another cliché
travel blog

Shortest fourteen hour flight ever. Stayed up till close to three pacific time, then slept most of the way. Routinely woke up with a mouth that was bone dry (an awkward feeling) so took a sip of water from a bottle that magically appeared itself in my seat and went back to sleep.

Made some progress on the transcript for The Web Ahead episode 113, but evidently mostly slept.

The connection flight was easy. Finished out the transcript and started reviewing and correcting it.

It’s almost 90 degrees and humid as fuck in Singapore. What the shit.

Got off the plane, took a cab to the hotel, changed, and started exploring. Ended up on Duxton lane, found a cute little bookstore, then found a Spanish tapas place, that of all things, had Jamon Iberico. That was awesome.

Justin met up with us, then the three of us walked back to the hotel, met up with Katie, and all four of us got dinner at The Public Izakaya. Meh.

Monday

Went to Sarnies cafe for breakfast/coffee, then worked.

Got dinner at that Indian chain Bethany and I had for lunch our last day in Delhi. Still quite good, but not quite as good. Will have to try the location in Sunnyvale.

Tuesday

Sarnies for breakfast, work. Got positively drenched on the walk back from the office to the hotel. Managed to borrow an umbrella from reception, but it was nearly useless.

Got changed, went to Blue Ginger for dinner. Not a crowd pleaser. Not bad, but not good.

Wednesday

Sarnies cafe for breakfast, then worked in the morning, then checked out the Merlion statue, walked around the bay, then grabbed satay from the night market thing at the base of the Google office. Talked about basic income, socialism, life, the universe, and everything with Mitch.

Thursday

Work in the morning, finished around lunch time. Checked out Arab street while everyone else worked. Poked my head into supermama, a cute little Japanese shop with amazing pottery and stuff, but they hadn’t opened yet. Told me to come back tomorrow at 7 for their opening party.

Very good dinner at Ding Dong.

Me:

• Duck dumplings in shiitake broth
• Carbon battered shrimp
• Duck tacos
• Scotch quail eggs

Katie:

• Chicken Cole slaw

Mitch:

• Mango 6 ways for dessert
• Main of some sort

Justin:

• Shrimp and broth
• Hamachi sashimi
• Chocolate madness

Friday

Checked out of hotel and into an incredible Airbnb, rented out by a nice young brit headed to a hen party in Thailand for the weekend. Got settled, then went to Forty Hands for coffee.

Got pseudo lost walking and wandered through the hospital campus. Holy crap it’s sparkly clean.

Had some coffee (passable) and a fairly tasty eggs Benedict with steak and curry spices (very good) at Forty Hands.

Met up with Mitch and Justin at Tian Tian, a stall in a hawker center known for having the best chicken rice (local dish that is exactly that). Simple, but great flavor.

Hiking in the treetops, chili crab at Jumbo’s for dinner, night market at the red dot design museum.

Saturday

Breakfast at Ronin, my new favorite cafe. Full stop. Had the best cappuccinos I’ve ever had, and French toast with whipped honey butter, pistachio crumbles, and blue berry compote.

After breakfast, walked around little India and Arab street. Sat out and had a couple beers and talked with Mitch

Grabbed the big bear burger (house-made bun, beef patty, egg, onion ring, sauce) at I Am. Damn good burger.

Went to the Gardens by the Bay, huge botanical gardens/arboretum thing. Quite pleasant. Realized once again how spoiled we are living in California. Half or more of the plants there grow like weeds back home. The California section itself was pretty amusing: mostly oranges with some grapes and thyme. Huh.

Dinner at Lagnaa (Justin had the fish curry, Mitch had the chicken tikka masala, and like four mango lassie, I had the palak paneer). Good, but not really remarkable.

2018 edit: Looking back from, Ronin is still my favorite cafe in the world.

Sunday

Cafe Ronin in the morning (iced latte and the dirty ronin sandwich, bread, emmentaler, “chorizo”, more like linguica, hard boiled egg, and lettuce)

Cab ride to Changi airport.

They have a butterfly garden, crayon rubbing station for kids, a koi pond.

Flight to TPE was uneventful.

Got mediocre veggie ramen. Boarded flight to SFO. Was happy to be home.