The Week in Pictures...Week of September 6

 Here are some pictures from our week in Singapore.  Jason even contributed a few photos from the shipyard.

 We bought Internet/radio subscriptions to the LSU and Saints' broadcasts, so we are able to keep up with our favorite home teams.  I was able to listen to the Saints game this morning--I guess I can now say that "I know what it means to miss New Orleans".  Hopefully LSU will play like they did during the first half of the NC game this weekend against Vandy; otherwise,  Tiger fans may be in for a long season! 

 Have a good weekend everyone!

Cheers!

Morton's - Jason's birthday

Happy Birthday Jason!

Jason liked this crane.

Singapore sunset

St. Bernadette from our balcony

Random fishing boat

Ensco 7500

Ensco 7500 again

Rainy morning in Singapore (monsoon season begins next month)

Hungry Ghost Feast

  As I mentioned last week, Jason and I attended a Hungry Ghost Party, part of a month-long celebration during the seventh lunar month of the Chinese calendar.  Often referred to as the Chinese Halloween, it is believed that ancestral spirits and ghosts roam the world during this "Ghost Month".   As part of the festival's customs,   followers pay homage to their deceased ancestors through various prayers, food offerings, and burning rituals.  During this month, the Chinese do not swim, engaged couples are encouraged not to marry, and children and young adults are advised not to wander alone at night.  The Hungry Ghost Festival is celebrated across many countries in Asia, including Singapore.  Ghost Month began on August 10 and lasted through September 7.

  The celebration we attended was very pleasant.  Burning joss sticks and two fruit-offering shrines were the only visible customs of the Ghost festival.  The party was hosted at an industrial yard and guests were seated at skirted tables, perched under commercial tents.  We were served a delicious,  10-course meal--it was very obvious that Jason and I  need to brush up on our chopstick skills, lol!  Tiger Beer (Chinese) and French (not Chinese) wine were served as well.   Two Chinese singers/dancers entertained guests.  It was so nice to attend an outdoor affair and not have to contend with mosquitoes.  We had a very delightful evening!

  Here are a few pictures from the Hungry Ghost Party:

Joss sticks burnt as offerings

Fruit offerings

Fruit offerings

A cochon de lait in Singapore??

Roasting suckling pigs

My dad always did say, "It is all about the presentation..."

And the delicious food--all 10 courses or so!  Each entree was placed at the center of the table and shared amongst all. 

This plate had chicken, fish, prawns, and scallops

Shark fin soup (our favorite dish of the evening)

Arrowroot chips and pork

Fried fish balls

Pork belly and Chinese bread

Grouper

Duck with soybeans

 (I forgot to take pictures of our dessert platter.)

What's a party without entertainment?

What a great experience for us!

Happy 30th Birthday, Jason!!

Happy Birthday to my best friend and handsome hubby!  He may be 30, but he is still a kid at heart :)

Jason is not going to be happy with me for posting these pictures, but I couldn't resist...what a cute kid!!

  Jason only asked for two things for his birthday: a homemade cake and a Sailfishing trip to Malaysia.  Since Jason is scheduled to work this Saturday with the shipyard project just underway, we have decided to hold off on the Malaysia weekend-trip for a few weeks.  As for the cake, I told Jason I would do my best to bake a cake, as long as the local market carried the necessary ingredients.  To my surprise, I was able to find all of the ingredients.  I had a tougher time finding a place to purchase an electric mixer.  Monday, I spent much of the afternoon wandering along Orchard Road,  until I  stumbled into a local department store, Robinsons.  Luckily, this store carries kitchen appliances and bake-ware, so I was able to purchase the mixer, a baking pan, and a spatula.  Lets just hope the cake turns out to Jason's liking?!

(Singapore vocabulary lesson: powdered sugar = icing sugar and vanilla extract = vanilla essence)

  Tonight we are planning to have dinner in Holland Village, a popular area with the expats and known for its' restaurants and watering holes.  I am sure Jason will want to eat at a steakhouse--his favorite!

Have a good one!

The Week in Pictures...Week of August 30th

Happy Friday!! And, a three-day weekend at that :)

Thursday was quite a busy day for us. Jason worked only a half day, so we could go take care of our visas, finger-printing, and photographing at the Ministry of Manpower office. We should receive all of our paperwork, along with our visas and passports back on Tuesday.

