Dinner with jhiv

In case you missed the first one, tonight's post is another virtual coffee date, where I pretend like we're just catching up like we are sitting across the table from each other.  Tonight, we are having dinner.. probably at some restaurant that neither of us had ever been to before!

So if we were having dinner tonight, I'd tell you that things are going well out here!  I feel like I have gotten over the first little hump in the road, and I'm feeling more settled.  I've started to get more into a groove at work, which I think has really helped.  (I still haven't gotten a freaking expense reimbursement approved yet, but that is another story haha.)  Now that I'm done with Malaysia for a while, working in Singapore has been helpful because I've been able to actually buy groceries, do things at night, and its easier to make plans with friends when I am in town!  Also, I haven't gotten lost or gotten on the wrong bus in at least two weeks, so that is another good sign :)

Speaking of work.. I took this picture of the office at 8:30 this morning.. it was SO empty.

I'd say that I feel really lucky that I've been able to make friends out here pretty easily!  It really is crazy how the expat community is so welcoming and easy to cling to!  You would probably be surprised at how "American" things seem at times.  Sometimes, it feels like home, but then I look around, and everyone is Asian haha.

On the other hand, some things are really different from home!  For example, tomorrow is the company "Dinner & Dance".  Apparently, this is an annual event that is a huge deal.  But - unlike work events in the US, nobody is allowed to bring a date, and the suggested attire is a costume.  Not because it is anywhere close to Halloween, but because the theme of the party is a fairy tale.  So you are supposed to get together with a group of co-workers and pick a fairy tale and dress up!  My table couldn't really decide on a fairy tale, so I think I'm just wearing a cocktail dress.  We'll see how this goes :)

I would tell you that I am missing football big time.  I miss tailgating for Vandy games, and I miss watching Fox NFL Sunday.  I know I've said this before, but its so weird that its fall because it doesn't feel like fall in any way out here.  I've noticed that the air has been a little bit cooler here the last few days, but its also been raining quite a bit lately, so I think that's why.  I've enjoyed the change in temperature, but it really sucks when it rains and its time to go to work.  Trying to get a taxi in heels and carrying a computer bag is not an easy task.

I'd say that as much as I miss the US, and as different as it is out here.. I am really glad that I am here :)  Come visit!!

I know that last play was debatable but I don't care

Go Seahawks!!!!!

So my shipment from the US is allegedly getting delivered to my apartment at noon on Friday.  I'll believe it when I see it!  The ship was supposed to dock in Singapore this past Saturday, but I found out on Monday that my things were still in Malaysia and that I might not be able to get my things until after I came back from Austin!  Thankfully, the ship left on time, and it is supposed to dock here at 1am tonight.  Everybody cross your fingers that things go according to plan and that I finally get to sleep in my own bed at the end of this week!

Everyone tells me that they like seeing what I'm eating, so I've been diligently documenting my meals recently.  Here is a look - some of it is super boring, and some of it is Singaporean!

Katsu udon and watermelon - $9 from the basement of the Japanese mall next door

Magnum mini dark chocolate bar.  $8 for a box of 6

Overnight oats for breakfast topped with a scoop of $21 maple almond butter

Lunch in the client's cafeteria.  The employees here get 50% off, but even though I have to pay full price, this was only $3.80 including the can of Coke Zero.  

Chili crab dinner!  This is one of the foods that Singapore is most famous for.  It is overwhelmingly messy, but super delicious and great fun for a group.  Five of us had drinks, chili crab, delicious little rolls to mop up the sauce, and a large side of seafood fried rice for $230 in total.

Peanut butter jelly time

More lunch at the client's cafeteria.  They serve "economy rice", which can be found all over the place.  Basically, you get a scoop of white rice and then choose from an assortment of veggies and meats to go with.  $4.20.

Hummus and avocado on toast

And finally, I will leave you with something I find to be hilarious.  Some of you may remember that when I visited Singapore in the spring, I came across a place that sort of reminded me of home but also seemed to be making fun of America in an ironic way?  I went back recently and it was as hilarious as I remember :)

You can't tell in this picture, but the sign has one Irish flag and one Singaporean flag

Cheers mates!

Flying to the US on Sunday!!!

It's Fall!

