Food and stuff

Singapore has 2% arable land and lists "fish and deep water ports" as it's natural resources.  Thus, nearly every whole food is imported.  Just did a shopping trip and have a sampling of items from around the world.

Bananas: Philippines
Beansprouts: Malaysia
Sugar Peas: China
Mushrooms: Japan
Onions: New Zealand
Beef: USA

Also found some chia seeds today, imported from Australia.  They were prepackaged and are insanely expensive compared to back home.  I guess the big health kick that chia seeds are associated with here is energy for runners.  The cashier asked me if I was running a marathon.  It's funny how these markets are created for "superfoods".

The Flat

I don't think my original batch of iPhone pictures did a good job of showing the layout of the apartment.  Here are some that I took on the first night with the camera.  I also did an MS Paint floor plan drawing.  I figure the whole place is about 360sq ft (12' x 30'), so not big, but functional when you don't have any need to store much stuff.

I didn't really take any pictures of the bathroom or closet area.  Maybe after housekeeping comes on Wednesday, I'll take some pictures of the bathroom :P

The apartment is on the 28th floor of a 30-storey building that sits along the Singapore River.  If I hang my head out the window and look to the left, I can see the Marina Bay Sands hotel (the three towers with a boat on top), otherwise my view is mostly all the skyscrapers of the Central Business District, Boat Quay, the Riverwalk, Chinatown, and Clarke Quay.

I also found out the approximate monthly rent for this place.  Fully furnished, housekeeping once a week, no fitness area, no pool.  Put your guess in $SGD in the comments and maybe I'll bring the winner a souvenir :)  $1 CAD ≈ $1.25 SGD
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Kitchen



Kitchen from the front door looking through to the living room.

Bedroom and living room.  There is a big window (almost the entire wall) between the bedroom and living room and there is a sliding glass door if you want to separate the bedroom from the kitchen.  I've yet to use it.

More pictures after the jump.

Picky Potato

Here's an interesting little food stand.  Their specialty is fries.  Fries with different seasonings and sauces, thick or thin cut, etc.  It's like a boring version of the Poutinerie.  The interesting thing is their slogan: "Picky Potato.  The beginning of a friendship between a boy & a bear...".  There's a whole back story to go along with the character (http://www.pickypotato.com.sg/about.php).  I'll copy and paste it after the jump.  I have no idea what they story has to do with anything, especially French Fries, but there's clearly a lot of thought that went into it.  Also, this appears to be the only location.  Maybe they're hoping for franchising, merchandising... a cartoon?
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Tissue Packs!

I mentioned earlier that the hawker stands generally don't have napkins, so you have to bring your own.  Everyone has their own little tissue packs, basically like a travel pack of 10 Kleenexes.  I found a fun set of Japanese tissue packs that I just had to buy!
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Chinatown

Last weekend was my first couple of free days to do some sightseeing.  My apartment is within walking distance to lots of shopping, restaurants, touristy stuff (reverse bungee jump, riverboat tours), and busy neighborhoods.  So last Saturday I wondered through Chinatown, which is to the southwest of where I'm staying.
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Traffic doesn't seem to be an issue.  It's very expensive to have a car here (I'll post something about that later), so most people take public transit.

More pictures after the jump.