Sunday Funday Filipino Maid Style





The maids quarters in the bomb
shelter

So here in Singapore Sunday's are looked at as a day of rest to spend time with the family and relax but for all the housekeepers or maids it's a day of cheap food and boozing until 10pm. Now I use the term "all" loosely due to the fact not all maids are given Sunday's off from the daily grind of cleaning, cooking, screaming young children and "headache services", but if they are given the day off, generally need to be back by 10pm because they are back on the clock. True story, "headache services" are services for the husband by the maid when the wife has a headache or not feeling well. The norm in Singapore is that maids typically live in the bomb shelter of each apartment. Yup, I said that right, "bomb shelter." The Singapore government mandated that any Singaporean home or apartment built post 1998 had to encompass a bomb shelter to thwart any terrorist attach that may occur in the country. The bomb shelter is a windowless, ventilated, reinforced-concrete room with a thick metal door and enough space to fit a twin bed. The rooms are also Wi-Fi capable so that if there is a terrorist attack you can be up to date on current events while being locked in the 4 X 4 room. And yes our new apartment has a bomb shelter which we will most likely use as storage but if Lauren gets her way a maid might be living in it.

So back to Sunday Funday, maids of all Asian nationalities get together along Orchard Road in different packs and create havoc for everyone enjoying their Sunday or they go to a local bar that opens around 8am for them and then create havoc. For those who go the bar it's quite comical to see as just about early afternoon hits when you typically finish brunch you see hundreds of female maids parading the street while some local male Singaporeans try to get lucky. Good for them as they are being opportunistic.

As for those who hang along Orchard Road they sit, stand or lay down wherever they please which for me being an impatient person drives me insane. Trying to walk is nearly impossible as they line dozens deep and long making it very difficult to pass. Lauren really loves it when I just pick a lane and continue on not really worrying who is in my line. It's almost like playing chicken with the oncoming group or person. Also the majority leave their trash where they conjugate which is a big no no here in Singapore, especially when you see people mopping the sidewalk daily.

Even though the maids on Sunday's drive me nuts with the smell of durian and awful music, I do see where they are coming from as it's their only day off from a long, miserable week of work. But come on clean up after yourselves and find a new place to hang out, like a park!

What is a Durian?



Durian fruit



MRT fines - durian will
cost S$500 for eating



So here in Southeast Asia there is this fruit called the durian which is regarded as the "king of fruits." The fruit has a hard, thorny outer shell with a soft inner flesh. I have never heard anything about it prior to coming to Singapore but people who the local people whom we have spoken with said that people from the west can't stand the fruit due to it's odor when opened. Well in my head I am saying to myself that it can't be to bad, comparing it to raw tuna or rotten onions both of which I can't stand the smell. Knowing that the smell must be bad, the MRT (Singapore's subway) has a sign prior to entering, stating no durian or there will be a fine of S$500 which is enforced. It is also a delicacy as they have week long durian festivals throughout the year and a single piece of fruit can cost up to S$25 which is similar to a melon in size. When the festivals occur the scent is so strong that you can smell the durian from a couple kilometers away. So Lor and I went for ice cream a couple days ago and saw that they had durian ice cream. Being adventurous I asked for a taste sample on the little wooden stick. Wow was that a bad decision, even though their was no odor the taste was awful. It tasted like a wet, sweaty sock being rung out after a long run on a damp, overcast spring morning. Now after tasting I told Lor that it wasn't bad and that I saved her a taste, not giving away my disgust for the fruit. She tried it as well and instantly had a gag reflex to the taste. Not even does it taste bad but the after taste just lingers. So now that I have tasted durian, I am safe to say that both Lor and I will not have it again in the near future. But if you are in the supermarket anytime soon and run into an odd looking fruit called a durian, buy it and give it a try.

Bintan, Indonesia

Arrival in Bintan, Indonesia

So our first trip within Asia was to an island in the Riau Archipelago of Indonesia named Bintan. Bintan, is the largest among the 3,200 islands of Riau Archipelago and is located 10 km east of the Batam Island and has a coast line of 105 km. Singapore, the closest major city, is a 45 minute trip by motorized catamaran across the South China Sea. Due to the events in Japan we were unsure if it was safe to take our journey but after some research and finding out that Japan is 5,313 km (3,302 miles) from Singapore, we decided to continue on with our trip.

