Singapore (Part two)

 We went to dinner with some friends on Saturday evening. We went to the Marina Bay area.  On Saturday nights leading up to Singapore's Independence Day on August 19, the city practices for the big celebration.  It is complete with the dancers, fireworks, and thousands of spectators.  The spectators for the practice sessions are grade five students from all over the country.

Stingray.  It was delicious!

Marina Sands Casino

The steady stream of grade five students leaving... it took hours.

In Singapore, everything has a que.  The bus station, the food stands, the money changer, and the church.  We went to church early, got a ticket and que number, and waited until the ushers determined if there was enough room for us.  There was, so we got to worship with 5,000 people.  Such an experience!

Everything in Singapore has a que, including church! We had to get tickets and wait to be let in!

The mall/concert hall where the church meets

 Steven took us to dinner on Sunday night at a Chinese restaurant in the neighborhood.  Their specialty: chili crab.  He showed us how to select a proper crab, and then they cooked them up for us.  So good!

Picking out dinner Sunday night

Chili crab.  My favorite meal from Singapore

I felt like such a slob!

One of the first things we put on our list when we knew we were going to Singapore was Universal Studios.  It is a pretty small park compared to what I'm used to, but it allowed us to make new friends with people that we saw a over the park.  And we didn't want to wait in all the ques, so we would go into the single rider line, have no wait time, and still get to ride together... that's the way to go!

 

We went to NYC for spring break last year, and Universal's NY street scene looked exactly the same!

Our last day in Singapore we met up with the new SPH teachers.  We went with a couple of them to the Marina Bay area to see the Gardens by the Bay, the Merlion, and the casino.

Gardens by the Bay, so beautiful.  You can see the Marina Sands out the glass roof

Asians taking pictures... always entertaining

Getting to know some of the new SPH teachers.  It was fun to hang out with them for the day!

Singapore (Part one)

  Janna and I stopped in Singapore for a few days before heading to Jakarta.  We stayed with the family of some friends from my church back in the States.  We spent some time with them, spent some time with just the two of us, and then were able to meet up with the rest of the new SPH teachers for the last day.  It's such a beautiful city, we wondered if we would find ourselves here after our contract at SPH is done!

So much stuff!

Living overseas makes us proud to be American

Steven and Yi Mei, our amazing hosts for the week

Malaysian food at a hawker center for lunch

Coconut milk, ice shaving, red bean, seaweed jelly... actually quite good!

At the night safari... we were exhausted, so this was the part I enjoyed the most, because I was fully awake

On the way to Sentosa Island

At the southern most point of continental Asia

We biked up a huge hill, walked up four flights of stairs to get an overlook of the bay... so, exhausted!

Bike riding, for sure my favorite thing we did in Singapore