Family Fun in Singapore!

Ready!!

Hall 3A&E

Two weeks ago was a family get together of sorts. On friday my cousin Jim arrived from Australia for a visit. It was so exciting to have visitors come! Friday night I had signed up for a night cycling trip through my hall. I saw the flyer and it sounded exciting to me so I persuaded Kara to do it with me. We did not know it meant an OVER night ride. We started out around 10 pm and headed out with a group of around 60. We made a few pit stops and then ate supper in Bukit Timah around midnight. I tried mixed Indian na'an (similar to pita) and Nasi Goreng Pattaya (Fried Rice wrapped in an omelette)- which are both my new favorites. We ate at a place called Al-Azhar and they offered EVERYTHING from thai, indian, western, and everything in between. 

Friends with the na'an

Great tea!

Nasi Goreng Pattaya with Chili Sauce

Eating my na'an

After supper our next break was overlooking the Marina BAy Hotel from 4-5 am. At this point I was tired from lack of sleep a lot more than the 40k ride. We finished the ride strong in East Coast Park just for the sunset at 6 am. The only problem was the bus was not going to arrive until 7 am! Kara and I were a little crabby so we went to McCafe to get muffins instead of joining everyone in the lively McDonalds. When I arrived home to my dorm it was 8 am and quite bright out. 

East Coast Park when we rode in!

We continued to sleep all day long and decided to meet Jim and Nana for dinner. We went to Geylang 126 dim sum restaurant. Luckily Nana could decipher some of the chinese symbols because they resemble Japanese, because the menu was only in Chinese. We ordered around nine different dim sums, and they were all so great. The meal for four of us was under $35 sing! My new favorite is steamed chicken buns called Gai Bow. They did not look too appealing but I now crave them! The feeling is in a nice sauce and the bun is soft but not mushy. I finished my meal off with some lemon tea with jellies. I am getting used to drinking tea with jellies inside, since it is everywhere my texture issue has been forced to subside a little. 

Dinner at 126 (Gai Bow is lower left)

The next day we explored the Jurong Bird Park with Jim and Nana. Apparently the bird park is the world's largest, and it reminds me of sea world. The park was very fun but unfortunately everything was outside, and it was a very hot and sticky day. Kara and I ended up cooling ourselves off with some amazing Ben and Jerry's! It tastes just like home! 

World's Largest

Feeding the Lories

Awittle Ugly?

Penguin Statue

For dinner Kara, Jim, Nana and I met up with our second cousin David Ansted and his wife Sunny. We went to a world famous dim sum chain called Din Thai Fung. This meal was probably the best that I have had while in Singapore! David is a chef, so I think he aided to the experience because he told the best way to savor everything! Nana is from Japan and Sunny is from Taiwan, so they both had food that appealed to them, so we left the decisions up to them. Good thing, because literally everything I tasted I fell in love with. David showed us with the pork dumplings that you can not just pop them in your mouth. These had a hot broth inside, so you needed to bite a small hole and drink the broth before eating the dumpling. My new other favorites were szechwan prawn and pork dim sum, and crabmeat buns! I can not wait until I get to go back! 

The whole family!!!!

Pork Dumplings

Interesting Dessert

Dessert was interesting but I surprisingly enjoyed it. We had red bean dumplings first- in asian culture it is weird to eat beans that are salty, just like it was weird for me to eat sweet beans. I enjoyed the red bean dumplings, but they probably won't be my top pick, I will stick with the chocolate. As well we tried three various jelly/liquid desserts. I have no clue how to explain them but one had a coconut flavor that I enjoyed. It was so great to catch up with family, even though I have never met David (or I did at a very young age) it still felt almost comforting. Of course Jim and Nana were so nice to see as well, I just had a really fabulous weekend. Until next time...

xoxo

Leah