Yesterday was the official first day of fall, so it's officially fall!!  First of all, I absolutely love fall.  It is absolutely one of my favorite things about Nashville, and I miss it already.  Everyone on social media is talking about sweaters and football and pumpkins... and here in Singapore it is still a zillion degrees.  I did get my nails painted in my favorite shade from last fall - OPI You Don't Know Jacques.

I don't know if this color is even cool anymore, but I still love it.

I doubt I will get to wear a circle scarf or boots at all, but I'm still hoping to do some of my favorite fall-ish activities this year.  My trip to the US in a couple weeks will help me do some fall stuff - I'm definitely planning on lots of pumpkin spice lattes!  I also plan to use my entire layover at LAX to just sit and watch football :)  I'm hoping to pick up some canned pumpkin or pumpkin butter to bring back with me to Singapore.  I did spot some canned pumpkin (Libby's!) at the grocery store the other day, but it was $7 or something crazy like that... I'm also hoping to make chili one day when my stuff FINALLY arrives!

Secondly - as much as I love the fall, I find myself wondering how it is the end of September already!!  I've been here almost two months now, which is just crazy.  Some things have gotten much easier for me already, like navigating public transportation and figuring out how to carry stuff everywhere, but some things are still a bit of a challenge - I still have a hard time figuring out where places are in relation to each other.  For example, the other day I was walking near my office but couldn't figure out if I lived towards the right or the left.. in some ways I rely too much on public transportation to just get me places, so I don't pay attention to how the bus is actually getting there!  I also blame my general bad sense of direction :)

So.. weekend.  This weekend the Formula One race is in town.  It is a huge production!  The cars race at night, and tons of streets are shut down.  There are a crazy amount of people here for the race.  I went on Friday and Saturday night - it was so much fun!!

I can't figure out how to turn this picture correctly...

The cars are LOUD and FAST.  Friday was just practice rounds, and Saturday was the qualifying races.  I've never even watched F1 on television before, so knew absolutely nothing about the drivers or teams.  Some of the guys that were with us are from the UK, where F1 is much more popular, so they tried to teach a little and point out different drivers as they whizzed past us.

F1 is not ideal for iPhone pictures.  See that blurry spot in the center of the photo?  Its my only photo of a car that I managed to get haha.

In between races, there are different bands that come on various stages and play.  Last night we saw The Pretenders and Bananarama in between races, and then the post-race headliner was Maroon 5.  We stood pretty far towards the back just to try to stay cool - there were tons of people.  I love outdoor concerts, so this was a great little reminder of home!

Tonight is the actual F1 race, and Katy Perry is the post-race headliner.  I don't have a ticket and kind of wish that I did, but maybe next year I will splurge for all three days.  I wasn't really sure what to expect out of the F1 event, but I really liked it!  The atmosphere is great, and pretty much everyone goes, so its a lot of fun.  Great weekend!

Bucket list and simple eats

Quick post tonight just to share a few things. First, I have started a Singapore Bucket List! You can find it here.  It will definitely be a work in progress, but I'm hoping that by writing it down, I will be cognizant of being able to cross things off. Australia in one month! Woohoo!

Secondly, I just wanted to check in about what I'm eating. Honestly, after a month out of town, I've been craving some more simple foods. (This has worked out since I can't do a whole lot in the kitchen right now anyway!) So basically, I've been eating a lot of plain, easy meals. I have been eating vegan overnight oats every single day. I can't get enough of them! Kinda strange because I probably hadnt eaten them in about two years before I came over here. Must be the heat :) I've also been eating some PBJ and hummus and tomato sandwiches. Not together obviously, but equally delicious.  And tonight I ate something fabulous as part of my dinner! Have you guys ever tried a Medjool date stuffed with a bit of Laughing Cow cheese?? Amazing. Trust me!

I have a couple of busy days ahead at work, and then F1 this weekend!!! (Oh and another attempt at 8 miles...)

Morning run fail

Well, I hate to say this, but my Saturday morning long run was terrible.

I had planned to do an eight mile run. I felt okay for the first five miles or so, but then I started to struggle and I let some mental doubts get the best of me. I ended up feeling defeated and walked most of the last 1.5 to 2 miles back home.

Obviously, I am pretty disappointed that I didn't finish an eight mile run with a smile on my face, but I think I know some of the things that contributed to my crappy run.

