Day One: Arrival, Bugis Street, & Clark Quay

We sleep in today then head to the Concierge to pick up a map & some tips about navigating through Singapore. Everyone tells us to take a cab wherever we're going. They just can't fathom walking through the city with a stroller & a baby. Plus, the air outside is muggy & the roads a little confusing.

We decide to walk to Bugis Street, a shopping area visited by the locals. No name brands, just lots of little stalls & covered alleyways, very must like the LA Fashion District, but covered like the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul. En route we encounter our first obstacle when we exit the hotel & try to cross a street that is fenced off. There aren't any pedestrian crosswalks at the intersection, but there is a pedestrian overpass. Sweaty & smelling ourselves, we almost resort to hailing cab, but instead we lug the stroller up the flight of stairs, push it across the overpass, then carry it down the stairs.

Bugis Street is worth visiting. There are lots of stalls selling women's clothing, but we're hoping to explore and find more the next time we visit. All the women in the stalls would gasp & smile at Atticus. Singaporeans love babies and children. It's wonderful to see how easy they are interacting with Atticus. We haven't seen many babies around at all. Where are they?

We leave Bugis Street and happen upon Illumina, a shopping mall next door. We change a diaper, lug the stroller + baby upstairs to the arcade, then back down to another overpass to Bugis Junction, a covered outdoor shopping center.

Malls are everywhere in Singapore. A mall is attached to every subway station. They are adjacent and connected to one another, so it's easy to get from one to another without stepping outside. Shopping is a common Singaporean pastime. Plus, many restaurants reside in these malls, so many people come to malls to eat. The price of clothing is pretty reasonable too. I see lots of signs for 50% off and $10 t-shirts.

After a 3-hour nap in the hotel room, we head back out to Clark Quay (pronounced "key"), where many touristy restaurants line the waterfront. We are looking for a restaurant called Coriander Leaf, which is recommended by the Lonely Planet guidebook. Oh, that is mistake #1. The guidebook claims that entrees are $15-20, but we find out that they are $30-35, out of our price range. We're looking for cheap, good food, not fake fusion & pretentious ambiance. We get enough of that (fake fusion & pretentious ambiance) in Los Angeles. We wander around Clark Quay some more. See some single women walking about & wonder if they are prostitutes. Watch people watching the Portugal vs. North Korea World Cup game. Walk by a fancy Burger King with a bar. Finally, Joe calls & we catch a cab back to the Marina Square shopping mall. We walk around a bit, all three of us starving. We notice that the few Chinese restaurants are busy & filled with Chinese people, while the Thai restaurant & noodle shop are empty. The sushi restaurant is empty too except a few tourist families.

We meet Joe at a seafood restaurant called Fin. I order a soft shell crab over baked rice (with cheese) & Robby orders a pan-fried fish. Pretty good, though not so impressive that we would return. The food is certainly displayed well & tastes hearty, but it's nothing unusual. Worth $15? We're not sure.

What we're looking forward to the most in Singapore are the hawker food stalls & the Night Zoo. We have to go to Chinatown, Little India & Kampong Glam (Arab Street) for the good food, we think.

We go to bed at 11pm, but Atticus wakes up at 2am & doesn't get back to sleep until 4:30am. His body is still on Pacific Standard Time. Then we wake up a 6am, go down for breakfast, & Atticus & I send Robby off to his all-day consortium workshop. Oops, I'm already into Day 2!