Berry's SEAJ trip Day 46: Exploring Singapore (7/21/15)

Wake up a little late and have lunch with Jeff nearby his place before he heads to work and I head into town to explore a little bit. I go to the botanical gardens which are a lovely and big park with tons of trees and orchids all around and a free museum about the role SG played in revolutionizing the rubber industry. Was a nice walk around as the shade made it not seem as hot as it was.  

Let the park exploration begin. Berry is excited to see what this park has to offer.

A-bear-ently quite a bit. We have some time so let the walking commence.

I feel like there was either a wrong translation or the arches were named before it became a thing.

Nice green space in the middle of the city. Berry wanted to go play but we have a park to explore.

This guy was just hanging in the plants nearby. 

Berry found a beautiful flower as we walked around the park. 

There was a visitor center midway through the park that had many little waterfalls in the area around the building.

Here are some more of the fountains. 

Berry likes music so we took a picture once we found their amphitheater which puts on shows occasionally. 

A path past the theater leads to a lake hut. 

Nearby the theater there is a sign for the botanical gardens. We werent sure why there is a sign of the place in the middle of the place but at least we knew we werent lost. 

Berry and I were both wishing there was a show happening as this would be a cool venue to watch some like music being played.

Berry likes the waterfall. so we decide to go inside it.

Inside a waterfall. Like a boss!

Berry made an amphibious friend on our walk in the park.

Statue in the park. That is many birds in one statue flying away. 

The path around this lake gets swallowed by this tree. We decide not to risk it so we take another route.

Berry and I stopped to enjoy the carvings on the wall before moving on with our walk.

Berry and I both loved the variety of orchids in this park. Apparently they are doing breeding to get all kinds of different color combinations.

Berry checking out some other beautiful flowers.

So many different colors!

BEAUTIFUL! Berry is in heaven.

Come to find out this park is a world heritage site. I seem to be drawn to these places on this trip. 

Ok I swear these are the last pictures of flowers for a little bit. They are just so pretty its hard to resist (and to be fair, I only put a few of the many pics of flowers I took so you are welcome)

Awesome chandelier - read on to know why.

Science chandelier is correct if that is what you guessed.

These monitor lizards are all over the place. Big guys. 

They have this area in the park which takes you through evolution of the planet from creation to us. Pretty cool concept since I know a few places that would not allow this to be made. Thank you singapore for embracing science instead of running away from it.

Berry tried to make friends on the evolution walk but the lizard wanted none of it.

After a  couple hours strolling through the park, I get to Clark's Quay to walk around seeing that area before finding Brewerkz and having a sampler of beers that are all OK; it is the first time in 1.5 months I have had a beer that wasn't a lager so that was nice. Dylan, whom I met in SR, found me and we walk around downtown Singapore and end up at satay by the bay to have some satay and some BBQ stingray among other things.

I have made it to Clarks Quay. Berry loves the modern feel of everything.

This area is full of cool buildings/art installations.

Target acquired. I am set to meet a friend here in a little bit so might as well go have a beer.

Little flight of locally made beer and Berry is happy. A bear after my own heart.

Found Dylan and started walking around the area. 

The architecture is all over the place in this city. But it is beautiful regardless.

Panorama shot of the bay in front of us. 

The ferris wheel used to be (might still be) one of the biggest in the world.

Dylan took us to see the merlion fountain. Not a bad view.

Clearly we werent the only people wanting to see the lion. Berry wants to go check out the Marina bay sands so we head that way.

Eating some food at Satay by the Bay. Delicious indeed.

We then stop and enjoy the light show in the artificial trees that are coordinated to a series of songs, some of which are Disney After exploring different buildings in the general area, we get some beers and hang out near one of the metro stops in a park and just chat before we head home. The city is pretty cool, especially at night as all the lights change the city and make it even more pretty.

Starting to get dark and the city starts to light up. Pretty impressive hotel.

These were the trees that had the sound/light show. Was awesome to be able to just lay underneath and watch and listen. 

Wanna watch the trees do their thing?

As we walk back I see the reflection of the sands in the water infront of us.

Looking back at the ferris wheel as we call it a night.

A not so good panoramic shot of the bay sands area lit up at night. 

The other great thing about being in SG, water fountains; I no longer need to carry around water bottles or, more importantly, have to buy water. The expansive and reliable public transport and public restrooms are also a big plus. I understand why people enjoy coming here to work/visit; you get a taste of Asia without having to brave going to the “dangerous” places that I was just in. I get back and hang with Jeff a bit to figure out the rest of the trip as he is off the next few days while I am there.

