Saturday, November 9, 2013

Some fruits and veggies from Thailand.

Like a lychee.

Welcome plate.

Oranges are green.

Morning Glory, or in the states, hollow stem something or other.


Mangosteen, queen of the fruit. Durian, the king, is a dud.


First time I've seen a red dragon fruit.
Normally, they're white inside.



Lansooni?  Looks like a longon from the outside, but tastes
vaguely guava-y.

Might also be the miniature version of a santol?



This is a very large donut.


Singapore Sling


Unusual flora.
Singapore was the second of the two layovers I scheduled into my trip, and is/ was, in a word, HOT.  I mean like steam bath, hot yoga, hot.  But so is Dan, my awesome friend who got stolen away from the states for two years to work there.  So it might have been Dan.

Blue skies.
Anyway, it was the end of some sort of financial reporting period for Dan, and up until a week before my arrival we weren't sure if he'd be available at all during my visit.   My backup plan was to sleep in the airport and taking advantage of the free bus tour the airport/ country provides to losers with layovers.  Luckily, everything worked out and Mr. Awesome was available for my shotgun Singapore visit (literally, arrive at 10 pm, sleep, wake up, explore until noon, and hop back on the plane).
Someone reads this thing!

His apartment was twenty minutes from the airport, so during the ride back, he gave me a quick explanation of the major tourist attractions.  I learned very quickly that Singapore is really tiny. We saw most of the sites on the drive to his place.


After some silliness and me presenting him with the homemade beef jerky I promised him, we hit the sack.

The next morning was a whirlwind of cabs, public transport, F1 sightings, tourist sites blocked by the F1 course, and something called ice kachang.  Think of it as dessert goulash.  Shaved ice, lychee syrup, red beans, corn, coco de nata (I think...) and sundry other things.  I might eat it again if it were prepared with slightly less syrup. It's unusual for me not to finish a dessert, and I was not nearly close.

Pictures!

Ice Kachang.
Dan is a fantastic photog.  (c) 2013 Dan P.

Not what I expected.
Not getting to the sites.


Some team.

Some other team.

Boat on a building.  No words.

Take that, adulthood.


Merlion, but you have to say it with the accent.  Mer-lye-EN!
Mine.