Singapore, dust off your credit card, prime your stomach and dive right in.

Singapore at dusk

Ditch the image of Singapore as a dull, sterile Utopia – scratch the surface and you’ll discover a strange brew of Chinese, Malay, Indian and Western cultures, a rich social stew that’s anything but boring. Sure, the graffiti-free trains run on time, traffic jams are nonexistent and everyone looks clean-cut and wholesome, but who needs pollution, poverty and chaos? Although, graffiti in LA is more art then vandalism.

Singapore is a lot  about eating and shopping, but after the sweaty treks around Indonesia, air-conditioning was a wonderful thing!   You can find great eats for under $5.00, when you pull up a pew at a hawker centre, crack open a Tiger beer and immerse yourself in a munificent range of Asian delights; heavy on the flavour, light on the wallet. If you want to splurge, Singapore delivers Southeast Asia’s best shopping and innovative, stylish restaurants, plus a swathe of top-notch hotels. The streets are lined with glitzy malls touting brand name stores on a grand scale, like, Prada, Louis Vi ton, Gucci, Rolex, Cartier and any other expensive brands you can think of. The stores make Rodeo Drive look like Wall-Mart!

Colorful array in the Marina Sands Mall

The Shops were fun to look in and people watching was even more fun. The crowd was dressed to the nines!

 Top of the tree is Raffles, a timeless symbol of colonial opulence. Of course, it’s not all about shopping, eating and G&Ts on the veranda. 

The Lawn at Raffles

Work up a sweat walking around the city in the year round temperature of 75-85 degrees or check out the contemporary arts scene, thriving under the government’s promotion of Singapore as an arts hub. If you want a break from the urban confines, the centre of the island has sparkling reservoirs and leafy tracts of forest where all you’ll hear is monkeys clattering through the boughs. The Botanical gardens are awesome and the Quays along the river bank come alive at night, offering live music to suit every taste. It reminded me of New Orleans in a strange kind of way; all the little ally ways leading to great restaurants and bars.

The Lion City is more than I bargained for and after five days I began to feel the same as when you stay to long in Vegas. Speaking of Vegas, there is a casino in the Marina Sands Hotel, (that's the three tower extravaganza with the infinity pool on top) and it has some very peculiar rules. The casino has overwhelming architecture (like most of the city) and the locals must pay $100.00 entrance fee or a $2000 annual fee to gamble there. Foreigners pay nothing to enter but you must produce your passport for inspection, (can't get in without it) three times going in and twice going out! Ron told them "in Vegas they take your money without showing anything!"

Christmas in Singapore, is as you can imagine, over the top and it must take a month to dismantle the elaborate decor on Orchard Boulevard. I only snapped a few pictures because we were so busy gawking.

75% of the population is Chinese, 10% Indian, 8% Expats and a huge population of imported labor from Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia. The government housing is beautiful, but after all, Singapore is the third richest country in the world.

Condo's at Keppel Marina

Marina Sands triple tower. There is a restaurant, disco and infinity pool on the 57 floor surrounded by trees. The view from the top is awesome

View from Marina Sands Mall

Lilly Pond outside the Space Museum. I felt like I was in a Jetson's cartoon! Oh yeah, you can catch a glimpse of the worlds largest Ferris wheel just in the background.

Lilly

Infinity pool on the 57th floor.

Slow Dance is in the Nongsa Point Marina in Batam, Indonesia; a 45 minute ferry ride over to Singapore. We had the great pleasure of making some new friends there, over the New Year. Nongsa Point is a lovely resort with a nice marina and large swimming pool. The beach is nice, water is clean but the place just isn't making it financially. "Build it and they will come", hasn't quite panned out for these guys. Outside the marina you will encounter a dirty third world city with a gigantic shopping mall as the main draw. The resort will bus you to the mall for no charge and it takes about 35 minutes to get there. The stores are geared toward the primarily Muslim population. They even have a Polo store for Muslim women! Sweaters with berka type head coverings. The food court is delicious and cheap but the grocery store was sadly lacking in fresh produce. After visiting Singapore we sorely want to move on from here. The good thing was meeting Todd and Barbara, who were on their boat, named "Fishhead". They came over to bring in the new year on their island, (yes, they own an island, here in Indonesia, about 2 hours from the marina; how cool is that!) Ron and I were walking down the dock when we ran into the party at Todd and Babara's boat. Also here for the New Year were friends of theirs, Tutor, Paul and Sue, with their young son, James. It was love at first sight as as they pulled us up a chair and placed cold beer in our hands. The music was awesome, everything from Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, to Cafe Del Mar, and the red wine and champagne weren't bad either! A truly fun group. Ron and I were in need of some fun, after all the young idiotic crew that had passed through Slow Dance over the past year. It was great to meet such a  fabulous, successful, interesting, group of mature people! Paul and Sue invited us to their boat for a New Years Eve dinner and party. It started to rain heavily by 7PM and didn't stop, so we moved the party to Slow Dance because she is more spacious and much drier. Todd and Barbara turned up at the marina because they got rained out on the island, so, it turned into a great spontaneous party.