Berry's SEAJ trip Day 45: On to a new adventure – Singapore (7/20/15)

Checked out of the hostel and hung out a little bit to do some more planning before heading out to get some lunch and one last kao soi (had 2 fruit shakes cause I like them that much :) ). Get back to the hostel once the rain stops and I wait there until its time to grab the red taxi to the airport. As I am waiting for my flight, I decide to get some pringles to snack on and eventually board the plane for the quick flight down to SG (direct). Get to the gate and the sky-walk (thing that allows people to walk on/off the plane) will not move. Takes them ~30-40 minutes to realize people used to board planes via a stair case and that they could still use them. We get off the plane and I am trying to connect to the open WiFi so I can contact Jeff who was coming to pick me up to let him know about the delay; however in order to get the open/free WiFi, you have to find a kiosk and get a password and I cannot see any of these kiosks so I try to just get through customs and find him. They need his address as I am staying with him, and I need WiFi to get into my email to get his email so they point me to one of the kiosks and I get all that settled and get my bag and find Jeff who is waiting in the waiting area for arrivals. Jeff is a friend I met on my travels a few years back in Switzerland and figured if I am in the SEA region, I should drop in and hang out a bit. So we get in a taxi and arrive at his place where we hang out a bit before I shower and head to bed. I make 9 people in a 3 bedroom apartment, 4 of these people are in my room. Its impressive the number of people they crammed into this place and somehow it all worked wonderfully.

Berry's SEAJ trip Day 44: Picking up the blazer – final day in SEA (7/19/15)

Met Alys and then grabbed lunch at a vegetarian restaurant (Taste of heaven) cause I wanted to try their Kao Soi; they were out somehow.

Berry likes the blazer as do I. Good call Alys! 

After eating we head to tailor to see the blazer and it looks great and I can tell it is red; I don't understand my eyes. After hanging a little bit more, we part ways as Alys has a train to catch. I go back to my hostel to hang out and meet Tomas, a dutch student who graces me with his presence for the night. We get food at a restaurant near the sun night market and explore that area for a little bit before walking around the city and winding up at the jazz place for just a few songs before heading back to the hostel.

Berry's SEAJ trip Day 43: Blazer conquests day 2 (7/18/15)

After sleeping in a bit, I dropped off my laundry then head out to try and find some curry requests for Takao. The hostel lady sent me to central plaza as I have not been able to find these things as I walk around the city. I get to the place and find versions of the items Takao asked me to bring them. I decide to get food there and they have this weird system where you pay a cashier who puts the money on a credit card and then you go to the window you want to order from and give them the credit card. Get back to hostel and do some planning for the rest of my trip as I wait to meet up Alys for dinner and blazer check up. After that we walk to the sat night market so she can do some shopping. As is normal while roaming these markets, we nibble on food here and there and eventually we grab some beers from the 7/11 and return to my hostel to chill in the lobby for a bit before heading to bed.

Berry's SEAJ trip Day 42: Seeing Red (7/17/15)

Slept in a bit and decided that being in SEA I should get something made. I meet up with Alys for lunch and then we head to some tailors (I would never do this alone as I have learned over the years I cannot be trusted buying clothes without a stylish eye with me).

Become a Jedi they said. It will be worth it they said. This is us trying to figure out a color for the jacket.

Get to Ambassador Fashions and the guy comes and starts showing us different swatches of cloths and trusting Alys' judgment, order a red blazer to be made. After he gets my measurements, we head over to green bamboo to get a massage but they have a wait, so we make appointments for later and walk around. We are walking down this alley and stop at a place with about 10 people in it and the longer we sit there, the more peculiar this place is to me; all the patrons are older white expats drinking a bit, and all the servers are pretty local ladies sitting and chatting with the guys as they check on the other tables. My guess was that this restaurant had something else going on other than the food/drink service. I brought this up with Alys and she had similar thoughts. After we get out of there, we head back to get our massages and I get an oil massage, which is more my speed. It was pretty good and definitely what I expect when I go to get a massage. After this massage, we head back to the tailor for a first fitting where he drapes a vest over me to get a feel of how it fits to see what needs to be adjusting and what not. The weird thing is the cloth looked black to me when he put it on; but they both say its red so I go with it. We leave and she goes to a boxing match and I head back to my hostel where I run into Ryan, so we chat for a bit. We decide to go grab some dinner and check out the jazz coop. So after grabbing some grub at the south gate food area, we get up to the jazz place which had the same flutist as last night playing with other people. Second band was jazz music with vocals. They really do a great job at this place. After they finished we went back to our hostel for the night.

Berry's SEAJ trip Day 41: Back to Mai, my final stand in SE Asia (7/16/15)

Started the return trek to CM after packing up the bike. On the way back, I stopped when I got hungry for lunch and it turns out to be a resort called cabbages and condoms. I thought they mislabeled the sign or it was graffiti, but nope, that is the name of this resort; they have giant wooden cutouts of condoms all over the grounds with messages.

Definitely not a typo. Berry doesnt know what to think.

One of the signs on the resort's premise. Saw family eating together, such a weird place to bring kids I feel.