1.  Pre-run nutrition. Ironically, at the end of the podcast I listened to on Friday night, they talked about the absolute importance of having enough calories in your body to fuel (and recover from) a run.  Friday, I had a pretty big lunch and wasn't really hungry for dinner, so all I had to eat the night before my run was a granola bar.

Additionally, I set my alarm wrong, so I didn't get up until about 7:45 in the morning (I had wanted to be up at 6).  So I was in a rush to get out the door before it started to get too hot, and I didn't eat anything before I left.

I definitely think the combination of a lackluster dinner the night before and an empty stomach meant that I didn't have the right fuel in my body when I set out on my long run. It probably would've been fine to do 3-5 miles, but eight miles is really long for me, and it didn't help that I wasn't well prepared in terms of nutrition.  Lesson learned: I need to make an effort to be sure that I eat properly leading up to a long run!

2.  Hydration.  I have mentioned this a million times before, but it is really freaking hot here. In my hurry to leave this morning, I had a few chugs of water, and I put $2 in my pocket to buy something while on the run.  I stopped at a 7-11 around 5.25 miles to get some water, but all the bottled water was more than $2! Fail.  So I kept running, hoping that I'd find another store soon.

Unfortunately, after my 7-11 stop was when things started to really go downhill.  I kept thinking about how I really needed something to drink. What I really wanted was some Gatorade.  Thinking about nutrition on the run made me reflect on my lack of proper nutrition before the run.  My stomach started growling, and I felt like I really needed some calories.  Obviously, five or six miles is really not that long (in the grand scheme of things), and there was no way that I would die of calorie deficiency or anything, but I. My head, I just started to think about how I had no fuel in my tank.  It was all I could think about.

I thought about when I was training for the Jack and Back, switching from drinking water to drinking Gatorade suddenly gave me a miraculous ability to finish a long ride. I thought about how I should get something that allows me to bring a water bottle along with me when I run. I thought about how tired I felt. I thought about how hungry I felt. I thought about how a few calories might help me miraculously find a second wind. I thought about how I saw zero open stores coming up.

And then I stopped running and started walking.  At that point, in my mind, I had given up.  I would run little bursts for the rest of the way home, but I walked for most of it.  I kept looking for stores to get something to drink in, but most stuff wasn't open yet.  Close to home, I saw a Vitamin Water vending machine and was so ecstatic.  Vitamin Water sounded delicious!!  Unfortunately, it cost more than the $2 I had :(  Finally, I saw a Coke vending machine and went over there hoping they'd have Dasani as a choice that I could afford.  They didn't.  Coke was $1.90, Coke Zero was $2, and there was some sort of "isotonic drink" called Aquarius for $2.  It was clear and the label said that Singapore's Olympians preferred Aquarius, or something like that, so I bought it.  It was some sort of carbonated sugar water.  Gross.  And definitely not what I wanted or needed.

So, I'm going to try to be more cognizant of my hydration before I run - including the days before, and I need to start bringing water with me on long runs.  I'm going to start by just carrying a water bottle and seeing how that works.

3.  Muscle prep.  I've settled into a bit of a routine in Malaysia in terms of my running habits.  Tuesdays I do speed work and Thursdays I do hill work.  (Or at least what speed work and hill work mean to someone of my running caliber.)  I can only go for about 30 minutes since the hotel gym doesn't open until 6:30 am.  Monday mornings I have been travelling, so I don't work out then, and I don't really like to work out on mornings when I am checking out of a hotel, so I don't work out on Fridays either.  Wednesdays I just take as a day off.  On the weekends, I run one long run, and then sometimes I will do a shorter run on the other day, but sometimes I won't.

Well, I don't think that running for 30 minutes twice a week before a long run is cutting it.  And I've noticed that my second weekend run hasn't been happening lately.  I don't think that I didn't have the physical capability to finish the eight miles, but I do think I could use some improvements to my routine.

So my plan going forward is to do three days of running during the week, one long run on the weekend, and then use the other weekend day as a freebie where I can rest, run, or do some sort of other random activity if I want to.  I also want to get back into doing some easy strength training exercises to help too.  Hopefully, working in Singapore for a while will help me stick to this schedule!

