Not enough meals in a day

February 4th - As today was a holiday, Joe was finishing the renovations of his new apt. The condo is a real bachelor pad in a great neighborhood, with a pool, and reserved parking spot. It's a 2 bedroom / 2 bath duplex with an office / den. There is a wrap around balcony on the 2nd floor and a balcony on the first. It's been so comfortable and great staying with him.

We headed to breakfast where we had mee puk, pratta, and mee rebu. We drank teh tarik and teh tarik with ginger. Teh tarik has seriously become my favorite drink! Who knew aerated / "pulled tea" could be so good!

Afterwards, off I went on the MRT to Istana, the presidential residence that is only open on holidays. I stood in a queue for about 30 minutes and walked the grounds.

Technically the president doesn't live here but official receptions and state dinners are held here. The main building had very stately rooms and gifts received from countries around the world. I didn't see any from America but I did see South Korean earrings that were replicas of the Paekchae period and a royal crown. All the gifts - carvings, porcelain ware, and silver were very beautiful.

I think the highlight of the visit was a school band, probably high schoolers, playing pop songs. They were all dressed in their school uniforms and played songs from Abba, Queen, the Village People, Green Day, and Journey. As I missed the last NY Pops concert at Carnegie Hall with Allison, this was an awesome substitute on the Istana grounds with people picnicking and relaxing on the holiday.

I then returned to Joe's to finish packing for Bali. I was beat from all the walking which is good for me as I have been eating the equivalent of 4-5 meals a day and you know the best foods are oily and fried! I try not to feel guilty as I'm on holiday!

Joe and I headed out for some tea and we ended up getting mee goreng and some coconut treats filled with brown sugar called Putu Piring.

Seriously there's not enough meals in a day. Joe, Olive, and I continue to share dishes so I can try different Singaporean, Malay, and Indian dishes. What's amazing is everything is so delicious. But the majority of the time, Olive and Joe will say "this is good, but not the best. I need to take you to a better place / stall". I don't think I could really taste the difference and I feel so grateful on how much they have taken care of me.

Interestingly, in Singapore all the stalls are inspected and very clean. They get a rating between A - D. Joe says he won't eat at an A, because although clean, it's almost too clean and guaranteed to not be that delicious. I have only eaten at B rated stalls here. Joe says he'll go down to C but not down to D.

I'm currently waiting to depart for Bali on AirAsia (a low cost airline).

I will be back in Singapore after 8 nights in Bali. Will continue to send updates from Bali!