Lost in Translation?

There is a video store near our condo and one day as we walked by it, we noticed an advertisement for a newly released movie:

After doing a little research, we learned that the "tt"s are really "ff"s.

The Istana (President's Palace)

The President of Singapore has a residence/palace very close to our school and on special occasions it is open to the public.  However, the closest we ever got to the actual residence was just in front of the palace gates.

Then, a week after National Day (similar to Fourth of July in America), the palace was open to visitors again, and this time we got in!

We were very pleased to pay the $1 entry fee.

The grounds were huge and the palace was impressive.

As we were walking around, we noticed a crowd of people gathering.  We went over to get a closer look and as we peeked through the crowd, we saw him: The President of Singapore, Mr. Tony Tan.

The President and his wife were enjoying the festivities of the day along with us common folk!

They even had their own nifty little golf cart to get them around the expansive palace grounds.

It was a great day at the Istana, and I even made a new friend as I exited the palace gates!

Zoo (with Meal)

We've been wanting to visit the Singapore Zoo because it has an open concept, which means that some of the animals walk, fly, or climb all around without being caged.

Here are the orangutan enjoying some sugar cane while we dine next to them.  If my brother was here with me, he would have said that the baby orangutan (far background) looks like me when I was little.

It's feeding time for the giraffes.  And yes, they do have a long, purple tongue.

This jaguar is waiting for its breakfast.

Of course, no trip to the zoo is complete without participating in a show.
Here, I race against an orangutan to shuck a coconut.

With more experience, bigger teeth, and the strength
of  5 grown men, the orangutan wins.

At an exhibit called the Fragile Forest, we were face to face with this fruit bat.

This is a beautiful white tiger, whose relatives come from India.

We had a great day monkeying around at the zoo!

Mashed Potatoes at 7-11?

After a month and a half of visiting friends and family in America, we are back in Singapore adjusting to the time difference.  As we answered a myriad of questions about life in Singapore, one question my sister asked struck me as most memorable: "On Jimmy Kimmel, he said Singapore has self-serve mashed potato machines at the 7-11.  Do they?"  My answer to that silly question was, of course, "No."

However, when we walked past a 7-11 the other day, I decided to go inside just to be sure.  Imagine my shock when I actually saw the machine that I had so flippantly rebuked.

I am not really dispensing mashed potatoes, just demonstrating the serving process. 

No, I did not try the mashed potatoes.  I have eaten snail, spider, fish cheek, stingray, snake wine, and lamb head, but even I have limits on what I'll eat!