A tamer but equally excellent Sunday in Sing Sing...

Family,

And a good evening to you from across the globe after another GREAT DAY in the Lion City. As I type this, my Muffin Puffin is already out and about on her first great adventure. That's right, kids - just 48 hours after leaving the Harbourfront office for the last time, Perfect Pumpkin and Yazz are somewhere over Bangkok en route to the first stop in their 2 week tour of Thailand - Chang Mai. But fret not, all those of you who are concerned for my lonliness (and I'm sure all of you are SO concerned) - because Money and Dan are back at Casa de Taylor! Granted, they are out and about at the moment, but hey - at least I've got peeps to keep me out of trouble.

On the running front, the Bull had a GREAT workout on the treadmill tonight, turning in a 21:24 5K. That's my fastest 5K in quite a while, and the first time I can remember since turning 30 that I was able to string together 3 sub-7 miles. Miller - I suggest some EPO for you come Thunder Road or the Corp Cup, because, to quote Ivan Drago (yep, I went there): "I must break you."

Recapping Sunday, it was a great one for Team Taylor plus 1. We got up about 11:15 or so (not bad considering that we'd gone to bed at 4, and we got out the door about noon for brekkie at (where else) Boomerang. I went for the Boomerang Benedict, and, as usual, it was SOOOOOO GUUUUUUUUUUD (peepy cheekies). We then wandered over to Clarke Quay, where we pulled the "Ang Mo" special for the second time in a month and engaged in one of my new favorite activities - The Open Top Bus Tour!

Seriously, I know that all the local Singaporeans laugh at all the Ang Mo's roasting into oblivion (although Yazz was turning THE ENTIRE TIME in an effort to "strategically tan") on the upper deck, but it's just such a GREAT way to see the city (which I really do think is beautiful), and when the shade does appear (which is often given the GINORMOUS storm clouds towering about 75,000 feet above us) and the wind blows through your hair (just like Fabio before that bird slammed into his face), well - it's a good trip. We did 2 of the tours (city and original - I actually still don't think I've done the heritage, but something tells me I won't be doing another one of these), and we got off at a new stop this time - Bugis Village. Billed as the "best street shopping in Singapore," I was thinking this was the ideal spot to get my cheap Tiger t-shirts. But ooooooooh, no - that was NOT to be.

Now don't get me wrong - there were PLENTY of clothing shops in this place. However, all these homemade Singapore designer specials were UTTER TRIPLE DONKEY TRASH ON CRACK. Seriously, I've seen some BAD clothes in my time, but this stuff was utter rubbish. I would describe them, but there are no words to describe the mix of bad fabric, redonkulously clashing colors, and insane prices. I think I'll just say, "cannot, lah" and hope that you all get my meaning. WOW. But on the flip side, I did get a REALLY good mango juice. I also got a kiwi juice (seriously - it was green, had the kiwi seeds, and they charged me the kiwi price of $1 USD), but when I sipped it and it had no taste, Jenny made the very astute observation - they gave you green dragonfruit. Odd, because GREEN DRAGON FRUIT DOESN'T EXIST. That being said, I really think I got duped with green food coloring and dragon fruit - the NERVE of those circus animals! But hey - I still drank it, and since it was 600 degrees, it worked a treat. It should be noted that we also saw Durian at this place, and Yazz and Jenny put their noses to the packaging to smell the seeds. The look on their faces was....PRICELESS. I wanted to buy one ($2 SGD), but the girls were having NONE of it. As for me, I say BRING ON DURIANFEST 5000, BABY!!!! After all, it was WAAAAAAY better than ox stomach.

We then wandered over to Raffles, where we walked around the lawn and the arcade to show Yazz the architecture of the hotel. Whilst there (Shogun, OSC, I hope you're ready for this), we also tried...wait for it...wait for it...MOONCAKES!!!! Now, if we just had the appropriate matching chalice to wash it down...details. I don't really know how to describe a moon cake (I tried the "Snow Mountain Durian Skin" flavored one) except to say it's a gooey, gelatinous rice and egg yolk ball filled with other gooey goodness of unknown origin. And whilst they were actually tasty, they were EIGHT BUCKS APIECE (and we're talking 3-4 small bites and it's gone), and so we contented ourselves with the samples and then headed on.

After that, it was over to the Marina Bay Sands, passing through the Esplanade underpass. This place is CRAZY, because on weekends you have all these teenage impromptu dance troopes gather there to practice their K-Pop and moves. Seriously - you really have to see it to believe it, but some of these kids can flat MOVE. It was like watching prep for "So You Think You Can Dance" (Season 7, of course).

When we hit MBS, we had a true highlight - a drink at Ku De Ta! After seeing this place with J-Wade, Rebecca, and Sven, we HAD to go back, and as it was a Sunday, there was no cover charge - BINGO, BABY!!!! It was wicked - we got up free, found a seat in the "dance club" section (but check out that infinity pool - not bad, eh? All for the bargain price of about $400 or so a night...), and had a beer whilst watching the sunset and the city light up for the evening. The music (being the David Guetta fan I am - Pop is Life, Puma!) was really chill and cool, the view spectacular, and those wasabi chips were off the CHAIN! Seriously - it was a really, REALLY cool experience. Getting our asses kicked in the casino, however, was NOT that cool.

I went in really excited about playing, but honestly the minimums are just out of control in that place. And since it was hard to even find an empty machine, clearly they've got ZERO motivation to lower the limits. However, Yazz did find Dean Martin's "Come Dance with Me," and I got to dance with "Lucky Luigi's Pizzeria," so all in all it was still fun (Team Taylor lost a combined $50 SGD in case anyone's curious). MBS - why can't you guys just put ONE electronic craps machine in there with a $5 or $10 min - come on, man! Sammy needs new shoes! Actually, I don't (no matter what T-Rowe and GC might say)...

After that we cabbed it over to Lau Pa Sat, where we GORGED on pineapple fried rice, dim sum, and some insane good Korean noodle dish that Jenny picked up. It was a quite, cheap dinner, and on the whole very well behaved (only 1 beer all day!). However, as we were EXHAUSTED from the night before, it was definitely the right call to pack it in and head home, where we arrived about 10 PM. JT then finished packing, called KJ, and did some last minute stuff, putting her in bed about 12:40 (I was in about 12, but you know me - I can't sleep until Muffin Puffin's there. Which means the next 4 nights are going to be rough...).

All in all, it was another GREAT day, and we had a blast. J-Wade, you guys have inspired us, man! We've now got a "tourist route" for people. Time for me to build another Excel spreadsheet!

Okay, that's all the news that's fit to print. Chat tomorrow!

Love,

Sam and Jenny