Day 2

Day 2 in Singapore Today I woke up again at 7 and had my coffee by the pool and watched the sunrise. For breakfast I walked to the hawker center for something quick and easy. I had my first Tiger beer since I hadn't made time for that yet. They stop selling beer after 10pm at the hawker centers so I had previously missed out. One thing is for sure, alcohol is not cheap here. My beer, although quite large, was $6.50. Most cocktails will set you back close to $20, so it has been a sobering trip for me. Along with my beer I had egg tarts and fried durian spring rolls. Durians are a fruit that is quiet popular in this part of the world but they are sold in limited locations due to thier foul odor. The spring rolls were so fried it took the edge off of the smell and actually tasted pretty good. The inside was almost pudding like. After breakfast I made my way back to the airport to get to north Singapore where the zoo is located. As I was purchasing my ticket for the zoo and night safari the woman at the counter asked me where I was from. I smiled and told her America and she seemed slightly surprised. I asked her if they get many Americans through here and she said some, but mostly from Australia. Then she asked, "What part of America do you come from?" Me:Texas Lady: Oh like with the cowboy hats! Me: No it's not like that I promise! I've been fighting that stereotype my whole life and here I am at a zoo 7000 miles from home and even the ticket counter lady thinks that's what we're all about. Damn. The Singapore Zoo is awesome. Unlike many American zoos which are man made cut out of habitats inside a city, the Singapore Zoo is located next to a real forest and a giant river flows right next to it. The animals are prodominitly cage free and monkeys hang out where they please. They pride themselves on being proactive in conservation and preservation efforts as well as educating their guests through shows. I made it to two separate shows. One was The Rainforest Fights Back and the other was an Elephant show both showcasing tricks by the animals and explaining the importance of conservation. I had three hours to kill before the night safari so I took the bus back to the Ang Mo Kio town center. The street vendors were much more ruthless there than in the city yesterday. I was blatantly charged twice for some nail polish but i spared my blood pressure and cut my losses. A client of mine who has been to Singapore told me to not expect to buy any clothes there, that they are designed for shorter people. The clothes here are super cute but just taking one look I can tell those dresses will never cover my butt. I was also told that I would be disappointed by the lack of differences and just how westernized the population would be when I asked if it was ever hard to communicate with Singaporeans. That was from a well to do business man. He must not have been hanging around where I've been. Although most people speak English their accents can be very hard to understand. I found an Indian restaurant and got excited about dinner. I asked her what they had that was vegetarian and she said "nothing" and then rambled on about some daily special. I was confused and she told me it was ok, I could eat it. I just said, "Whatever, I'll take it." For $3.50 I had bread with spicy curry and hot coffee. Spicy curry with hot coffee... I felt like my mouth was on fire and the only thing I had to drink was making it worse. Side note, despite what I just said, the most disappointing thing about how westernized Singapore is is that there is still no escaping J. Biebs and Miley Cyrus... I went back for the night safari which was alright. It was a 45 minute tour of basically everything I had already seen at the zoo, only by tram, at night. It would have been a great experience but I have to say, in all honesty, I was over it... but I had committed when I purchased the double ticket. At least I didn't encounter any crazies like yesterday, but then again, I was surrounded by families all day... I also haven't had anything to drink since this morning, so there's the trade off. Now to make my way back to the airport just to get to my hotel.