Upon check in at the ferry both Lor and I forgot to bring our embarkation cards from when we arrived in Singapore. We needed these cards because we were headed to another country. Typically in the US if you forgot a passport or any document needed to travel they would tell you to get it and most likely would miss your trip, but here in Singapore our experience was quite different. After explaining our situation with the employment and dependent passes to customs they gladly brought us to a customs desk, similar to that of a NAFTA desk while entering Canada to work. The officer asked for our ferry time and passports and simply created a embarkation card for us which we were grateful because we were able to make our 8am ferry and not have to come all the way back to our apartment for our cards. Once on the ferry it was funny to see that on TV they were showing Tom & Jerry cartoons which was unexpected but nice to see. As everyone knows, Lor is not the greatest traveler in terms of transportation (all airplanes and some ferries, buses & trains depending on location). The ride was a little bumpy at times but nothing to be alarmed as it's common for a ferry to ride over waves and wake from other boats. When this happend Lor would look at me and ask, "is this OK, normal? this isn't the tsunami right?" This is very similar to her having a window seat on an airplane and seeing clouds 200 miles away and telling me that turbulence is soon going to be bad.

Lauren here picking up on Sam's Bintan post.  I am going to have to defend myself here as we were travelling in the South China Sea post one of the greatest disasters in Japan's history and amidst Tsunami warnings that included Indonesia, the country to which we were travelling.  The trip there was fairly smooth, however getting on the boat was an issue because the sea, which is usually very calm was tossing around our docked ferry we were about to board.  The trip home, which I'll get to later was another story.   

  

Yup 30 day visa for 1 night
-- good deal

Back to the trip!  Upon arrival in Bintan the crowd (which, by the way consisted of a combination of Chinese, Indian, Malay and expat families, and a group of 3 American girls who we think were studying abroad) all goes directly to the immigration station - Sam and I followed suit but were immediately pulled out of line by an Indonesian authority and told that we needed to buy a visa. Buy a visa?  We'd never heard of or done this before- so we were mildly confused, and then pissed off when we learned that this visa Sam and I needed to purchase cost S$80!  Unless you are a passport holder of one of the 11 exempt countries in Southeast Asia, you are required to purchase this passport (in cash) that is valid for 30 days.  Anyhow- we weren't expecting that one!  This was the beginning of the end of our affordable one night weekend getaway.  After purchasing the visa we were able to get on and through the immigration line, through security, onto our Bintan Lagoon shuttle bus and (after a 10 minute drive through a forested area) finally to our destination- Bintan Lagoon Resort. 

Dancing, singing and green
tea at check in

The resort seemed to spring to life as soon as we pulled in, the dancers which we saw were hanging out in the lobby of the hotel, immediately took their places and began dancing a local jig :o)  Once they finished dancing and handing out mint iced tea, our first impression of the hotel was that it was very pretty, but there weren't many people there beyond the group of us checking in.  The good news was that we had done all of this travelling and it was only 8;15am (Indonesia is an hour behind Singapore time).  We immediately dropped our stuff off in our room, changed into bathing suits and set out to explore the resort- we only were going to be there until 6pm the following evening and I obviously was desperate to get into the sun as quickly as possible. Once we were out and about I was immediately drawn towards what looked like a restaurant on the beach- we walked over and learned that it was in fact a restaurant on the beach, and even better they had really nice lounge chairs on their deck that had wait service!  Yes!  Sun, comfort, ocean, food and drinks all in one convenient location.  We did a quick check around to the pool just to make sure that we picked the best spot to settle down and then headed right back to the sand.  We asked if we were allowed to sit on the lounge chairs at the restaurant, we just assumed there would be a fee.  After getting the nod from a worker, we laid our towels down - for free! Sam passed out, and I tried to read Cutting for Stone on my Nook, then passed out 5 minutes later.  I woke up and was excited to see that I looked a little more bronzed then I did pre-nap, I decided to hold off on the sunscreen a bit longer.  Trying to kill time before ordering lunch, we decided to take a walk along the South China Sea.  In Bintan I was surprised how similar the sea looked to the Atlantic Ocean- lots of waves and a deep blue color.  Temperature wise, much different, the water was refreshing, but very warm.  Also of note was that you could only swim in an area about 60ft wide where the "lifeguard" was watching.  Rightfully so- I went in to check out the water and there was a pretty strong rip current going on.  That paired up with the fact that the tsunami warning for Indonesia had just been lifted a few hours earlier quelled any desire I had to go for a swim.  

Nut huggers and laying in the sand, Awful

The locals on the other hand had no problem with the 20+ red flags laid out on the beach and rough water- we were actually intrigued by all of the Chinese men who would take naps lying in the sand and letting the waves roll over them.  Sam was so disgusted he could barely watch, but everywhere we looked people seemed to be rolling around in the sand, in Speedo's none the less!  While we'd gone on our walk a volleyball game had really took off on the beach in front of our lounge chairs- was mostly Indian men, but one American, and another couple had joined in to play.  Also of note was that more and more people seemed to be coming out of the woodwork, the lounge chair area we had picked out was slowly filling up.  We ended up having the best seats in the house- we had the ocean, a volleyball game, crazy people lying in the sand (and of course a waiter to feed us drinks and food). 

