UNCLE!

I awoke to a knock on the door, it was the made and she informed me I was to change bedrooms. This was both good and bad news. Good, because I get a bigger bed, and good because 3 models are moving into the apartment (all girls so they share one room). Bad because I don’t have easy access to the fridge or have a desk anymore. So as I write this I am in the main area, hoping that the cats will leave me alone and that my allergies don’t act up.

For my adventure on Thursday, I met up with my Irish friend Mags and headed to another hawker centre. In our conversation when we first met at the Internations gathering we talked about our desire to eat where the locals eat. This was exactly where we went.

Arriving at the MRT I made the exact same mistake I made the previous time I went to this MRT. I turned right when I should have turned left. So after 10 minutes with some wandering we discovered we were heading in the wrong direction. Back on track we found our establishment, Lavender hawker. We ordered a few beer and then took turns trying to find dinner for the evening. After a bit of walking I decided on a Beef noodle soup, Mags had Chinese carrot cake and something else I can’t quite remember.

With the events of the morning and the discovery I made with the past top up card I had purchased I had decided to make a phone call to explain what had been going on.  It’s always easier to talk than type a text message, mistake I might say. As my phone came up to my ear, it slid right into the soup. Smooth move I must say.  I immediately fished it out and in panic pulled everything apart to dry. Thankfully the phone was only half submerged and nothing was wrecked on it.

While enjoying our dinner a group of 4 gentlemen shared the table with us. Many of them retired but they were awesome to chat with.  This is the experience I look for at a hawker. Good food, good people. We learned which hawker were a must (old airport road and katong) as well as a lesson from the masters on using chopsticks.  This truly made the dining experience here so incredible.

Before I left I made note on what I would like to try soon. Turtle soup and crocodile. 

And the ground shakes beneath you

 I need to get back on track with regular updates for you guys. I am finding it more difficult to have stuff to write about when I am not super busy with modeling stuff right now. It’s the most interesting stuff I have to write about too. 

My continual goal has always been to meet more people and have fun. If I am not busy working, I will be busy making this adventure more than just that but an Epic Adventure Deluxe.

Today I went to a new area of town and met a new friend from Japan.  She loved answering all my questions on Japan. Naturally I had a lot of questions about earthquakes, World War 2 history, culture and food.  I found out that earthquakes hit Tokyo probably every second day. Most quakes are hardly even noticeable, just a stutter step, then there is the odd one that really shakes you. Ha-ha literally and figuratively. It can be difficult to communicate in much or Japan outside the major cities, but in Tokyo and Hokkaido it’s not too difficult. 

After this I went to go find some lunch at a new hawker. After wandering around I found my destination. It looked like a dump, most the hawkers were either B or C health rating, and I would rather not. So I went back to my trusted Tijong Bahru market. I picked up Bak Ku Teh. This is a pork bone soup, with many different spices. I had difficulty communicating with the woman my order, but a gentleman in a suit helped me order and explained that the woman didn’t want me to burn myself on the clay pot. It was pretty good, not my favourite thing though. I am not a fan of soups for the most part and now I have had soup 2 meals in a row.

My afternoon was slow, so I went for a run in my new riverside parkway. It was beautiful the whole way through. Running for close 2 hours, I managed to see a great portion of the parkway. It was incredibly hot out. I am glad I had so much water before my run.  I hate running with water in my hand. This was likely one of the longest distances I have ever run, somewhere in the 18 km range, so my legs are actually a little sore. No pain though which is good. 

My evening plans were to meet up with Aska for steamboat and some beer. Too bad the lineups and waits were close to 45 minutes, so we went and had Taiwanese food.  I had a pork rice bowl, it was pretty good.  I was hungry so forgot to take a picture. 

The cue room was our next stop. Aska and I decided to shoot some pool and have a few beers. Tiger is always the beer of choice here. I wish our National beer wasn’t terrible whether you talk about Molson or Labatt they both are sub par at best.  Aska put up a number of good games but I managed to edge him out in many of them. Most games came down to just the 8 ball. 

I am doing my gym/pool routine then will fill you in on yesterday. 

Riding the steamboat

 I didn’t write about yesterday’s Chinatown adventure, so I figure I would combine this with today’s travels. 

