Here are a few of the things that surprised us about Bangkok: Many of the cabs are hot pink in color; it’s a bit like Barbie’s dream-taxi! It turns out that (a) they are also hot pink on the inside and (b) the color represents what taxi company the driver works for. So, there are also yellow,…
Of the Thai islands and beaches, this was our favorite (so far). We were here for three days. Temple between Paradise Waterfall and Slip ‘N Fly: This temple looked interesting from the road, so we stopped in. It had some fun features, like a ‘No Sex’ sign on a tree, and an open square-like area with…
Neighborhood: Sukhumvit Also Called: Nana Pros: There are always people out, so it feels quite safe. There are both a regular subway (MRT) stop and Skytrain (BTS) stops nearby, making transit easier. (That said, neither of those goes everywhere you’d want to go as a tourist.) Cons: We had trouble finding local food. The variety was great:…
We were in Singapore for two weeks and a few days. Most people were shocked that we were staying so long, but we found plenty to do, and we thought we got a good feel for the city. Haw Par Villa: I don’t know why Wikipedia calls this a theme park, since there are no…
I am not a fan of modern art. One of my earlier experiences with it was going to the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago at the age of twelve. I recall walking into one museum room and seeing a faded orange rag. This was the sort of cloth we might put in a rag pile and use for cleaning, and here…
It seems like we ate all the food in the world in Singapore. All the Hawker Centres: Described elsewhere, this is where we ate the majority of our meals. Everything was cheap, with one full meal and one drink coming to $4-$5 together. The selection is broad, though it does skew to being ‘fast food lite,’…
I’m back in the US for just two weeks, and here are the top 10 things I find myself surprised by, ‘back home:’ Driving on the right. I keep checking if I’m on the correct side of the road or not! This is something unique to cold places in the US: people wearing t-shirts in -5 degree Celsius weather.…
Singaporean cuisine is a fusion of Chinese, Malay, Indian, and similar cuisines. That means that biryani (Indian spiced rice) is just as much a local food as pig’s organ soup (Chinese and exactly what it sounds like). One thing that local dishes have in common – especially the kind found at hawker centres – is the use of a lot of oil.…
We didn’t set out to do it, but we’ve been on an inadvertent tour of Singapore’s hawker centres. A hawker centre is a grouping of many food stalls in an area with tables and benches or chairs. It looks like a US high school cafeteria, but with anywhere from dozens to hundreds of cuisine options.…
Neighborhood: Haw Par Villa Also Called: Queenstown, West Side Pros: It’s peaceful and quiet. It’s quite safe, though that’s true of much of Singapore. You can see how people actually live, rather than just the touristy spots. It’s close to the Harbourfront (where Sentosa is) and a wholesale market for produce, along with several hawker centres. Cons:…