Food, Food and culture

I decided to stay for a few weeks in Singapore and not travel in a n attempt to relax, and Singapore. Thankfully it somehow, it turned into a jam packed, culture filled, and exhausting weekend.  Since this was really my first weekend enjoying Singapore (the first weekend was spent finding an apartment and the following two, spent traveling), I really wanted to check out some of the more touristy places. Unfortunately, we are currently in one of the two monsoon seasons, and is hasn’t stopped raining in three days.  Which is fairly depressing, and making me rethink my idea that Seattle could be good place to work after I graduate. So I spent the first part of the week attending classes (yes, I do have to go here to pass), with the second half reserved for catching up on sleep and kicking this cough. The bad news is, I still haven’t really slept, the good news, I love Singapore more everyday I’m here. I was invited out Friday to one of my classmates Birthday BBQ’s. It happened to be a Korean BBQ which was my first and I really hope it’s not my last. Food was excellent and the people and location were even better. Coincidently, my roommate’s birthday was the same day and I was invited out with her and her friends to celebrate out in Far East Plaza, a more business night life area.  A great time with new friends!

On Saturday night, the MBA students here organized a Chinese New Years Party for all the Graduate students, which was an absolute blast. They even had a dancing dragon! Sunday was by far the best day. I applied for a host family here in Singapore, and they invited me to lunch at their house. It is a Singaporean family with Malay and Indonesian decent, so the food was AMAZING. Of course the most difficult task was what to bring with me. I was told that if they are Muslim then the food has to be Halal, which I didn’t know, and had no idea if they were. Thankfully, there is a great florist near me, which solved my food issue and proved to be the best option, since 1) they are in fact Muslim and 2) the mom loves flowers.  Back to the food: the dish was similar to chicken soup, but we added noodles, fried onions, chives, and some potatoes thing to. They also bought typical Malaysian dessert for me to try, which I actually ate with my hands (typical Malay style). It was such a great time to understand more about the Singapore culture, and they are such wonderful hosts. They also have 4 children, and the oldest is a 20 year old girl, who has offered to take me all around Singapore and introduce me to her friends, and of course take me to the best shopping places.  I was then invited by two classmates, to a dinner at a Korean Restaurant, and of course that was amazing too.

Oh and If I haven’t made it clear before, I LOVE THE FOOD HERE!

Chinese New Year’s is coming up next week, and I’m told it’s supposed to be incredible here in S’pore, so I’m really looking forward to braving the crowd this week and hanging out in China Town to see what it’s all about!