Found the kitchen, had some OK food and then got back on the road. I get back into town and return the bike with no hassles; this was by far the best bike I rented on this trip as it had really good breaks (some hardly have breaks to begin with) and mirrors and was just a pleasure to ride. Makes sense it was in such good condition as the rental place shared a wall with a mechanic and as soon as I dropped it off, the mechanics took it over and started working on it; I am not sure if the previous bikes I rented in my trip ever saw a mechanic. After that I got a fruit shake from the bamboo lady across the street and checked back into the hostel (capsule south gate hostel) before heading out to sell my lonely planet at a nearby used book store (he was impressed with the condition of the book and I told him I probably opened it 3 times – I found out the days of using travel books is on the decline for me). After that had some more tasty Kao Soi before heading back to the hostel to chill for a little bit before meeting up with Alys for dinner. We ate at the south gate food market before grabbing some beers and heading up to the Jazz coop; tonight featured instrumental jazz bands, the second of which had a jazz flutist which I thought was a joke from anchorman but this dude tore it up and was awesome to watch/listen to. After we closed that place down, we started walking towards her hostel and made the horrible/awesome idea to eat a the burger king there at the east gate.

Front row center for some Jazz flute action. Didnt know this was actually a thing until tonight (only other time I had seen this was anchorman) but this guy tore it up. Berry approves of this message.

If you dont believe me, see for yourself.

Berry had a few of the local beers tonight and now we are listening to a guitarist. Great music all night.

Going into the burger king in Thailand. Never a good decision but it had to be done.

Found out the onion rings tasted exactly the same as I remember but the chocolate shake didn't taste right; either I haven't had one in so long, they changed the recipe, or they use different stuff over there. I make sure she gets to her hostel before making the trek (~30min) walk back to my hostel. I shower and try to sleep but some drunk ladies falling over themselves makes that hard but I eventually get to sleep as they pass out.

Berry's SEAJ trip Day 40: Chiang Rai FC match day (7/15/15)

Woke up and met up with Dani whom I had met a few days earlier and she expressed interest in joining me as I go to see a football match, so we plan to scoot around together and see a few things. First thing we go to is the Singha park to take the trolley tour (free) so that we can feed some giraffes and zebras.

Berry and I climbed a hill at our first trolley stop to get a lay of the land. Such a beautiful area!

Berry and I are getting ready to feed some animals.

You feed one giraffe and the rest of the animals get jealous and want some too.  Berry wants to try.

I am showing Berry how to feed  a zebra because we must treat the animals equally :)

Now berry is feeding them. Brave lil bear.

We are all out of food but Berry enjoyed feeding the animals. 

The tour doesn't have a lick of English (kind of expected that) so you just go along for the ride to see the views until we get to the animals and are able to buy buckets of food to give to them. After finishing up that tour, we head up to the Black house. The white temple and the black house are artistic temples that CR is known for among tourists. Get there and the main house is this huge temple looking building with tons of skeletons, furs, etc. (another temple of death) throughout. It too is a group of buildings with similar motifs, some of the buildings are pretty cool looking, ex. One group of them are orbs with furniture inside for viewing. They even have black swans in the water next to the buildings.

The main temple of the Black temple complex. Berry is ready to get inside and check it out.

This was a golden dragon throne thing. This temple was more about weird artwork and furniture than anything else (from what I got from it)

You may have a bear rug, these people have an alligator rug. Granted it is on a table but yeah - taking the rug game up a couple notches.

A really long table with horns on it. Oh yeah and another alligator skin.

One of the side temples as we walk around the grounds. Berry likes the dark wood on all the buildings.

Some different looking buildings in the area (with more to come).

Group housing? We enjoyed the look of these buildings.

Then we came upon this walkway to this spectacular lone temple. Berry says go see it so we walk down the sketch path.

Doorway to the temple. FANTASTIC! This might be my favorite temple doorway I have seen yet.

These were the homes that inspired the architecture from Star Wars. Not really but they looked odd (especially for where we were at) but the inside had similar dark furniture.

Cool place to stop and look around to see some different artistic endeavors. After this it is time for the day's main event, the Chiang Rai United's match against the Army team; their national anthem is a song with video accompaniment with pictures of their leader doing various tasks which I found pretty weird and to me had many hints of what I think about when I imagine of propaganda used in communistic societies. The stadium is minimalist (think high school football stadium) but with decent restrooms and food/drink that is not price gouging like in America Had a drink or 2 throughout the game. The play made me want to have many more; I really wish I was joking by saying this, but I honestly think the varsity team when I was in high school could have stood a chance and maybe even beat either of these teams. The ball movement/control was sloppy and the striker for the home team was a complete whiny baby anytime a defender was within 5 ft of him. In the stands, the concrete benches (no back rests or recognizable seats) rose up the side of the stadium and we happened to sit right in front of the cheer section for our side of the field; they have 3 chants that they constantly repeat, one of which is a lady gaga song that they have changed the words. Game ends at 0-0. After the game, we head back to the hostel and I chill a little before bed as I head back to CM in the morning.

Berry excited we get to be front row center (no seat assignments) for the local team's cheer captains.

Teams taking pictures and doing the anthems. It was around this time the super-propaganda video would play.

Panorama of a now decent day for a match. Time to rage.

Kickoff the ball already. Berry wants to see some Thai football action.