This post turned out to be much longer than I had anticipated, so I'll stop here.  I'm going to aim to do these eight miles again - I still need to figure out when (Formula One race is next Fri - Sun, and the whole city is apparently going to be a madhouse), but hopefully next time will be better than this one!

Thanks for all the encouragement peeps.

Friday

Earlier this week, one of my Singaporean co-workers said to me "you don't look like you can speak Mandarin." I found this to be hilarious because clearly, I think I do look like I speak Mandarin. I feel like people often speak to me in Mandarin, assuming that I understand! Anyway- just thought I should share that with you guys :)

So today was my last day in Malaysia for a while. It started out pretty rough.

The coffee maker at Starbucks wasn't working. (Starbucks in Malaysia is a completely separate topic.  They don't open until 8, and they don't even have coffee ready when they open!)  Thankfully, the espresso machine was working.

We take a taxi into work.  Today our taxi overheated. So we stood on the side of the road waiting for another taxi to come get us.

In taxi number two, I spilled my Americano on my leg.

Once we finally got to work, the day went pretty smoothly. We ordered in Chinese food for lunch, and the team suggested that I try a yogurt drink to go with my lunch.

Tasted like orange sherbert

The one hour flight back to Singapore went smoothly, and the child that was screaming in the boarding area was silent throughout, so that was an added bonus.  For some reason, I am exhausted today, so I had no desire to really do much once I got home.  Plus, I want to get up early tomorrow for my run.  So I spent my Friday night grocery shopping and writing this blog post while listening to a podcast.

I've noticed that there seem to be a lot of ex-pats in my neighborhood.  This isn't that surprising, since I found out about my neighborhood way back when I went to ex-pat coffee group during my first days here in Singapore.  Anyway - it seems that the grocery store near me is totally designed for ex-pats.  Michael Buble was playing tonight while I browsed the aisles, and I feel like there is a better selection of brands that I recognize than at some other grocery stores I've been to.

One thing I haven't mentioned yet on the blog is the eggs here.  They don't refrigerate them.  It feels a bit alarming to just see shelves full of eggs, just sitting there in the middle of an aisle.

But obviously, everyone on the island eats these unrefrigerated eggs, and they are all fine, so its just something that I need to get over.  Also, when the chicken lays the egg, that is obviously not a refrigerated environment either!  Hard boiled eggs seem like a good option for me right now - since I STILL don't have my shipment from the US, I am trying to eat as simply as possible.

If you can't tell from the picture above, the egg selection was pretty vast.  I think they pay much more attention to the chicken's diet here?

Ignore my manicure that is growing out...

There was also a ton of "corn" eggs, but the most interesting ones I saw were these.  I'm a bit confused though.. is this supposed to be that all the eggs were the first one laid?  I'm curious as to what the thought is behind why those would be better?

In the US, I always got organic free-range eggs.  I really just thought that they tasted so much better.  Yeah, it was way more expensive than the regular ones, but $3 for eggs is still not that much.  However, the unrefrigerated organic eggs from New Zealand are S$10 here.. (all the eggs shown above were in the S$2 price range)

So I went with these free range eggs instead.  I think the "Happier hens, Tastier eggs" slogan is what won me over.  These were S$3.  Still pricey for only six eggs, but hopefully they are delicious?

Other items I bought tonight were bananas, grapefruit, bread, jam, an avocado (not a Haas, so we'll see how that goes), and some Laughing Cow wedges.  Cost less than S$20!  Woohoo!  Maybe I won't be broke and starving after all...

I've got an eight mile run planned for the morning!  I'm a little nervous.. I've never done a random eight mile run before.  The only other time I have run that far was during the 2010 Country Music Half Marathon... I have a new issue of Runner's World to read (the mail finally came!) and I just finished listening to a podcast about half marathon training, so hopefully that will translate into a good run tomorrow.  

Speaking of podcasts - I just started listening to them.  Does anyone else listen to them?  What are some good ones that I should check out?  I'm figuring that podcasts might help me keep up with news and sports back home, but I'm open to other topics too!

Another food post!

It seems that you guys like seeing what I'm eating.  One thing that I am loving is Japanese!  Typically, in the US, when I thought about "eating Japanese", what I really meant was eating sushi.  Don't get me wrong - I still love sushi and have found a great place next to my apartment in Singapore that makes an incredible chirashi (see below!), but in my short time in Asia so far, I've learned a lot more about Japanese cuisine!