Bintang beer, the local brew

Relishing in this, we decided to order a beer to try and suppress our appetites (it was lunchtime our time, 11:30am in Bintan).  It was through this decision that we discovered one of our favorite discoveries of the trip- Bintang Beer!  We are not sure why they call it Bintang instead of Bintan, but regardless, we really liked the beer and the giant frosted mugs it was served in.  After this I decided I might as well put on some sunblock, we were on the equator after all, so I lathered up myself and Sam's back which was destroyed from our visit to Sentosa.  Once we were both UV protected, we headed over to have some lunch at Pasir Panang Beach Club where Sam had a burger and Bintang, and I had a chicken sandwich, and the worst glass of white wine in the history of my drinking white wine (slight exaggeration, but it was terrible and irritatingly cost S$19). I should have stuck to the Bintang.  The rest of the afternoon was great - reminded me of the infamous afternoons at Manasquan or Sea Girt when the breeze picks up and the sun isn't as strong, perfect for napping and reading.  We had a couple more beers and stayed pretty late on the beach- at one point I even made Sam come to the beach with me to do some yoga moves.  He wasn't half bad, but was definitely embarrassed to be doing weird poses in front of everyone watching.  Around 6:30 we decided to go get ready for dinner, which we were going to have at the same place we'd been hanging out at all afternoon.  Why not have dinner on the ocean?  

After showering and getting ready (and realizing that I had a vicious uneven sunburn all over my body)  we went to a hookah / cigar bar for some Singapore Slings and Proseco.  Dinner ended up being very nice - food was very good but nothing spectacular.  We decided it was not worth spending the money on desert and opted to find ice cream somewhere.  After scouring the resort, we realized that we weren't going to find a brownie sundae anywhere and opted instead for rum raisin / cookies and cream gelato.  Then we headed back to rm. 3146. 

Next day/day of departure, I woke up before Sam and went to find coffee and make some phone calls to home.  Talked to my grandmother and father for a bit, then went to grab Sammy to tell him that my coffee was amazing and he should get some too.  Then we headed down for the breakfast buffet that the whole resort goes to in the morning.  It was truly an international breakfast buffet, with something for everyone.  There was fish soup, curry galore, chicken and rice, and of course an omelet station, some bacon, and strange looking pancakes for us Americans.  They also had watermelon juice with the orange juice which made my morning.  We spent a good hour + watching the different families interacting  - this was interesting bc there was such a mix of ethnicity's eating with us, so was cool to observe.  Our favorite was a Chinese family who had one overweight son and 2 daughters.  The son was LOVING his food and kept stocking up and raising his hand to ask his father if he could go get more food.  At one point he stole a bite of his sister's omelet and she turned around and yelled, "fat boy stole my food!"

Spiteful Bintang after Lor decided not to buy me one.
Boy was it a great beer

Post observing / eating breakfast, Sam made the executive decision to sit by the pool.  We hung there for the majority of the day, played some horse in the pool basketball court, napped, read, ordered chicken tikka /mango coolers for lunch.  Then later in the day decided to head back to the beach for a bit.  It was around 5pm and we had to leave soon to get changed for our ferry home, so I decided to order another Bintang.  Sam seemed to be having a healthy, not wanting to spend money day, so I assumed he wouldn't want one.  Hence the spiteful beer.  The second I sat down with my beer, he asked where his was, I told him I didn't get one for him bc I didn't think he'd want one.  Long story short, he got mad at me and I had to go back to the counter and order my husband a beer.  It has to be said that he only wanted a beer because I had one.  Post Bintangs, we got our bags from the front desk, showered at the gym, then headed for dinner at the Italian restaurant on site.  They opened 10 minutes early to accommodate us, then the rest of the people who were on our ferry started piling in to eat as well.  That brings me to our trip home...

