Bangkok Food Tours

Derek and I are making sure we take our families to some place other than Singapore when they come to visit and we chose to take Derek's parents to Bangkok.  We visited Bangkok on our own last November but had still had so many things we wanted to do.  One of them was the Bangkok Food Tour.  We really wanted to get adventurous and learn more about Thai cuisine and this was the perfect way to do it.

Our tour was centered around the Bangrak along the Chao Phraya River.  We wandered the streets and crossed the river twice to try some amazing Thai food.

Our first stop was a roasted duck rice (Kao-Nha-Ped) stall.  This was all there was to the food here.  Definitely a whole in the wall kind of place we would have never ventured on our own.

While we are accustomed to duck and chicken rice in Singapore we usually don't get tasty thai chili sauce on top.  

While walking to our next dish, we stopped and picked up some thai sausages from a street vendor.  They were excellent!  Pork sausage with glass noodles, lemongrass, and a sweet chili sauce.

Fluffy Catfish (Yam Pla Duk Fu) with green mango salad.  I know it sounds weird but it was so delicious.  It is dried catfish that has been fried into this sponge looking thing.  It was spicy, sweet, fried goodness.  We liked it so much we ordered it again the next day.
At this stop we also tried some papaya salad (Som Tam)

Boats for crossing the Chao Phraya River.

A white temple that we passed on a backstreet.  Most of the temples are brightly colored or golden so it was different to see a white one.

More tasty treats from a street vendor.  Fried yam, bananas, and taro. 

A small Muslim restaurant in Bangrak known for their curry with egg.

So what is Derek eating?  Just ox brain.  He was the only one of us brave enough to try it.  Not even our local guide would eat it.  

For whatever reason I failed to take any decent photographs at our last two stops.  Probably because we were already full and could barely eat anymore food.  We were determined to try everything so we continued to eat green custard buns, steamed pork buns, green curry chicken, and coconut ice cream.
After walking and eating all morning we were ready to relax with a massage so we headed over to Healthland.  Janet and I decided to try the traditional Thai massage.  This being our first Thai massage, we weren't sure what to expect.  For two hours we were destroyed by these tiny, strong, Thai ladies.  Never have I been raked over a therapists knees and hoisted into the air on her legs.  Despite the thorough beating we were refreshed and felt even better the next day.  Totally worth the $15USD!  Food and massages made for a great first day!

Shopping, Tea, and Singapore by Night

Derek's parents recently made the trip to the other side of the world to spend a couple weeks with us.  Because we planned a trip to Bangkok in the middle of their stay, we did not have a lot of time but we certainly made the most of it.

You can't come to Singapore and not do a little shopping so we spent the first day wandering around Orchard and Chinatown.  When we couldn't shop anymore we headed over to Boat Quay to have dinner at a fantastic Indian restaurant overlooking the river.  We watched the sunset before making our way over to Marina Bay to watch the light show and see the Merlion.  I was excited to try out my new lens with some night shots!

Ion on Orchard before the crowds show up

Shopping in Chinatown

Enjoying dinner at Boat Quay

Boat Quay by night

Marina Bay Wonder Full show

This view never gets old

 On Sunday we enjoyed high tea at Shangri-La.  For two hours you get to enjoy one of TWG's 160+ teas and a delicious buffet.  We had big plans for the day but of course the weather had other plans. We relaxed before having a smorgasbord of meat at Level 33.

Just some of the teas to choose from

Beautiful desserts and delectable tea

Wally and Janet enjoying their tea

We love high tea!

Our view from Level 33

The rest of their time in Singapore was pretty low key except for the night we went to get drinks on the top of Marina Bay Sands and then to the Raffles Hotel to enjoy the original Singapore Slings.

Should you wish to make your own Singapore Sling, Raffles Hotel provided the recipe:

Singapore Sling

• 15 mL Heering Cherry Liqueur
• 120 mL Pineapple Juice
• 15 mL Lime Juice
• 7.5 mL Dom Benedictine
• 10 mL Grenadine
• A dash of Angostura Bitters
• Garnish with a slice of pineapple and cherry

It was a great visit with Janet and Wally and we hope they come back again to see us soon!  More to come on our trip to Bangkok!

