Chinatown and Bermese food

I had a slow morning, getting up at 9 and relaxing in the apartment until about noon. I took time to call my mom and David, enjoyed talking to them both.  I also attempted to begin planning the month of January. I think I will need to go to the Vietnamese Embassy and get a visa-I have decided that is a place I’d really like to go. Perhaps I will do that tomorrow if I can get up and around earlier.

About noon I headed out for Chinatown. I walked up and down the streets, which were full of vendors pedaling various trinkets, t-shirts, and Chinese odds and ends. The streets were somewhat colonial in appearance, with a mix of Chinese here and there. I did stop in a temple for sometime, read a bit about the different levels of hell as seem by Buddhists, yet thought it odd that the temple basement was a retail parking garage. That is Singapore for you.

I ate some interesting food today. In Chinatown I had some sort of Paliah roll, essentially some sort of spring roll, it was very tasty. I also had sugar cane juice, and then some sort of almond paste dessert, with was served hot. It was alright. For dinner I met up with my Dad and his co-workers, a bunch of lively young adults, like myself. We all went and ate at a Burmese restaurant, as one of the girls is from Myanmar. The food was quite good, a bit more spicy than I expected. I tried roasted tea leaf rice and chicken with bird’s nest drink-interesting… It was pretty good- the drink, eh not so much.

This evening I met up with one of the guys I met at the pool who lives in the building. He is from South Africa and is working here. He is quite nice and interesting. He grew up on a sugar cane farm, speaking German.  We talked a lot about our impressions of Singapore, and about our own countries, experiences at University, etc. It was a nice chat over a decent beer.

Now I am exhausted and about ready to turn in for the night.  I hope to wake up early tomorrow and make it to the Vietnamese Embassy-then perhaps a bit of shopping and yoga tomorrow night.

I have been trying to post pictures but due to the slow connection have not really succeeded. Bare with me.