A Night at the Museum & a Day at the Pool

Last weekend was awesome. Friday was Vesak day and thanks to this Buddhist holiday I had a long weekend. And to see the celebrations I didn't even have to go far since a was woken by a small parade in front of my apartment on Friday morning.

Vesak Day Celebrations

The day continued as good as it had begun, because in the afternoon I met a friend at Lau Pa Sat for some nice dumplings before we headed to the Asian Civilizations Museum. Those who know me might be a bit surprised, because usually I'm not a big fan of museums, but this one I can really recommend. It had several exhibitions about Southeast Asia, China, South Asia and Western Asia which were very interesting. We sat in an Arabic tent, explored Hindu temples and took pictures as Indian dancers, which was heaps of fun. If you want to check it out yourself and are on a budget, go on Friday evening between 7-9pm and you'll get a 50% discount (4 instead of 8 SGD).

 Afterwards we went inside the famous Fullerton hotel and continued to Esplanade. On the way we had an amazing view of the skyline and stopped for a little photo session. The evening ended with a free a capella concert. The band was like a Singaporean version of the German "Wise Guys" and the crowd (including me) absolutely loved them.

The Fullerton Hotel

 On Saturday I went to Antje's place to spend the afternoon relaxing at the pool. We had a great time as always. The evening was reserved for some extensive shopping at one of Singaporeans many malls. Shopping seems to be the favourite free time activitiy of Singaporeans because no matter when I enter a mall it's always super crowded. The only activity that actually surpasses shopping is I-phoning, I-poding and I-pading in the MRT. I seriously doubt that there is another place in the world where one can find as many I-Phones in one place as in the Singapore MRT during rush hour!

Enjoying Life^^

A "fine" Country

Singapore is one of the safest places in the world, but it definitely is also one of the places with the most rules and hightest fines for almost everything. Eating and drinking -especially Durian- in MRTs is illegal and riding a bike in the wrong places can cost you 1000SGD.

But when it comes to safety and crime  my neighbourhood seems pretty good. If 5 shop thieves are already unusual enough to be displayed in front of the shopping mall, I guess I don't have to worry about more dangerous crimes.

And even in the jungle the Singapore government takes care of its citizens.Though I think it's more likely that you see the low branch first rather than the warning on the ground :-)

These posters are displayed at every MRT station and there are many different ones. I like this one because it actually makes someone feel like they've done something for their health when standing in line^^

Checking out the President's Place

Since last Wednesday was a public holiday and a lot of my colleagues used it for some extended holidays, last week was pretty relaxed. On Tuesday evening the remaining marketing team gathered for a nice little BBQ. The food was all I've been craving for since leaving Germany: green salad, pasta salad, pizza, grilled shrimps & squid, sate, chicken and the list goes on... all nicely decorated at the BBQ pit next to a large swimming pool (unfortunately I didn't bring my bikini). After eating way too much the party continued with some Black Jack. But since I have never played it before and still needed my money to go home, I only watched the games.

On Labour Day it was one of the rare opportunities to visit Istana Park and the President's Palace. It is only 5 times a year open to the public, so I didn't want to miss it. The park was quite nice and the view from the palace was pretty good too. For 2 Dollars we purchased a ticket to see the inside of the palace... and I must say that I wouldn't mind staying at that place ;-)  Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take pictures inside. As Mr. President didn't seem to be home, we ended our visit and continued to East Coast Park. The afternoon was spent relaxing and hanging out at the beach.

Two short workdays later it was finally weekend again. Yesterday I explored the two parks that are only minutes away from my home, but somehow I hadn't gone there until then. Ang Mo Kio Park is right next to the MRT station and it took only 10 minutes to walk around the entire park. Somewhat disappointed I walked to Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park, which was the total opposite. It's at a nice little river and seems like one big playground for children. There were different lakes, an inline skating school, a normal as well as a water playground, people fishing & children feeding the fish, sports equipment etc... and all of this is only a 10-minute walk from my place!