Singapore: Continued

Tuesday, 27 August 2013

Some more pictures

Buying durian, an extremely pungent (and also extremely tasty, in my opinion) fruit that is popular here.

Ramen. I think the meat on the left is pork cheek - a delicacy.

This is actually birds nest soup. Yes, you read that correctly. Very very expensive (Jozette's mum was kind enough to make some for us) and has quite a sweet taste. More info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edible_bird's_nest

As August is the seventh month in the Chinese calendar, there are lots of rituals involved. Burning of incense, leaving an offering to the gods, and so on. This man is planting some incense candles.

Quite proud of making this myself. Spaghetti with chicken breast in white wine and mushroom sauce. Really hearty and delicious - I've had quite a few opportunities to brush up on my cooking skills out here!

Playing mahjong. In short, the objective is to match or sequence tiles to get rid of your hand and score points.

More to come later, as I don't have my camera on me at the moment!

An update

Just an update, as it has been quite a while since I posted here.

I'm still in Singapore and still looking for a job. I have sent off a lot of applications and had a few interviews but unfortunately nothing has come up yet. It has been a bit more difficult than I expected to find something but I'm trying to keep my spirits up.

In the meanwhile I have just been looking down different avenues to find work, and have scheduled a meet up with some expats to talk to them and see if they know of anything. I'm enjoying everything out here but it is a bit stressful not having a job.

We recently went to Johor Bahru, which is in Malaysia, just across the causeway. It was really really hot (Singapore is too, but you can at least escape it easier) and quite dirty. Despite this, we enjoyed trying lots of different types of food and doing quite a bit of shopping. When food is about 50p a plate and clothes start at £2-3, it's easy to go overboard. Lots of Singaporeans come here for shopping, and although the crime rate is quite high, we were very cautious and stayed within the central areas. A really cheap, fun day out.

I recently learnt how to play Mahjong as well, and have been playing that at home with the kids. Very strategic and you have to pay a lot of attention to what is going on, but it is great fun. I thought it would be really difficult to pick up but it only took a few games.

I also went to the gym for the first time in a while yesterday, one of the Crossfit gyms here. It was really good fun to throw some weights around for a bit, although I can't really afford to sign up for a membership until I secure a job here and get a steady income. Playing basketball downstairs and occasionally going to the free outdoor gym seems to be keeping me in okay shape though.

Not a lot more to say really, I'm giving it a few more weeks of looking for things here, and then I might have to set my sights elsewhere. I'm not quite sure yet.

Will add some pictures shortly!

Monday, 15 July 2013

A taste of Singapore

The problem with taking pictures of food in Singapore is that it always looks so tasty that I forget to take pictures as I'm in a hurry to eat it. Here's a couple of pictures that I managed to take though!

Click to expand.

Sambal stingray

Chicken wings + spicy sauce

Chicken/Beef satays with peanut sauce

Pork noodle soup - really really tasty

At the apartment: fish, prawn curry, soup and veg.

Another shot

Ramen in a very thick soup

What eating out looks like.

Seafood omelette, champagne ribs. In the background is beef + veg

Champagne ribs - delicious!

Wednesday, 10 July 2013

Just a few pictures of where we're staying...

Click to expand.

Living room

Porch/Entrance

Looking outside

Dining area. Children's bedroom and kitchen in background.

Kitchen. There is a bathroom at the back

Another view of kitchen

Outdoor area - play area, exercise machines etc

Basketball court

One of the many little restaurants just outside - in case you haven't guessed already, this one sells Indonesian food!

Our room, with the master bedroom in the background.

Tuesday, 9 July 2013

A year (and a bit) later...

Since visiting Singapore last May (and updating this blog frequently while I was out there), I've finally found myself back in Singapore; this time with the intention of working out here. At the time of this post, I am still on a 3-month tourist visa but hoping to secure work in a school in the near future.

It is my third time in Singapore, and I intend to update this blog fairly frequently so that everyone at home in the UK or anyone else interested can keep up to date with what I'm doing. Expect lots of writing, pictures, and the like!

I am staying in Tampines again, on the East coast of Singapore. I'm sharing a room with Jozette, my girlfriend, and we are living with her cousin's family of four in a pretty big apartment. With plenty of shops, hawker centres (food courts) and amenities nearby, we are in a really good location with easy travel into the main town centre.

At the moment I'm currently adjusting to the change in lifestyle: rice with every meal, 30+ degree temperatures and thunderstorms that sound just as scary as they actually are to name a few. However, I'm enjoying every minute of it!

Pictures to follow in the next day or two!

Thursday, 24 May 2012

Homeward bound

Update: Safely home, more pictures and stories to follow in the next few days! I hope you've enjoyed reading my blog while I was out there.

After just under 4 weeks in Singapore, I'm now sitting in the departure lounge of Changi Airport, waiting to board my flight back to the UK. Not really looking to 13 hours cooped up in a plane to be honest, but there's no other way about it.

Reflecting back on my experience, the time has gone so quickly and I am very sad to be leaving this country - I will definitely be back in the future! When I get home I will continue to update my blog with more and more pictures because I have hundreds to sort through and just haven't had the time to upload them while out here.

I think next to the people out here, some of whom I would now consider good friends, the food will also be sorely missed. Hawker centres here have so much variety that there really is a dish for every taste. Maybe I'll have to get out the cooking equipment and try to recreate some of the famous dishes over here, although I'm not sure how my mum would react to seeing a live crab in the sink!

I had a lovely last day with a friend out here - we visited an island in the north of Singapore (Pulua Ubin) and saw some wildlife (wild boars!) and had a nice walk along the coast and through the forest-y path back to the landing jetty. After stopping for some food - I had seafood rice - we took a taxi to the zoo and managed to see a lot of it in a few hours. Lots of pictures of animals to come; some that I'd not seen before such as kangaroos and white tigers could be found there. Here's just a sample:

It's a hard life being a zookeeper...

After dinner, we just relaxed in the cool evening air and munched on some (smelly, but quite pleasant tasting) durian fruit before saying goodbyes. It's going to be a bit difficult to get used to 'normal' UK life after this experience!