March in Pictures

  Below are pictures I am just now posting from Aunt Mary's recent visit to Singapore.  I think it is safe to say she really enjoyed herself, especially the modern architecture. Enjoy!!

Chinese Temple near Chinatown

Aunt Mary showing off her Mardi Gras beads in Little India

And having her first Tiger Beer

Sultan Mosque

Malay Heritage Center

Fire testing textiles on Arab Street 

Marina Bay Floating Stadium

Fort Silosa

The Lotus Museum - Aunt Mary gave herself the Asian nickname, "Lotus Maria"

Marina Bay Sands

Drinking some sugar cane juice and supporting the sugarcane farmers
 (my grandfather and uncles were sugarcane farmers in Louisiana)



Lunch at the hawker stand -- satay, spring rolls, fried rice, star fruit, and mango

Nothing like finishing a week on your feet by treating yourself to a session at the Fish Spa

Saving the best meal and drink for last -- Pepper Crab and Singapore Sling!!

Lovin' Long Beach!

   I know this blog entry is a bit redundant from a previous post on the pepper crab, but did I mention how good the pepper crab is??? 

  Sunday was Jason's day to cook.  Not really,  but after Mass Sunday evening, we did have dinner at our favorite local establishment, Long Beach Seafood in Demspey Hill.  Jason's co-worker was in from Houston and also joined us for a delicious meal.   

  We didn't even have to look at a menu to know what to order.  We were there for one item on the menu only--the Black Pepper Crab.  The best part about this entree is that it is served with the claws cracked for you, so you can just dig right in!  We also had a few side Asian-prepared vegetables and fried rice to go along with our crab.  We were so stuffed when it was all said and done.  Who would have thought three grown adults could fill up on one crab alone? 

  Ever tried eating peanuts with chop-sticks??  In Singapore, it is not uncommon for restaurants to serve peanuts to patrons as a complimentary appetizer.  Well, we were served peanuts before our meal, but the trick is to eat the peanuts like the locals do with chopsticks.  Needless to say, I am still honing my chopstick skills and providing entertainment at the dinner table in the process...lol!  Talk about make you look uncoordinated...just try it!

  I am thinking we may have to look up a recipe and prepare this pepper crab dish when we return home to Louisiana for all of you to try.  I am sure you will love it just as much as we do!

Black Pepper Crab!!

Jason, Eric, and me getting ready to indulge...

Jason getting his hands dirty!

Pictures from November

   It is hard to believe that we have been living in Singapore for three months already!! 

  Since the last blog post, we have learned that we WILL be home for Christmas...that in itself is a Christmas gift!  Needless to say, we are both anxious to be back on U.S. soil to spend the holidays with our families and enjoy a little home cooking and maybe some deer hunting too. :)  I depart from Singapore on December 8 and Jason leaves December 17.  We have both started counting down the days until our departure. 

  I am also happy to report that Saints and Tiger Nations are alive and well in Singapore!  We have chanted, "Who Dat!" with some New Orleanians in Chinatown and shared updates to the LSU/ULM game with a Tiger fan, clad in purple and gold at the Barclays Golf Tournament last weekend.  We were glad to see some Louisiana folks in Singapore! 

 We have been out and about in Singapore the past few weeks.  Below are some glimpses of our experiences from the Botanic Gardens, Long Beach Restaurant, Bintan (Indonesia), and the Barclays Golf Tournament.

U.S. Embassy in Singapore

On our way to the Botanic Gardens, we passed the U.S. Embassy

Singapore Botanic Gardens

  The 128-acre Botanic Gardens combine part jungle with part planned gardening to make for beautiful and peaceful settings.   It was so pleasant to be in the company of Mother Nature, away from the hustle and bustle of the city--until the rain chased us out.  I guess someone has to water all these plants :)

Enough bananas to feed an army!





Pepper Crab

  After our visit to the gardens, we walked over to Long Beach Restaurant, home of the famous  pepper crab.  The pepper crab, along with the chili crab are two of the more popular crab dishes served in Singapore.  Both dishes serve hard-shelled crab in either a pepper gravy or chili sauce.  Thankfully, we  only ordered a medium-sized crab for the both of us, because we couldn't finish it all (I know my Mom is finding it hard to believe that I left some crab meat uneaten).  We thoroughly enjoyed our meal and can't wait to go back for more given the fact that I could eat crab everyday.

Singapore's famous "pepper" crab and my new favorite Singapore dish.  Jason and I split this one and didn't quite eat it all! 

Bintan, Indonesia

  So our experience in Bintan was not the greatest and our accommodations left a lot to be desired...  Hopefully we can go back and have a better experience next time!

 

Barclays Open 

  Sunday, we attended the 2010 Barclays' Singapore Open Golf Tournament hosted on Sintosa Island, until a deluge of rain canceled play for the day.  All was not lost, as we followed (stalked) Phil Mickelson through his first nine holes.  Play didn't resume until Monday morning.

Jason's co-worker, Eric was in Singapore for a few weeks from Houston and accompanied us to the tournament.

Didn't quite make it on the the fairway

"Get in the hole!"

Phil looking over the hole report on the 18th