Must buy everything Japanese

I think it's common knowledge that I heart everything Japanese.  There's a Japanese grocery store within walking distance from my flat, so I do some of my shopping there and pick up some unusual items that catch my eye.

I did not care for the beer. However, the caramels were delicious.

-

 

 

Fort Canning Park

The Allscripts office is on the 13th floor (no superstition here), with nice views of the city, marina, and a park that is next door to the building my apartment is in.  I would sit at my desk and look at the park and realized, those trees are taller than 13 storeys, that can't be right.  Turns out to be a 60m high hill in the middle of town called Fort Canning Park.  It was the site of Raffles', the founder of Singapore, first residence and an important fort for the British army.  Today it's a public park with gardens, heritage trees, preserved historical elements, and an outdoor concert space (they were setting up for Garbage the day I took these pictures).

-

Kinetic Rain

Some pictures and video of an art installation at the departure level of Terminal 1 at Changi Airport in Singapore.  Copper plated raindrops are raised and lowered from the ceiling to create different patterns.  I think Shaunna gave me a heads up on this one before I got here.
-

 

Canadian (2-for-1) Pizza

There's only so many Singapore noodles that one person can eat, so when I saw this delivery bike outside my flat, I figured I'd better give it a try. I went with the Canadian Classic: smoked turkey bacon (ummmm, ok), beef, pepperoni, mushrooms, tomatoes, onions; and the Singapura Special: spicy chicken, garlic, capsicum (bell peppers), red chili, chili sauce.

I'd say it's been the best pizza I've had here, but still nothing compared to back home.
-

BMWs for everyone!

I've heard that it's prohibitively expensive to own a car in Singapore, but finally decided to check out the prices for myself.  A significant part of the expense is the Certificate of Entitlement (COE) that all car owners must have.  The COE is associated with a specific car and is good for 10 years, at which point you must export the car, scrap it, or get another COE.  The program is intended to control the number of cars on the road and it's probably why the downtown streets of Singapore don't look like New York.  Bidding (yes, bidding) on certificates happens twice a month and the prices are insane and fluctuate wildly.

One of my local colleagues at the hospital and I had this exchange shortly after I started working here.
   Colleage: "How did you get to the hospital today?"
   Me: "I took the MRT (Singapore subway) and a taxi.  How do you usually get to work?"
   Colleage: "BMW."
   Me: "Ohhh, very nice!"
   Colleage: "Bus - MRT - Walk."

Check out the most recent COE bidding results below and some sample VW prices (SG$100 = $80 CAD).