My Addiction: Teh Peng

I was introduced to teh peng when I first arrived in Singapore and have been hooked ever since.  'Teh' is the Hokkien word for 'tea' and 'peng' means 'iced'.  You may be wondering "what is the big deal since it is just 'iced tea'"?  This is no southern sweet iced tea, it is iced milk tea or teh tarik which means 'pulled tea'.  They brew this strong tea and then pull/pour it by making a long stream that allows the tea to cool and creates a frothy top.  The tea is a bit sweet as they mix it with sweetened condensed milk (or you can ask for it to be 'siu-dai' which means 'less sweet') and some places add a little regular milk to add to the creaminess.  No lunch is complete without a trip to the Kopitiam or Toast Box to pick up a glass.

Brewing my teh peng

I am able to confidently go up to the counter and order my 'teh peng' in perfect Hokkien although I don't even have to do that anymore as they already know what the blond girl is coming to order.  Before I can say anything, they ask "teh peng?" and I just nod my head and wait for them to brew me a cup.  I much prefer my <$2.00 teh peng to the $5.70 iced chai tea latte from Starbucks.  I think it is time to go get some teh peng!

At the hawker center it comes in a bag

Perfect, creamy, sweet, teh peng

Zonkout!

The Recreation Club from our company was throwing an event called Zonkout and when a few coworkers decided to attend we thought we would join them.  The event promised food, free flow drinks (open bar as Americans would say), and lots of fun and games.  The theme was Masquerade so we were given some nice masks when we walked in although we only put them on for a minute.

The food was terrible but everything is better with free flow drinks.  About an hour in they started the program off with a best dressed competition and then games which included modifications of hot potato, musical chairs, and scavenger hunts.  Some winners received gift cards while other winners and losers were required to take a shot or chug a glass of beer.


A few months ago I wrote about how many Singaporeans do not drink and at a party are likely to prefer juice boxes.  Well, this was not the case at Zonkout.  This was by far the drunkest we have seen any Singaporeans get since we arrived.  With free flow drinks, they were consuming tequila shots faster than they could wash the shot glasses.

Sonia and I had to do the traditional Asian photo pose.  We had a hilarious conversation
with coworkers about picture taking prior to the event so we took this one for them.

Beginning of Zonkout at the Butter Factory whose slogan is "Get Buttered, Tonight".  I can't make this stuff up.

Alok, me, Luke, Derek, and Sonia.  Apologies for the terrible photo quality.

Had to get a fun group pose

The event ended early in the night as the club needed to open up to paying customers.  After having a few drinks and little food, we were on the hunt for some great post-bar food.  Normally we would go to Waffle House, Zaxby's, or some other equally greasy and tasty establishment but in Singapore the selection is small so we landed on Hooters.  It was just what we needed! Oh, how we have missed buffalo wings!  It was another unique experience that we thoroughly enjoyed.  It was great to hang out with some friends and meet a few new people!

Our First Visitor

Last weekend we had the pleasure of hosting our first official visitor.  We have had friends come on business so they stayed at hotels but this was the first person to use the guest room.  My friend, Ben, came to visit  for two nights on his way to Japan for his R&R break.  Ben and I worked together a couple years ago in Baton Rouge and have kept in touch ever since.  Around the time we moved to Singapore, Ben moved to Saudi Arabia.  Needless to say, we both had lots of stories to share about our experiences living abroad and it was great catching up.

Living and working in Saudi Arabia is drastically different from Singapore.  Ben lives in a compound in the desert that is protected by a high fence and guards.  He works six days a week, twelve hours a day for six weeks and then gets two weeks off for R&R.  It only rains a couple times a year and is even hotter than Singapore.  Alcohol is illegal, although many try their hand at home brewing and wine making, and women have to cover themselves whenever they leave the compound.  If you want to read more about life in Saudi Arabia you can check out Ben's blog and my favorite post of his about attending a Saudi wedding.

This was Ben's first trip to Singapore and with only one night to entertainment and show him the best sights so we decided on dinner at Jumbo.  Jumbo is known for its chili crab which is popular dish here and a must have if you come to visit.

Wearing our Jumbo bibs so we don't cover our clothing with chili crab

After dinner we headed down to Marina Bay to show him our favorite night time view in Singapore, the Marina Bay Sands and the Merlion.

This was actually the first time we have been able to watch the light show. 

Merlion!

It was great to see Ben and hopefully he will get the opportunity to move to Singapore when he finishes his project in Saudi.  We are really looking forward to more visitors in the coming months!

World's Largest Aquarium

The S.E.A. Aquarium opened a few months ago on Sentosa and was named the largest aquarium in the world.  With 12 million gallons of water, 100,000 marine animals of 800 species it certainly had a lot to see.  Neither Derek or I had been to a sizable aquarium in many years so we were excited to go see what the world's largest had to offer.