These are the fattest slices of sashimi ever.

Tonight, I went out to dinner at a Japanese restaurant.  The menu was enormous, and I didn't really know what a ton of it was, so I pretty much just copied what my co-workers were ordering.  While we waited for our food to arrive, we surveyed the options on the conveyer belt.

There was some sushi on the belt, but everyone was commenting on how none of the sushi offerings on the belt looked very good, and I've always been a little sketched out by conveyer belt sushi, obviously.  So I watched what other people were taking and followed suit.

This actually is a type of sushi, but definitely not what you typically think of in the US!  This was a sweetened tofu skin stuffed with rice and tuna.  Sounds delicious right?  It was pretty good actually :)

I also had some octopus!

And then finally, my bowl of claypot udon arrived.  Its udon noodles with a tempura shrimp, an egg, and some vegetables in a soup.  Pretty tasty, and for only 20 ringitt (less than 7 USD), it wasn't bad at all.

After dinner, I, like a typical American, was craving a little something sweet, so I suggested that we go to ChaTime for bubble tea!  I've been getting some type of pearl milk tea every time.  Until tonight.  I knew that bubble tea was not exactly low calorie, but one of the guys we were with mentioned that a cup of the tapioca pearls was supposed to be equivalent to EIGHT bowls of rice!  That was enough for me to reconsider what I was putting in my bubble tea.  I had heard that the grass jelly is a much better option instead of the pearls, but the name "grass jelly" does not sound appealing to me at all.  But for eight bowls of rice, I could forgive the unfortunate name.

So tonight I had the roasted pearl milk tea with grass jelly.  

The verdict?  Just as good as the pearls!  Texture wise, the jelly isn't as chewy as the pearl, but I think I've also realized that what I really love is the taste of the milk tea!  So this is a good switch to make.  And yes - that is a box of Quaker Chewy bars you see in the background of my ChaTime :)  This is my last week in Malaysia for a while, so of course I had to stock up!

Speaking of snack foods - here is something that caught my eye at a grocery store in Singapore.  They were only $2, so I figured I had to get them.  I haven't tried them yet, but I'm nervous already.

Yup.  Seaweed flavored Pringles.

And then while we are on the subject of shopping - let me just rant for one minute.  Last weekend, I popped into a Uniqlo in Singapore, just out of curiosity really.  If you aren't familiar with Uniqlo, I think its basically like The Gap, except its Japanese.  Anyway - I was looking at their shorts (because I own way too many jeans and not enough shorts!), and there were two things that caught my eye.  

First of all - the sizes are in centimeters.  I feel like the mental sadness of picking up a size 61 and realizing that it is way too small is just a little ego damaging.

Secondly - and this is how I know I'm in Asia.  There was a sign on top of the display that told you what sizes were available.  The largest size that they made was a 73.  Um - 73 centimeters is less than 29 inches.  And that was the largest size that they made.  I read a story the other day about how the founder of Uniqlo wants to take over America and be as ubiquitous as J. Crew.  Well, I think they are going to make some bigger clothes then.  I think a 29 is equivalent to an 8 maybe?  It might even be a 6?  If you want to take over America, you can't only sell to people who are a size 6 or smaller!

And in the spirit of realizing how Asian Asia really can be - I bought some house slippers.

So the last thing I will leave you guys with tonight is a question - I am going to the US in a couple of weeks for work, and I am excited to be able to stock up on a few things!!!  Definitely on my list are almond butter, Simply Jif, and candy corn.  Chrissy told me that Hershey is making some pumpkin spice kisses that are supposed to be amazing.  So what else do I need to pick up while I'm in the US?  Any awesome new treats that I need to check out??  Tell me!

Today

Over here in Malaysia, it is the morning of September 11th.

I'm thinking about you today, America. I love you.

SAFRA Singapore Bay Run 10K

Sunday was my first race in Singapore!  I did the SAFRA Singapore Bay Run 10K, which was part of the SAFRA Bay Run and Army Half Marathon.  In Singapore, military service is mandatory for all men when they turn 18.  They serve full-time for about two years, and then they basically become reservists.  SAFRA is an organization for servicemen, so the race atmosphere had a lot of military feel to it.