To start with huge props to Vanessa and Bremner for recommending I watch “the League”. It is easily one of my favourite shows I have ever watched. The smack talk that goes down in that is ridiculous. I am always entertained with that show, it will be rather sad when it’s all done. In one of my fantasy football leagues, I just made it into the playoffs. Two weeks and Shiva will be all mine.

Monday my usual gym, pool, go see agents. I visited with the ladies we talked about it being a slower time right now; it’s not me that’s not been busy, its everyone unfortunately. I have stopped worrying about what will come of this. If I can keep a positive attitude and keep adventures rolling then that will have to do. I mean of course I want to work and make money, but you can’t force something that’s not there. Patience.

We discussed more of the cuisine I have tried, and the latest hawker centres as well as the possibility of me taking off for a few days over the Christmas holidays. Hopefully I can find out about a cheap fun place to go.  I have been chatting with Curtis in Australia we are going to try and find a place somewhere here in SE Asia.

After heading off from the agency, I decided to grab myself some lunch. Today, after a discussion with Brenna I had a tickle in my stomach that could only be satisfied by Phad Thai. This kicked the crap out of any Pad Thai I have had in North America. Sorry RawBar it did the trick but has got nothing on this delight. Stir-fried rice noodles with eggs, fish sauce, tamarind juice, red chili pepper, plus bean sprouts, shrimp and tofu, garnished with crushed peanuts, coriander and lime. All of that plus the Thai condiments (crushed peanuts, garlic chives, pickled turnip, cilantro, lime, spicy chili oil, chili powder, vinegar, fish sauce, sugar). While eating my unsatisfactory cheap chopsticks gave me a small sliver on my lip.

Next stop CHINATOWN, to buy? CHOPSTICKS! I meandered around Chinatown for hours, so many small little shops and things to check out. Tailors trying to pull you in, my iPod and sunglasses worked like a charm. I would love to buy some ivory chopsticks or Apple wood or Marble they all look great, but me being me, bought the set for $1. Cheap bamboo ones, with writing of my initials. I almost bought 3 watches for 10 bucks, they had much nicer ones in Chinatown than Little India, but I decided against this for today. 

Spotted this Pub " Tai Mai Shu"

This building made me think of Star Wars Episode II

I was in a walking spirit so decided to find a hawker centre. I asked Barbara (Ms. Googlemaps) and to the Zion Riverside Food Centre I go, approx., 45-minute walk. I spotted a Ferrari dealership along the way and tried to get pictures, but they were all inside and the windows were tinted. Bummer! For dinner, I relied on lines and signs indicated I was to have Chai Tow Kway or Carrot cake. The guy had awards all over his hawker stall, and watching him brought a smile to my face. He truly loved what he did; he was the Brian Flanagan of Singapore Carrot cake. I asked for it to go, not entirely sure why. I think because I had discovered this wonderful riverside walk that would take me all the way to my apartment in just over 2 km. This was a spectacular site, worth another stop for sure. I think I will read books here. 

As for today, well pool and gym obviously. I had a great opportunity to catch up with Kelly and Vickie over Skype; they were being silly about being on video because apparently they just finished spin class. I told them they still looked pretty, and its true. It’s always funny chatting with them they are always so cheerful and full of laughter.

My adventure today was rather simple, my goal was to get lost in the downtown area and find my way back. This is very easy to do with the underground network of tunnels between buildings. Similar to the +15’s back home you can make it everywhere without going outside. This is quite advantageous when it’s say 38 degrees outside.

I found my favourite crepe place and had their Sesame chicken crepe, read my book for a bit then headed home.  I decided I would take this opportunity to enjoy the nice weather and read my book in my newly discovered riverside park. This is exactly what I did. Taking in the nature and the songs of birds I sat on a bench and started Carte Blanche. Interesting, I am James Bond. He is described as 6 ft., 170 lbs. and black hair (I have brown but close enough).

After that and I quick run back to my place I set out to find Ikea, umm I mean the Alexandra food centre. And that I did! After wandering for 15 minutes, I came to the decision to order a steamboat and a chocolate avocado juice. The steamboat is essentially a soup in this awesome dish with lots of fire. The soup consisted of fish, vegetables and tofu, so I had some rice on the side for an extra .50. Looks really cool:

The chocolate avocado juice was simply avocado juice with cocoa added. It was good, but I think I prefer the normal one, the bitterness of the chocolate proved to be too much for my buds.

