3 Days of Singapore: How an Ambassador would Do It
Meeting new people is always nice and exciting.
But after a while new becomes old and past is wanting for future. Last week, I had the luxury of hosting part of my past: Freddie le grand!!!! (as well as now new-old friend, Walt disney!!!).
Already, only a month in this city and I felt like a young ambassador showing it off, from historic Raffles, merry Sentosa, to ippity Clarke Quay (pronounced 'key' f.y.i.). In terms of my knowledge and diplomacy, you'd have to ask the boys how I scored. But in terms of tastes, I know without a doubt all bases were covered. In all, I guess you could say that our time together-- Srah, Freddie, and Walt-- could best be described by a series of tastes...
First, there was Durian.
Bright and early Wednesday morning, before setting off for the day I dared the boys to try something new-- and bold-- for breakfast.
Never again.
If you have ever tasted durian, then you would know why-- if not, you should look it up. It's no wonder these signs are popular warnings throughout Southeast Asia: http://blog.tropicalsky.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/no-durian.jpg
It took five hours of beach and sun to get the rotten (garlic? or p****?) smell off of our fingers. Eating durian in the morning is a bad, bad idea.
Our taste buds then wandered to the ah-so-famous Singapore Sling.
The Sling is Singapore's historic drink. In search of it, we traveled to the iconic Raffles Hotel where in 1910 the drink was invented by a now iconic historic bartender whose name evades my memory. Unfortunately, after learning that 24$/drink would be our price and, hence, out of our league we settled on finding it elsewhere.
Luck have it Sentosa island was having a 1-for-1 (forget 2-for-1) on all drinks. So we order 4 slings for 30$ thank you very much Mr. Historic Bartender, only to quickly discover it's 30$ too much-- the Sling Sucks (sorry Mr. Historic Bartender). (on a side note: the mojito's also sucked... may have been the bar, or, what I've concluded, typical of Singaporean drinks....).
On our way back to the mainland, after a day of bad tastes I was craving a good chocolate. Indulging my senses upon finding the only imported stall, I happily purchased the best 20$ brownie of my life.
Taste buds relieved, shock therapy over, we head over to Clarke Quay (Key) for a night of drinking and dancing. Pre-drinks in order, buzzed to spins, with the boys sharp in their tailor made shirts we quickly get rejected from the clubs.
Unfortunately, flip flops don't "go" with tailor made.
Looking for the next best, we make our way to Clinic. Known for its atmosphere-- wheelchairs, operating tables, and IV drips-- I decide to join the ambiance and order myself one red IV drip, please!
Let it be said, Clinic is the place to be seen. But what all the onlookers have never known until now is that the thing to see is a bunch of tipsy tourists getting ripped. Fifty-dollar non-alcoholic kool-aid does not make a great cocktail...
As Obama's cousin (yes, I did just casually throw her in) told us: "Don't put my face up on Facebook, I don't want people seeing Obama's cousin drinking koolaid."
Blunt. Well said. (few words omitted, like "shit", "fuck", and "waste" (but only I could know the full extent of that last word...)).
Anyways, 50$ later we leave, I as drunk as when I came only slightly more sugar-buzzed and armed with a nice 2 hour photo-shoot with IV drip.
Defeated, we begin the trek home stopping, but of course, at the Golden Arch for one last taste to complete the day.
Tab for the day:
Durian: 2$
Singapore Sling: 30$
Other Drinks: Lost count
Hawkers: Part of Surviving...
Brownie: 20$
IV Drip: 50$
Mccy D's: 6$
Priorities: straight
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