The 10K flag-off was at 6:30, so I woke up early and had a granola bar before meeting Stephanie at Starbucks.  (Just a meeting point - strangely, coffee shops in Singapore don't seem to open too early.. the Starbucks we met at doesn't open til 8:30!)

There was a half marathon, a 10K, a 5K and a fun run, and there were about 70,000 people registered - huge!  By comparison, I think the Country Music Marathon event is only about 30,000 runners, and Singapore is a tiny island, so there were people everywhere!

The race itself went just okay.  I felt fine with the distance, but the heat, the crowds, etc really did not work in my favor haha.  Obviously, with so many runners, there were quite a few places where there were bottlenecks, and I spent a lot of time bobbing and weaving through the crowd.  There were a lot of bridges and tunnels where the street narrowed, and that made it challenging too.  But the route took us through parts of Singapore that I had never run through, so that was a nice way to explore!

Around the 8K mark, I was starting to feel really bad.  Even though I felt like I had been hydrating well along the way, I think the heat and the crowds were getting to me.  Stephanie said she was feeling pretty badly too (she's been sick all week), and I really think that we were overheating a bit.  The last 2 kilometers was a complete struggle - both because I felt so bad, but also because I really do think that they didn't mark the course correctly.  Stephanie and I both kept looking for the finish line, but at each corner we turned, we still couldn't see it!  Stephanie's GPS watch was even saying that 2 kilometers had elapsed, but the finish line was nowhere in sight.  It was really defeating.  The only thing that was keeping me going was the hope that I was almost done and water was nearby, but it honestly felt like forever before we saw that finish line.

We crossed at just under 1:14 according to the watch, but who knows what the official time will be.  I don't really care haha.  I'm not going to lie - this race was really tough for me.  Its funny because on the weekends I've been running later in the day and about the same distance as today's race, but this morning was so much harder than any of the runs I've done on my own.  I think that having all those other people around really took away from any breeze and made everything seem that much more stuffy and hard to breathe.  After the race, Stephanie said she felt like she had just run 12 miles instead of 6 - I can't really imagine if the race had been any longer...

And on that note, I am officially signed up for the Great Eastern Women's Half Marathon in November.  I was already nervous about the distance, but after today's race, I'm even more worried!! 

After the race and a hot shower, it was time for lunch in Chinatown!  I went to a place a few weeks ago that had an amazing shredded tofu salad that I haven't stopped thinking about, so I went searching for it today.

The streets of Chinatown.. its decorated for the Mid Autumn Festival, going on now.

Chinese water spinach sauteed with garlic - my favorite!

Soup dumplings, of course

And spicy shredded tofu salad!!!  I know it sounds totally weird and looks like noodles, but trust me, this salad is SO good.. and its only like, S$5!

I got on the wrong bus when I left Chinatown and ended up at Vivocity instead of my apartment, so I decided to do a little shopping before heading back.  As soon as I got home, it started raining.. seems like a good time for a lazy Sunday afternoon.. wish that I was watching football too though :)

A local dinner

Monday night, while most of America was soaking up the end of summer with barbecues, I was eating dinner in Penang, Malaysia.  Some of my team members took me to a local place and we feasted!  The team ordered everything.. I was just along for the ride... here's a look at some of what we ate:

Chicken wings.. not really what I imagined when one girl asked me if I like wings

Barbecue STING RAY!  This was pretty good actually.. tasted like white fish kind of but a little firmer?

Frog stew in chili and spring onions.. I ate this over white rice.. this super tasty!

Grilled corn.. obvi

This is a grilled eggplant.. looks like a giant flat fish haha.. delicious though.. its topped with some sort of garlic and oil mixture.

Chinese peanut pancake.. kind of like a crispier crepe with a sugary filling with crushed peanuts.. Delicious!!

After dinner we stopped at a new dessert place in the mall near my hotel called BlackBall for Taiwanese (woot!) dessert.

We ordered one of the original sampler.  This is black balls, red beans, yam balls, and taro served over some sort of jelly.  Not delicious.  I tried a few bites and that was it haha.  It kind of tastes the way it looks.