After finishing up at the MofM office, Jason and I walked over to Chinatown for a quick tour since he wasn't able to visit the area during our trip in June. The Chinese are gearing up for the their Lantern Festival, which begins on the first day of the 8th Lunar Month. The festival is celebrated with fireworks, lion-and-dragon dance performances, and lantern processions through the streets. Fall in Singapore seems to be a popular time for festivals, as it is in Louisiana.

Chinatown entrance

Chinatown hotel

Shopping markets

  Later that evening, we made our way to Orchard Road. Jason had a meeting with some guys working in the shipyard, and I went to my first fish spa. After his meeting, we moseyed on down to the Thai Embassy for the start of the 9th Annual Thai Festival and some delicious Thai delicacies.  This weekend I am planning to go back to the Embassy to participate in a food/fruit carving class, offered in conjunction with the festival.  We are definitely receiving our doses of Asian culture :).

Thai Ambassador to Singapore

Thai dancers--very elegant!

Durian, "king of fruit"

Jason imitating the taxi driver in Singapore--crazy man!

 Saturday evening we are invited to a Chinese, Hungry Ghost Party, hosted by one of Ensco's vendors.   I will definitely blog about this experience, so stayed tuned! 

 Below, I have posted more pictures from this past week.  Hope everyone has a relaxing Labor Day weekend.  GEAUX TIGERS!

10 Things You Didn't Know About Singapore

  Here are some interesting statistics and tidbits about Singapore, which I just learned myself and thought you may find of interest as well.


Source: NYU Tisch School of the Arts Asia  (www.tischasia.nyu.edu.sg)

1. Singapore has one of the world’s most diverse and vibrant culinary traditions (according to the New Yorker Magazine)

                 Diverse alright...

This is a picture taken of Jason's entree from one night last week at a business dinner. 

 Jason said the the lobster was still  moving while sitting on the platter. 

After given a bowl of hot water, Jason said he was instructed to place the unseasoned lobster tail in the water bowl and let the tail "cook" for a few minutes.

2. Singapore, long a center of religious and ethnic diversity, is home to people who practice various forms of Taoism, Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, Christianity, Sikhism, and Judaism.

3. The Singapore Arts Festival is one of the leading international arts festivals. This past year, over 700,000 people saw 496 performances and installations. The festival featured performers and art from many countries, including Spain, USA, China, Belgian, France, Australia, and UK.

4. Singapore is a growing center for Animation and Interactive Gaming technology (home to operations of Lucas Arts, Electronic Arts, Koei, and Southern Star)

5. It takes 55 minutes to fly to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; 2.5 hours to Jakarta, Indonesia; 2 hours to Vietnam; 2.5 hours to Bangkok, Thailand; 3.5 hours to Manila, Philippines; 6.5 hours to Tokyo, Japan; 3.5 hours to Hong Kong; 6 hours to Seoul, South Korea; 5 hours to Shanghai, China.

                     This map shows where Singapore is in relation to other countries in Asia

      Source: http://math.nie.edu.sg

                      This map shows Singapore's position in South East Asia and neighbouring countries

Source: http://math.nie.edu.sg

             

6. Singapore’s health system ranked 6th out of the world’s 191 countries according to the 2006 World Health Organization’s World Health Report.


7. Singapore is the 2nd most network-ready country in the world (according the World Bank)



8. Singapore is the easiest place to do business in the world (according to the World Bank and Forbes Magazine)


9. According to the Department of Statistics for the Government of Singapore, about one-fifth of Singapore’s population are from abroad.

10. In the past 2 years alone, Singapore Shanghai Airport has been recognized 26 times as the best airport in the world. Accolades received from Condé Nast Traveler, Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, World Travel Awards, and Global Finance.



  If time allows, we are hoping to venture out to Indonesia and Malaysia since we are living out this way.  Bali is one such Indonesian island we would really like visit.  We are also thinking of taking a ferry across to Malaysia one weekend.

  I have already begun looking into the various performances scheduled at the Esplanade Performing Arts Venue.  Hopefully, we can catch a Broadway play or two!

  There is definitely not a shortage of things to do here!

Alaina