Singapore: Day 1

We decided to checkout Singapore's china town on our first morning in town. We arrived at our hotel around 1 am the night before. The flight from Tokyo to Singapore is about 7 hours, but we only change 1 time zone! We flew Japan Airlines (JAL) which let us choose our own movies. Awesome! On the way there we watched Sherlock Holmes and on the way home I watched Whip It, It's Complicated and Up in the Air. All movies I've been wanting to see!

Anyway, Chinatown. We checked out the temple first. We didn't realize that the temple had been closed for many months and was reopening today so it was crazy packed. I loved all of the colorful carvings and outfits though. It just makes you feel festive!

It was raining pretty hard this morning so Glenn and I wandered through a few of the market streets and stores and checked out the local beer, Tiger Beer, before heading to our first Hawker Center for lunch.

Hawker centers are stalls and stalls of food vendors, all under one roof. The food is super cheap, home-made quality food with an amazing selection. Most people go with a group and order a whole table of food to share.

We ordered some noodles with pork, soup with dumplings and a beer or less than S$10. After Chinatown, we headed to the National Museum to get out of the rain. The National Museum had a wonderful history section that chronicles the life and events of Singapore and it's people. I'm glad we went on the first day so that I understood the country a little better.

After the museum, we headed to the Raffles Hotel where the famous Singapore Sling was invented. Two please!

 After our drinks, we headed back to the hotel to relax by the pool for a few hours. I think we also took a nap in our room. Vacation is tough! After we got ready, we headed to East Coast park to check out the restaurants and outdoor dining. We were excited to try the famous Singapore Chili Crab.

 The crab was delicious although I highly recommend that you ask for the bibs. We did not. Lesson learned. The drunken prawns were good, but the crab was much better. A few beers later, I'd call the night a success!