basically a bunch of resorts and a few attractions. This also where they are building a huge integrated hotel.


The ads for Sentosa featuring people surfing but there is no way you could ever surf here. As Singapore is surrounded by other countries, there are little to no waves and the beaches are more like lagoons - ideal for relaxing and easy swimming. It was a bit overcast and we just walked around but we'll have to take a picnic and spend a day at the beach soon. We did see some cute little tropical fish.

We took a big rope bridge across a lagoon to the Southernmost point in Asia.

http://picasaweb.google.com/kateandadam09/SingaporeJanuary11?feat=directlink

Weekend Adventures

So this is our first weekend in Singapore. Friday and Saturday were both spent looking at apartments. We've found some great places in high-rises and big complexes, but the biggest problem is finding a place without construction outside. This place is growing like crazy. Hopefully we'll settle on something soon.

Feriday night we went to a riverside bar and restaraunt area called Clarke Quay (pronounced Key for those of us not familiar with the Queen's English) and had dinner at a great persian restaraunt and then stopped into a great Blues bar called Crazy Elephant.

After Saturday's round of apartment hunting and a quick trip to the gym, we went out and had a special chinese dish for dinner, Xiao Long Bao (Soup buns). This is one of my favorite dishes, and these were awesome. These are very thin (the thinner the better) dumplings filled with pork and soup. You have to be careful the soup doesn't spill everywhere.


Anyway, time to hit the hay. We're off to the beach tomorrow.

Attack of the Chili Crab

This city is a foodies paradise - a great place for food lovers like us. While I'm probably not going to try things like shark head (Adam's all for it), there are still plenty of new dishes to discover. One of the best known dishes is chili crab - my favorite so far! It's an entire crab smothered in chili sauce and Singaporeans love their chili sauce. We went to one of the many food centers, Newton Circus, and enjoyed this dish.

Let's just say I fought the crab and the crab won.

By the time we were done I had sauce on my dress and my fingers were covered.

We walked down t0 the marina and through the Esplanade - a giant arts center. This venue is not only full of many theaters but restaurants and shops also occupy the building. The view from the roof terrace was at night was relaxing - minus the construction of the new hotel/casino.

http://picasaweb.google.com/kateandadam09/SingaporeJanuary82009?feat=directlink

We going to start apartment hunting tomorrow and Saturday! I'm excited to start seeing the options!

Grocery Store

We ventured out to the area around the hotel yesterday. We are staying near Orchard Road - shopping central - where most tourists come (making prices higher in this area). It is giant building after giant building full of shops. I have no idea how all of them stay in business but there were plenty of people walking around. Singapore is sure a growing city. There is lots of construction and some really cool architecture.

I've got a lot to learn about the cuisine around here! Quite frankly, most of it still looks the same to me. There are lots of noodle dishes and meats/seafood but Starbucks and McDonald's are on almost every corner. I even managed to find a Gloria Jean’s coffee! We also made a trip to the grocery store for the first time. Surprisingly, a lot of the produce was from the US!

http://picasaweb.google.com/kateandadam09/SingaporeJanuary72008?feat=directlink

We Have Arrived!

After 26 hours of travel we made it! And by some miracle, so did our bags. We left Sunday morning 9 am Central US time and got to our hotel at 2:30 am Singapore time. Now that it's behind us, I can say the flights weren't too bad. After a short flight to Chicago, our second and longest leg (13 hrs to Tokyo) was during the day by our internal clocks and we kept ourselves busy watching movies and TV shows. After walking around the Tokyo airport, and enjoying their mutual love of Hello Kitty, we jumped onto the flight to Singapore. It was pretty empty and we had a row of three seats to ourselves. After a quick meal both of us passed out for the remainder of the 7.5 hr flight.

By the time we got to the hotel, the Pan Pacific, we were both wide awake again and it was hard to get to sleep with so many new things to think about exploring. Here's a link to pictures of our hotel room for the first month while we apartment hunt. The bathroom has a glass wall looking into the bedroom. So much for any privacy, haa haa.

http://picasaweb.google.com/kateandadam09/SingaporeJanuary52008?feat=directlink

From what I've seen so far (the view from our hotel window) I'd say Singapore is like Chicago or New York with palm trees and lots of humidity! We're off to lunch with one of Adam's business partners.