I didn't really do anything blog-worthy last weekend.  I saw a movie on Friday night (Friday night is movie night), went shopping on Saturday (went to like 11 malls), and went to church and relaxed all day on Sunday.  Although my girlfriend, Ronna, did make adobo and rice on Sunday.  It was really good.  Adobo is a Filipino dish that is basically meat in a mixture of soy sauce and vingear.  Other than that it was a typical weekend.  Since not too exciting occurred last weekend I decided I would use this blog to talk about my daily life here in Singapore.  First off is my apartment.  This is my room.



It is pretty much just a bed and some cabinets.  Very basic.  Here is the living room.



Here is the kitchen and believe it or not I have been cooking a lot lately.  I even found a store that stocks Mexican food so I have been making some Mexican food.



Right behind the kitchen sink is the laundry room.  Unfortunately we have no dryer so we have to hang dry everything, but that is very common over here.



Next is the bathroom.  The shower has it's own room and the toilet has it's own room.  The sink is out in the open between the two rooms.  Not my favorite set-up.



And this is what the apartment complex looks like from the outside.  It is a group of many tall buildings that spans a few blocks.



We are currently sharing the apartment with Ronna's friends.  The apartment is ok.  It is a bit basic and dirty, but it is cheap and near downtown.  Although we are moving out at the end of March as are lease expires.  We are going to get a nicer, smaller apartment as there will be less of us sharing it.  The apartment complex has it's own hawkers area or canteen.  Hawkers are street food vendors and a canteen is a place where many hawkers are located (like a food court).  I have only eaten here a few times as we usually eat out in the city before coming home or I will cook.  Here is part of the hawkers area during the day so it is not too busy.  They are much more active at night.



You can find all kinds of food and drink here.  Mostly Asian stuff of course.  The food is also cheap here at the hawkers.  There is also a park near my apartment where I like to workout and run.  Here is the workout area.



Here is a shot of the park.



There is a running trail that goes around the park so i like to run a few laps and stop at the workout area to do some of the other exercises.  I try to run early in the morning or at night to avoid the heat.  The weather is still nice over here, but it can get a bit hot during the day and it will only get hotter and more humid.  If you notice in the picture about is a bridge on the right side.  There is a pond in the park and the pond is filled with these guys.



I also spotted this guy hanging out around the pond.



You know me and animals.  So I like to sit around and watch these guys.  Most days I go downtown to have lunch with Ronna.  This is the local canteen or hawkers by her work.  There is a really good Thai food stall here that I like to eat at.  Ronna enjoys the fried fish soup.  That is actually what we had for lunch today.



This is the street that Ronna works on.  It is a row of old colonial style houses that has been remade into offices.



I often see all kinds of fancy and expensive cars driving around here.  You can tell this is a serious business area.  This is Amoy Street.  Finally I want to show you the MRT or subway that I use on a daily basis.  Around here public transportation in critical.  Most people use the MRT and buses to get around, but you still find plenty of cars.  Here is the gates of my local MRT stop (Tiong Bahru).



I have something called an ez-link card which I load up with money and then I scan the card everytime I ride public transportation.  So I will scan in and out as I travel instead of paying cash and I just load up the card with more money whenever I run low.  It is very easy to use and much better than using cash all the time.  Here is the waiting platform for the train.



As you can see it is empty right now.  I was actually heading downtown for lunch when I took this picture.  I must have been ahead of the lunch crowd.  Here is the unside of a train.



Again you probably noticed the train is not too full.  Sometimes the train can be so full that you have to wait for the next one.  It just depends on time of day and location.  I really enjoy riding the subway because it is such a different experience from what I am used to back home.  We have no subway in San Diego and instead we drive our own cars everywhere.  I am enjoying the different experience, but I do miss having a car sometimes.  Having your own car can be a lot easier at times.  The other cook thing about the MRT stations is that most, if not all of them, are located either under a mall, next to a mall, or has a mall built into it.  The floor above my local MRT station is my local grocery store.



So I usually go eat lunch with Ronna and then shop for groceries on the way home.  Over here you pretty much shop everyday or so since there is not a lot of room to store stuff and you don't want to have to carry a bunch of stuff home.  Above the market is a mall with all kinds of shops, restaurants, and a movie theather.  Here is one of the MRT stations that has a mall built into it.  This is Tanjong Pagar MRT station, which is the MRT station near Ronna's work.  As you exit the MRT you are lead down aisles lined with shops (food, clothing, etc.).



These shops solely exist and survive off of the people who use this MRT station.  This is the food court area of the MRT station and in the background is one of my favorite restaurants.



It is a Japanese restaurant that has a very delicious chicken curry bowl.  I eat there usually once a week.  Well this is just a sample of some of the places and things that make up my daily routine.  I hope you have a better picture of where I am and how life is like over here for me.  My impressions of Singapore is that it is a very nice, clean, and friendly place.  It is definitely a mix of East and West.  You can feel both influences here and it has created a place that I think is unlike any other in the world.