I unknowingly purchased priority line tickets a few days before which proved to be a blessing.  The wait to buy tickets was at least half an hour and then the line to enter the aquarium was at least another hour.  Derek and I breezed right to the front and entered the ridiculously crowded aquarium.

There is a little film about a shipwreck and when exiting the film there is the shipwreck turned reef

Walking through one of the tunnels

The aquariums had some of the most colorful fish and coral I have ever seen

So many tiny fish and different coral

Working on my photography composition.  This nautilus was kind enough to pose for me.

Jellyfish 

The second world record this aquarium holds is the largest viewing panel.  I was only able to capture part of the 118' by 27' window into the "Open Ocean".  Notice the windows on the backside of the tank.  Those are hotel room windows.  Would be quite a memorable place to stay!

Of course another record.  The largest collection of manta rays and here come two of them.

So many fish in this gigantic tank

Found this guy hiding behind beautiful coral

Several Dorys but no Nemos

The shark tunnel.  Lots and lots of man eaters.

Even though it was crowded, we enjoyed seeing some of the oceans finest creatures.  Singapore always tries to have the biggest and the best!

Surviving Life as an Expat

Being an expat is much easier than it used to be.  I have worked with many people that went on assignments 20 years ago and had a much different experience.  Expensive phone calls home, no English speaking television, wiring money, and a feeling of disconnect from family and friends.  If you have ever wondered how to get by when living half way across the world, I will share what we do.

Communication
Facetime and iMessage are a must.  Just today I was exchanging text messages with my entire family, who also has iPhones, and it didn't cost me or them a dime.  Derek uses GrooveIP since he doesn't have an iPhone and we use that along with Skype to make calls to non-iPhones.  Of course we have email, Facebook, and Google+ messenger to make sure we never miss a thing.  Besides the twelve hour time difference, it is like we never left.  We are able to maintain as much contact with friends and family as we did when we lived in Houston.

Television
Over a year ago we got rid of cable TV and began watching all of our shows on Hulu, Netflix, and AmazonPrime.  With the use of a VPN service, we are able to continue watching all of our favorite shows while overseas.  To watch Clemson football games, we are able to either watch games on ESPN3.com or stream them from my parents Slingbox.

Banking
We have a local draw amount that goes directly to a bank account we opened here in Singapore.  The remainder of our pay goes back to our US bank accounts.  We are able to withdraw cash here and use our local debit card but for the most part we use our Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card.  We got this card in the US before we left because it has no international exchange rate fees.  Absolutely love this card!

Electronics
We decided not to buy new expensive electronics and brought our TVs, KitchenAid mixer, food processor, and anything that was dual voltage with us.  For the TVs and appliances we use large 750 and 1000 watt transformers.  The smaller electronics we had to purchase here.  I wasn't going to buy an expensive transformer to use a hairdryer.

Food
We are able to get much of the same food we could get back in the States.  The price is typically much more but we can still find it somewhere.  With the large number of expats in Singapore, there are many grocery stores that cater to us with products we are accustomed to.  There are also many American food chains like McDonalds, KFC, Chili's, Outback, Baja Fresh, Mortons, Popeyes, Church's, Burger King, Wendy's, and Subway.  Most of those we wouldn't have visited before but after so many plates of chicken rice and bowls of fish soup, that KFC fried chicken sounds like a gourmet meal.  We both eat lunch with our coworkers in local food courts so that is where we get our Asian food fill.  At home we cook our normal dishes and when Derek and I go out we like to get Indian, Thai, Vietnamese, Sushi, Mexican, and American/British/Australian/non-Asian cuisine.

Health Care
We have an international health plan and we are able to go to any licensed physician, dentist, or optician.  We pay everything out of pocket and then submit receipts to the insurance company for reimbursement.

Getting Home
Home is no longer a 2 hour flight but is now a 24 hour flight.  It is a long trip and involves at least one stop.  Because Singapore really is on the other side of the world, flights can go in both directions.  We have flown a few times back and it has taken as little as 22 hours and as much as 28 hours to get to our destination.  You watch a lot of movies, sleep, read, and basically write off a day of your life.  Going to the US, you land the same day you leave and when going from the US back to Singapore you land two days after you left.

The world really does feel smaller with the advancements in technology.  I'm only reminded that I live so far away (ignoring cultural differences) when I get a text at 2am or sit on a plane for 24 hours.  It is hard when we want to be with our family for an event or attend a friends wedding which we could easily once do.  Now the trip takes many days, ten times the money, and a severe case of jet lag.  Still, we are thankful everyday we got this amazing opportunity.