Next stop groceries. L For the first time they didn’t have any Gala Apples. So I bought Asian pear, grapes and carrots.  I also found something that is a Singapore delicacy. Nonya Kaya. This is a jam type spread made from coconut, sugar cane and some sort of local fruit Pandan. I will get back to you once I try it. 

A walk in the rain

 With a beautiful morning under my belt, I spent time poolside followed by some time in the gym. The standard for a morning. I contacted my agent here to see if anything new was happening. To my disappointment nothing again. It’s a slow time of year, but I will keep optimistic. I did work 5 jobs in 2 weeks.

With such a beautiful day out there I decided to take a walk to the Botanical Gardens and read my book. Walking by the Embassies, British, American and Thai I developed an appetite and picked up a Korean bbq hot plate.  It was good, by far better than any food court food back home. 

Feeling content and energized I made my way to the Gardens. The same gardens I visited with Alex a week or two ago. It started raining when I was ¾ of the way there. The rain continued for at least another 3 hours. After stopping at a bench for a bit the wonders of the gardens intrigued me and I pulled open my umbrella to explore.  I walked around for 2 maybe 3 hours just amazed. The things I saw were so foreign to me. Next time I go I plan on checking out the Orchid Garden.

I have been terrible for distracting myself and forgetting to write. I checked out the ginger garden, the evolution garden, the rainforest and the healing garden they were all incredible. Here are a few of my favourites for the rest check out the album I loaded onto Facebook

After walking through only a portion of the garden I was ready to eat again. I pulled out my trusty google maps and asked her where the closest hawker centre was. In luck I was only 1 train stop away from Holland Village Hawker centre.  I decided to try something new. Laksa and Otah were on my menu for the evening.  Laksa is a curry-based dish with cockles, shrimp, cuttlefish, vegetables and wide rice noodles. Otah is a fish paste, with spices, wrapped in a banana leaf and cooked over charcoal fire. This is one of my favourite dishes so far. I keep saying this. I never realized how much of a foodie I really am.

I thought this was interesting to spot at the train

Sexy women popping up everywhere

 The pool was great last night. It really helped me feel cool again. 

I had a pretty standard morning, wake up eat something, and I think it was oatmeal and an apple. I pulled out the DVD for Insane abs and did that as my workout for the day. 40 minutes of insane cardio and abs exercise. It was awesome, even with the A/C set at 16 degree I still was a ball of sweat.

I had a meeting set up with the ladies at the agency to pick up my allowance, take care of some picture things and to film two more casting videos. One video was done to be casual and another one a little more formal, dress shirt and dress pants.

TIP: Wear solid colours. Stripes and patterns take away from your face.

After we finished these, Vivian and I went to go grab some lunch. She helped me find a beef noddle dish that was awesome. After grabbing this I headed back to the agency avocado juice in hand.  Shortly after sitting down, Geri showed up at the agency.  She had just bought herself an iPad, completing her Apple family. We discussed meeting up to go shop a bit and check out some fly cars in the garage.  Pat handed me the address to my next casting, a commercial casting for Axe Body spray.

It would be about 45 minutes until I arrived at my destination. Google maps gave me directions but Barbara was way off. She wanted me to walk an extra 4 km. You can’t always trust the lady in the box.

After doing some standard video casting stuff, where you introduce yourself and show your different profiles, we dove into the meat and potatoes of the ad. This will be for a TV commercial. This is one of my first times acting so it was fun and exciting. For those of you that know me, I am always up for a challenge and learning something new. When I don’t get challenged is when I become bored and unsatisfied.

The scene is to have me come out from the shower (this is the mirrors view), I check out my face see if I need to shave, decide I am satisfied and then pick up my body spray. I spray it all over. Then a noise out of the corner happens. I kind of imagined a POP! Very animated type pop. And then beautiful women from all over the world start popping up. I am supposed to be curious, then surprised, followed by elation, satisfaction, excitement and happiness. This was a real test for me, as I know how I would in these situations and I was required to be much more expressive. Cool!

I have no idea how many men are going to these castings, but I will remain confident.  

For dinner I had Clay pot Gung Bao Chicken legs and congee. It was great. But way to much carb for me with the congee. Thankfully it was on the side so it was much easier to portion control.