So after we ate, we took the bus to the Bird Park. First stop was the Penguin Room. It felt great because it was H-O-T outside, and the temperature was at least 15 degrees cooler (By the way, that’s Fahrenheit, not Celsius. I am American).

We finished checking it out, and went out to the Gift Shop where I bought a Lemon Barley Drink. Kinda weird, but refreshing nonetheless. Next door were the Macaws and Pink Flamingos, so we walked over to take some more photos. One thing I found odd was that the birds weren’t tethered down, so they could technically fly away at any time, but seemed content to hang out where the food was. Birds really are smart!

Down the path was another place called the Birds of Prey. I just missed the show by about 20 minutes, but there was a private show going on. I took the opportunity to take some pics for free! There was only one bird, but it was huge! It’s called an African Secretary Bird, and it’s the only bird in its species. It is sort of related to hawks and eagles. I will post some videos of it trying to kill a snake in the next post.

We left after the people there got crabby about us taking pictures (and not paying like the others had). There were some very ugly giant birds when we left that exhibit.

I am pretty sure this is a type of orchid, but I’m not sure. There was no sign or anything.

Across the way, there was another bird exhibit (surprise) with a weird-looking bird. Looked like a stork’s cousin to me!

Okay, I am about to board my plane from Japan back home, so I have to stop here. I will finish this post, as well as the rest of the updates when I get back home. Sorry to disappoint!

Cody, Sunday, November 18th 2007, 16:54

Sorry for not being more on top of it, but there is just too much to do here besides staying inside and blogging. See everyone soon.

Deepavali Celebration in Little India (1:24 Minutes, 29 MB)

Anyway, I met up with Siti’s parents and we went out to breakfast at this Muslim center where there is all sorts of halal food. We had this bean dish with egg and bread and a drink called Te Tarik. It was superb! After we were done walking around a bit and doing some shopping, we drove out to their house and had some more snacks. The green leaves are palm leaves wrapped up with fish inside. We also had some fried bananas. The panda ad was too hilarious to not snap a picture of it.

After we hung out for a while, we went over to her neighbor’s house where they were having a Deepavali party. Everything I ate there was so good. Her neighbor also sung me a happy birthday song in Hindi. He said he wished that I would like until I was 1,000 years old! Too cool, but I think I’d be a wrinkled mess by that age. I sampled everything they had, and finished off with some ginger tea with milk. It was spicy, but good. Homemade cookies from Siti finished off the lunch of the day.

We drove around some more and went shopping for a bit afterwards. Check out some of the pics below of what I saw:

After that we went to Swenson’s at the Airport for dinner. It was quite Americanized food. The flag was sort of an ongoing joke, but the place wasn’t too bad at all.

Check out what Deepavali is like in Little India on my next post. Pretty crazy!

This phone is 2 years old. It’s unlocked, super thin, great battery life, BlueTooth, MP3 Player, TWO 2MP Cameras (one in front, one in back), 3G so it does voice calls, and records video on a 1 GB card. This is better than the phones we have NOW in the States.

We took the bus back to Little India and later that evening, I went out to this place in Clarke Quay called The Arena with Vanessa and hung out with her, her friends and he friend’s dates. All in all, I had a nice time. There was live music and I met lots of new people. My camera died that night so I didn’t get many shots, but here’s what I managed.

We sat down and the first thing I noticed was the place settings. Everything was very neat and ordered and upscale! However, I will come back to the settings later because the first thing I did was grab a big plate of everything that looked good. The first course was Poached Rainbow Trout and Chick Pea Mousse, Tomato with Mozzarella, Asian Spiced Roasted Duck Breast, Pan Seared Fillet of Sole, Homemade Gravalax Salmon, Mediterranean Black Eyed Peas with Tomato and Ricotta Crumb, Sauteed Mushroom with Baked Tomato Salad, Oven Roasted Caramelized Corn with Herb and Butter, and Tuna wth Green Onion. Before I started digging in, I snapped a few pictures of the areas around our table.

Everything I ate was great, except for the tuna.Since lunch was a 2.5 hour affair, I decided it was time for the second course which was: Grilled Baby Octopus with Tangy Lemon and Virgin Olive Oil, Slow-Baked Free Range Chicken Breast with Braised Apple and Raisin, Sirloin Beef, Black Pepper-Crusted Margaret Duck Breast on Creamy Polenta, Black Pepper Chicken, and Bread Rolls with Butter. I cleaned up everything there, and got a few cups of tea. I should also mention that every time I got up, we had new silverware put in front of us in the holders, and our napkins were folded! Talk about service.

The third course was: BBQ Squid with Stuffed Fish, Dimsum, Chinese Style Braised Beef, Roasted Chicken with Rice Ball, and some kind of Hot Sauce. It was pretty good, but not as good as everything else was. At this point, I was feeling pretty stuffed, and even the sushi in front of the bar looked like it would be too much for me to have. I decided dessert was in order.

Okay, first let me say that this place had more dessert than you could even think of trying. I took pictures of everything even if I didn’t try it. Most of the fruits were on skewers for dipping in a giant chocolate fountain.

And right behind all this was some private rooms that I thought were extra swanky. Check it out.

And here’s what I finally ended up getting.

I’d have to say that I have never eaten so well in my life and I don’t expect to until I go back again! I highly recommend trying this place on Orchard Road if you ever get to come to Singapore! Make sure you have reservations, it gets packed.

Thanks for being patient.

I go to Japan in about 24 hours or less, so I can get online MUCH more regularly there. I’ll start updating every day again once I arrive.

I got a TON of pics to add!

I’m already stuffed, but we keep eating! I got a guava drink to help digest some, then we saw more sights in the city. There is very interesting architecture here, and most of it is very unique. We got some more cool drinks and some soy bean ice cream from Mr. Bean. Tastes like vanilla only more creamy. We hit up another shopping mall at Beach Road, but it was outdoor (with a roof), and there was a lot of great deals on merchandise like clothes and shoes and backpacks. I got some shirts there and a lemon sugar cane drink.

After that, we went to the Esplanade Building which is shaped like a durian and I got a nice view of the skyline from the river. The skate park at Somerset Park was next, and there was a ton of wack graffiti there, but not all of it was bad. I got pictures of the murals that were cool. Interestingly enough, this was the first graffiti I saw in Singapore. The city itself is devoid of graf and most trash (bins are everywhere).

We left the park and walked to Orchard Road to watch the Subaru Challenge where there was only 6 people out of 400 competing after over 3 days. Basically, you have to keep your hand on a car for longer than anyone else. You can only keep your hand and nothing else on it. Your body cannot touch the car, or anything above your wrist. Bathroom (or food, or water) breaks are permitted for 5 minutes every 6 hours. If one finger lifts off the car, you are disqualified. The winner (one male, and one female) gets a car and the last one standing gets $10,000 SGD in accessories! Not a bad gig, but what an ordeal to endure!

We were still hungry after all the walking, so we headed over to Far East Plaza and went to Anatolia Turkish Restaurant and I got a chicken pancake “set” and lentil soup. Yum! We went to a book store in Wheelock Place and I snapped a pic of the building. We took the bus back to Little India and Siti noticed a lizard on the wall, so I grabbed him and took a pic. I think he was cool looking (he looked like a gecko of sorts), but apparently catching lizards here is quite strange. One of Siti’s friends asked me today if I thought that Singaporean cockroaches were cute too. I guess they don’t like them much here!

That’s all for today. I have some more pics coming, but updating this blog is taking all day, so I’m going to go out and meet some friends.