Todd and Barbara grew up in California but have lived in Singapore for many years. Todd works for GE in the aerospace market and travels around Asia leasing airplanes as well as conducting other aspects of the company business. Todd revoked his American citizenship and now holds a Singaporean passport. (Not an easy thing to do, as Singapore citizenship only happens for a very few people. You don't even get it if you marry a Singaporean or are born here to foreign nationals ) Some may think that's crazy and unpatriotic, but let me tell you it has it's benefits! Besides the obvious advantages, personal  income tax is 15% and they have no capital gains! Health care is amazing and yes, Singapore is expensive but the pay scale is relevant to the cost of living. Also, the Sing Dollar kicks ass against the US Dollar. Just don't spit on the street, drive drunk, or do drugs and it's all good!
Todd is a celebrity for several reasons; his personality, and his brand, "Fishhead" which makes everything from tea-shirts, bikini's, coolies for your cold beer, calenders with babes wearing the Fishhead bikini's, and much more. (Google it) Todd took Ron and I around to Putri marina in Malaysia, which is 10 minutes across the bridge from western Singapore. We traveled to Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia all in 8 hours! We also visited Raffles marina, in Singapore, so we could check out where we might move the boat. Todd and Babara are well connected and it was fun meeting all their friends. Barbara has been with her company for many years and manages a large sales group in Scientific equipment. She travels to China frequently and other parts of Asia on business. Barbara was absolutely inspiring in her dedication to the gym (and it showed because she looks trey-fab) so Ron and I are now getting back on an exercise routine. Thanks Barbara!

Paul, is a good friend of Todd and Barbara and fellow boat owner from Australia,  married to gorgeous Man-fey (I am certain I have spelled it incorrectly but that's how it sounds)  Paul is quite a character and has brilliant stories. My favorite was about the time he rode his Harley Davidson through Cambodia. Paul is a commercial marine engineer and when he gets tired of the rat race he spends time back on his ranch in Australia near the great barrier reef.

Ron and I stayed at Todd and Barbara's for a week and besides all the fun roaming the city and meeting up for drinks, I cooked a nice dinner party for all of us. Paul and  Man-fey brought the appetizers of Satay with Malay peanut sauce and fried shrimp. Paul gave me a lesson on the difference of peanut sauces. Malay peanut sauce is much tastier then Indonesian and Malaysian versions. Most Malaysians left Singapore but a few remained and are now Sing citizens and have created a special type of their cuisine. Great wine, good conversation, and lots of laughter!
  

Paul with a nice glass of red wine and that's Todd to his right.

Paul and Barbara

Paul, Todd, Man-fey, and Ron, who has a weird shadow around his head from the camera. The brace on his arm is due to a small fracture and nothing serious.

Missing from the photo's are the Grilled Lime Chili Chicken, Fillet Mignon, and avocado salsa.

Roasted Corn and Black Bean Salad with Grilled Shrimp.

Mexican Quiche. They said real men don't eat Quiche, but these guys loved it!

Peanut Sauce, Malay Style. 

Hot and Sweet Fruit Salsa that went well with the Chili Lime Grilled Chicken.

FRUIT SALSA

1 Mango ( Diced)
1/2 Pineapple ( Diced) 
1 small Green Pepper ( Diced)
1 small Red Pepper (Diced)
2 small red hot chilies (Diced)
1 long Green hot chili (Diced)
2 large limes or 4 small limes-Juiced (no pits)

Mix all the ingredients together. Use less chilies if you want a milder salsa. Use a dash of salt to bring out the flavors. Pour some of the lime juice over the mixture and taste. Then add more if needed. Easy and so delicious!

Roberson's Quey

Todd and Barbara's neighborhood

Ferris Wheel

Christmas Tree at the Space Center, made from Lego's.

Ingredients for the dinner party. Very fresh!

On top of the world, 57th floor after Jersey Boys.

That's all for now. Love you and miss you all. Next posting will be from Malaysia. Can't wait to explore all the wonderful flavors and see what's cooking. Hope to see everyone in March or April.
Signing off; The Captain and the Cook.