Sights of Singapore

 What started as a gloomy, rainy first day in Singapore seemed the opportune time to visit the Asian Civilizations Museum. The museum walks through the local history and folklore of Singapore and its waters, as well as other civilizations' influence on the region throughout time. For the size and location of this building compared to other museums, it has been done extremely well. It's divided into five main galleries with subdivisions, has hands-on activities for young visitors, and creates the atmosphere of actually being in the culture whose artifacts are displayed.

 

The museum is situated right on the river. When we had seen everything there was to see inside (Anyone who knows Chris would understand this), we took a look at the surroundings.

 

Heading north to the heart of the city is the Raffles Hotel. This is a luxury hotel that started its famous tenure as a 10-room bungalow in 1887. Over decades and through wars, the Raffles has been changed, updated, and remodeled. At $550USD a night or more, it is a far cry from what it once was. It's also the birthplace of the Singapore Sling.

From the Mer-lion (above) to the Marina Bay Sands Hotel (below), Singapore is full of unique things.

We went to one of the hang-out areas on the riverside and ate at a Mexican place called Cafe Iguana. It really had the best food and drinks I've had in a long time!

It had an awesome view at night, too.

Cuisine of Southeast Asia

Let's face it; I'm really bad at blogging about our trips. I'm going to try a new approach to writing about them, so let's see how it goes. The first of a few about our recent trip to Malaysia, Singapore, and the Island of Bintan will concern something that Chris and I are both passionate about: food. Nothing can tell you more about a culture than the types of food a person can eat. For example, here are some questions we ask about food.

1. Is it halal? ("Halal" is a term used for anything that is lawful in Islam. Pertaining to food, it mostly refers to the process of how animals are killed for meat, "dhabiha," or what has touched the food. The opposite of "halal" is "haram." Pork products, alcohol, and carnivorous animals are definitely "haram.") In our recent travels, most of our food was "halal" because Malaysia and Indonesia are Muslim countries. Singapore's Muslim population is about 15%. Everything in Kuwait must be halal-certified, especially if it's imported.

2. Is it local? Has it been grown/prepared/produced/raised/killed in this region and is it used in traditional foods? We don't always ask this question because it's often very obvious. In Malaysia, they use a lot of tapioca, which is a starch from the cassava plant. It made its way from South America all the way to Southeast Asia via the Spanish and Portuguese colonial periods. We ate slices of cassava fried like chips, and sweet treats that were made of tapioca flour and coconut steamed together inside hollowed bamboo shell.

3. Is it fresh? In third-world countries, freshness is everything. Especially in humid, hot weather countries, it is highly undesirable to eat food that has been sitting out all day. An opposing argument could be that some foods are most desirable after being cured for weeks, or that there is a risk of food-borne illness from eating fresh fruits and vegetables. I usually have only three strict rules to eating in other countries: no peels/rinds, no drinking tap water, or I see someone else eating it and s/he hasn't dropped dead. They're simple rules, really. On our visit, we enjoyed piping hot Singaporean noodles, super fresh sushi, and a buffet of tropical fruits prepared in snacks and drinks.