And we ordered one sweet corn sampler.  This is some more jelly, fresh corn, a corn granita of sorts, and more yam balls that you can't see under the spoons.  The corn granita thing was ok, but I probably wouldn't order this on my own.  I will probably stick with bubble tea from now on :)

Catching up in my new neighborhood

This weekend was my first real weekend in my apartment.  It still feels a bit fake, since none of my stuff from the US is here, but at least I am out of the hotel!

I have some rental furniture to tide me over until all my stuff gets here, and while its not the most comfortable or most aesthetically pleasing, it works.  Now I have something to sleep on and a place to sit!  I also have some basic kitchen stuff - dinnerware, pots, etc.  I kind of wish that my dishes from the US weren't coming - I feel like I pretty much have what I need!  But I do still want my bed and sofa to get here asap!!  And my haul of things from Costco :)

After being gone for two weeks, I had a million things to do this weekend.  Going to the bank was a one hour excursion, ending in the realization that they were absolutely no help.  When I went to the Starhub (mobile phone, cable, and internet provider), they quoted me a 30 minute wait time.  Gah.  But I was pleasantly surprised when I walked out of there 45 minutes later with a cable modem in hand.  I just took it home, screwed it into the wall, and my internet was live and ready to use!  No waiting for a Comcast person to come and install anything!!!  (I opted to not have cable television here either.)

I also bought some groceries... almond butter, chia seeds, oatmeal, fruit, and almond milk to get me through the weekend.  (Ps - I found 365 brand almond milk for $5!  A relative steal!)  I spent way more money than I normally would in the US, but I really feel like the sticker shock is wearing off on me - as evidenced by my comment about $5 almond milk.  But I am planning to get some jam, nuts, and probably more granola bars in Penang this week!

I had to go into the office to print and submit some expense forms (because it is 1980!!!), so I did a test run of my commute to and from the office.  Successfully got on and off the bus at the correct stops - woohoo!!  The actual bus ride is only about five minutes, but the total commute time just depends on how long you are waiting for the bus.  Fortunately, I downloaded a handy app to tell me when the next bus is arriving!

All the running around this weekend gave me some time to get to know my new neighborhood a bit better.  I live close to an area by the water called Robertson Quay (pronounced "key") that has some areas with shops and restaurants.

Bridge over the river

Evidently, a popular brunch spot - I need to check this out!

Stacked calls itself a dim sum bar.. never heard of such a concept?

I think that the area looks like I will like it.  There is a good mix of Asian and non-Asian food places to choose from, and it seemed like there were a lot of non-locals around too!

Aside from running errands, I also did some real running this weekend!  I was up early on Saturday and did seven miles.  I'm currently reading "Born to Run", and it talks quite a bit about form and stride, so I tried to think hard about not slouching and striking in the middle of my foot.  I was pretty tired when I finished, but I felt great for the majority of my run.  Yay!

Sunday afternoon, I braved the heat to go explore a park near my apartment called Fort Canning.  Its actually an old military fort that was used by British, Japanese, Malaysian, and Singaporean armed forces.  It is now a park and cultural venue that is popular with tourists and locals alike.

Ugh - those stairs

But most of the actual path was shaded!  But there were still lots of hills :(

Random sculpture

There is a sign that says "Sculpture Garden", but I only saw two sculptures?

Gothic Gates

Spice Garden

The internet says (so its obviously true) that you can do some good loops around Fort Canning, but part of the path was closed off, and I think I just got turned around too quickly, because I was only in the park for a little over a mile.  I took it as a sign to just take it easy and jogged back home.  In total, I did just over two miles - not a ton, but I didn't need to do a ton today.  Next time I will try to figure out a longer loop!

We don't get tomorrow off over here, so I'm headed back up to Malaysia tomorrow morning.  Its been weird to see everyone online talking about football and fall.  Over here, it seems as if there is no concept of the change in the seasons.  My favorite thing about Nashville was fall - the football, the cooler weather, the leaves!  Tampa obviously didn't have cooler weather or the leaves, but we still had football, and somehow, you just knew that it was fall.  Over here, none of that is happening, so its like fall isn't even going on.  Maybe once the Pumpkin Spice Latte comes out?  When is that?  Hopefully they have it here in Singapore!!!  

Hope everyone back home is enjoying Labor Day weekend!