 

The shuttle to the ferry port was fine, once we got there it a bit to hectic for me at 7:45pm on a Sunday night when I had work the next morning.  All we wanted to do was get onto the ferry.  Well, I would have been better off sleeping in Bintan at the ferry port because the boat home was a friggin nightmare.  Not only was the boat going through motions equivalent to what you may have seen in the movie The Perfect Storm, people were audibly reacting to the rockiness of the boat (local people mind you), and a small Indian boy to my right was getting sick- so needless to say I was not a happy camper on the hour long ride from Bintan to Sing. In addition to the conditions being awful, they chose to show a movie about wildlife that consisted of maggots eating a dead rat, and bats drinking blood- I swear to god.  The whole situation was just too much for me so I just stared at the screen as a focal point for the ride home (trying not to pay attention to what was on the screen) to avoid getting sea sick. Getting off the boat was a joke- there were workers literally holding onto ropes to keep the boat docked as it jerked up down back forth- you had to pray for your life then leap off the boat onto the dock below.  At the end of the day- I did survive the ferry ride home, and a tsunami did not capsize the ferry.  And Sam says I am paranoid, but even he said after disembarking that he felt somewhat ill.

The trip home from there was cake- I was first in line at the cab stand.  Our next trip we look forward to going through the part of the airport that is only reserved for Singaporeans, Permanent Residents, and Employment/Dependent Pass holders (we just got our passes yesterday!) instead of the "other line" for people not from here :o)

Sentosa - "Where the fun never ends"

So Lor and I ventured over to Sentosa on Saturday for some sun, sand and South China Sea. Sentosa Island is located just a 0.5km away from the southern coast of main island Singapore.The island has an area of 5 sq. km and is Singapore's fourth largest island (excluding the main island). Lastly it is the southernmost point of continental Asia. Yeah, at first I didn't believe it as well but after doing some research this fact was validated.

We were told that the Tanjong Beach Club was the place to be; great cabanas by the pool, excellent music, fun crowds. Our first impressions were not what we expected as we were comparing it to the beach clubs in St. Tropez, France (in particular Club 55) but we gave it a chance and enjoyed ourselves. Arriving at the beach club were told that the cabanas by the pool were all booked but after Lor's negotiation skills we were given one.

Truffle fries, burger and beer

Pros

- no charge for a cabana or chair

- no minimum for what you ordered

Cons

- overpriced drinks and food

- constant views of tankers and shipping vessels at sea 

- mediocre at best service

- MRT, tram and shuttle transportation to the resort / island

Undecided

- music selection which ranged from Mandarin top 20 to hokey remix techno

Something to consider that we can't hold against Sentosa is the inevitable, unavoidable, daily 3pm island thunderstorm that rolls through.

So for the time being it is a check the box location, but if we have a craving for truffle fries, local music and a bucket of Tiger beers (4 for $40) overlooking the South China Sea, Tanjong Beach Club and Sentosa Island is the spot.

Drink menu is larger than the food menu

 

Flight SQ21 you have arrived at your final destination, Singapore!



Post Xanax #1 and Champagne #2



So after 19 hours of flying in luxury we have arrived in Singapore. I was quite skeptical of Lauren and how she would handle the long flight due to her fear of flying, but the doses of Xanax and glasses of champagne helped her through. Never before traveling to Asia I didn't know what to expect from the people, food, weather but once in the airport any uncertainties I have had went away. At baggage claim we were greeted by a Singapore Airlines agent explaining to us and every passenger that our bags would be delayed a couple minutes because of a mechanical issue. At LGA you would just sit and wait without explanation cursing to yourself until the luggage came out.

Prior to arriving, people who have been to Singapore mentioned the weather and how hot and humid it was, but you take it with a grain of salt. When told about the weather I would try and compare it to places that I have been which are hot and humid like Florida. But when we exited the airport at 6:45am the humidity was something we were not expecting and/or have not experienced before. The drive from the airport to our corporate housing apartment was enjoyable. Our driver gave us a brief history of the country and tour the downtown area.

Good Ole Iced Coffee

Our apartment is in a great location right off of Orchard Road. Orchard Road is littered with malls, coffee shops, restaurants and designer stores. It is the 5th Avenue of Singapore but I will challenge anyone and say that it might be a step above. Lauren is in her glory and has already identified shoes and bags that she wants to buy. After touring Orchard Road for a while we came to find out that no store opens until 11am so we grabbed a local ice coffee and people watched for a bit. For everyone who knows Lauren, she loves to mangia so we ventured to the 'Hawker Center' in the Paragon Shopping Complex for our first meal of rice, dumplings and soup. Hawker Centers are equivalent to the food courts in the US but in Singapore the food is healthier, cheaper and greater variety. Also it's air conditioned and typically, everyone goes there for lunch.

After lunch, we continued our journey down Orchard Road and over to Clarkes Quay. Post excursion we ventured back to our apartment for a quick cat nap before dinner but that didn't happen, we ended up napping for 4 hours. Instead of going to dinner at 9:30pm we decided to go back to sleep and end our first day in Singapore. All in all it was a great first day!