The Weekender: O'Dennys in Singapore

Michael and I have said to each other multiple times in the last few days - Wow, what a fun weekend. This past weekend we were lucky enough to host our good friends Chris and Kate in Singapore. (You may recognize them from such previous posts). Neither had traveled to Singapore before so we were excited to show them our home and city. Michael and I thrive on lowering people's expectations to the point of trepidation and then blowing their minds with our awesome life. :)

A recap below:

The 'O'Dennys', as they are tongue-in-cheekly known, arrived in Singapore on Thursday just in time for dinner. We feasted at our favorite neighborhood KBBQ spot and were early to bed to tackle the steamy streets of Singapore the next morning. Friday I played local tour guide with compulsory stops at the top of the Sands hotel and lunch at Lau Pa Sat. 

Friday night we made plans for drinks on Club Street and dinner at Ding Dong - an Asian fusion restaurant located in the cutest little shop house just up the street from the heart of Club Street. I had been there before with some gals and knew it was a must-return local joint. 

The food was unreal...still patting myself on the back for this pick. 

Saturday morning we decided (I forced everyone) to embark on a 5k mild incline to the tree top walk at MacRitchie Resivor. It turned into a 12k adventure (the tree tops are only about 100 yards of that) but it's a great way to see a different side of Singapore. Snakes and lizards and monkeys, oh my! 

That headband tho. 

Is it cocktail hour yet? Why yes it is...

As a grounp of semi novice Singaporeans, we decided that we should try the much discussed 'local cuisine' - Peranakan. We went here. The origins date back to the Chinese decent into the Malay peninsula during the 15th-17th century (thank you Wikipedia). Peranakan food is certainly not something Michael and I would order and eat while watching She's All That on a Sunday night, but giving it a good college try with our venturesome guests was the right thing to do. Fish head curry FTW! 

"So what should we do after dinner?"

"I know! How about 3.5 hours of straight kar-a-o-ke?!"

... And goodnight. 

Sunday on our last day together we ventured over to the Art & Science museum to check out the new da Vinci exhibit. We had seen a banner advertisement during our walk on Friday and were all keen to check it out. 

After a little (okay, a lot) of satay for lunch the weekend was coming to an end. We sadly said bon voyage (literally) to our guests and watched them (not literally) disembark on a two week Celebrity Cruise around the region. [If you are into travel, big adventure and even better writing, follow their year-long journey here]

Thanks for a fun weekend guys! See you back at port in 2 weeks. 

XO,

CD

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Weekend Roundup

Happy Monday y'all! (Monday night from our side). 

We had a fun, casual and enjoyable weekend. A few pics and a quick recap. 

Friday, I had a meeting near Michael's office, so after I was done I took a little stroll to meet him. I swear I have walked in this area 10 times and just noticed the plants were in the shape of the world. In my defense the Asia side is much less noticeable :)

We walked all the way home - stopped for a happy hour drink - and made it home before the rains (story of our life). 

Still waiting for our things from NY. Empty fratio :( 

Saturday a.m. we woke up bright and early. Michael headed out to his flag football game (yes, he plays on a flag football team here) and I went for a nice little jog in the scorching equatorial heat. At least there are fun things to look at. 

Saturday night we went to dinner and out with a fun couple we have gotten to know. It was a super fun time. We started the night out at a local Mexican restaurant and followed up with a few cocktails at the Singapore Cricket Club - way cool. Unfortunately no pics...

On a less fun note, Sunday we went for a long run (hello 1/2 marathon training) at MacRitchie Reservoir. It was a combination of the Amazing Race, Survivorman and the M. Night Shyamalan movie, The Village. Look how much fun we had! 

^^^yes, we have matching camelbaks. to keep from evaporating.  

Side note: we saw a huge pack of wild monkeys(!) devouring a discarded bag of Indian food. It was the most amazing/disgusting thing I have ever. seen. 

...and finally we had brunch with our good friend Ted! He was here from NY on a business trip. It was great to catch up and see a familiar face :)  

Hi, Ted! 

Have a great week everyone. Go Chiefs! 

C

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Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore 2013

So one of the many downfalls of a 12hr time difference is I often wake up in the morning with multiple emails from Michael. They range from a quick hello to far more important things - I found an apartment, I opened a bank account, I signed us up for a 1/2 marathon(!?) 

{pause for reaction} 

Ya, I made that ^^^

Michael's entire office is doing the Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore event in December - they are apparently all freakishly active and fit. Somehow I got included and suckered into doing it against my will. After further thought we decided it will be a fun way to get to know our new city and achieve something that neither of us have ever done. It also comes at a point when we actually have the time to train (new city : few friends : few plans : lots of free time) 

I am currently running at my gym and along the East Side River in NYC. Michael on the other hand is (offensively sweatily) exploring some cool areas of the city and running among the natives: moneys, snakes and monitor lizards - oh my! 

Fort Canning Park 

MacRitchie Reservoir 

Side note: Michael injured his hamstring on day 1. After which he proceeded to go to the nearest 7-11 (who knew they had 7-11 in Singapore?) and buy a $15 bag of ice to promptly dump into the tub to take an ice bath. Ha, poor guy. I on the other hand trained for 3 days and couldn't walk by the 4th.  

Wish us luck! 

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