A Traditional Chinese Breakfast, Dim Sum

No matter what country or time zone, everyone starts their day a certain way. There was no better way to kick off our first weekend together than with a traditional Chinese breakfast, dim sum.

Matt demonstrating a traditional breakfast activity.

Shrimp Dumplings

Spareribs

More dumplings

Scallop Dumplings

We like trying new things, and that's no exception while we're traveling. The Mutton with Fried Garlic was the best dish of the whole meal. The mutton was very tender and did not taste gamey.

Mutton with Fried Garlic

Fish

Shrimp Steamed Rice Roll

Pork Dumplings

Jade Palace Seafood Restaurant: 583 Orchard Road, B1-13, Forum the Shopping Mall

Din Tai Fung, Singapore

Don't expect to find good deals on cars or clothes in Singapore. On the other hand, food seemed to be pretty reasonable and quite easily accessible. We made a reservation at Din Tai Fung. Din Tai Fung first opened a branch in Los Angeles and now has multiple locations throughout Asia. They are known for their Shanghai steamed dumplings, also known as xiaolongbao or soup dumplings. We didn't order tea, but they served it to us and then charged us for it.

Din Tai Fung's place setting. Slivered ginger spotted at 12:30 and tea at 1:00.

Shrimp on top of the pork soup dumpling.

The shrimp was a bit over done; so un-Chinese of them.

Din Tai Fung: 435 Orchard Road, #02-48/53 Wisma Atria

Singapore = Humid-a-pore

Singapore's Merlion greeted me upon my arrival. Created by the Singapore Tourism Board, it embodies Singapore's ancient fishing town name, sea-town, and Singapore's new name, "lion city."

After 27 hours of travel, I exited the plane and was enveloped by the city's nearly unbearable humidity. I knew from that moment, I would need to shuffle from one air conditioned building to another in order not to melt into a puddle of sweat. To reacclimate my body with the tropical weather, I walked very slowly.

On my first day, I walked very slowly to several shopping malls. Unfortunately, the Christmas decorations lining the street did not make the heat feel any less hot.

A shopper can easily find three of more identical fashion houses within one or two blocks from one another.

For lunch, I wandered down to ION Orchard Shopping Centre's food court.

Food courts are popular in Singapore. They had over 25 different stalls to pick from in ION Orchard. I choose Fried Kway Teow. It is a popular dish in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, consisting of flat rice noodles, crispy roasted pork and squid or oysters.

Fried or Chow Kway Teow. S$4.50 = $3.25US.

Fatty Weng Fried Oyster: ION Orchard Turn, #B4-04M, Singapore

For a later snack, I picked up a popcorn chicken pastry. The bread was very soft, very much like the texture of a fresh loaf of white bread. The popcorn chicken was not very crispy and the orange drizzle turned out to be cheese. It made for the unique flavor combination, but dare I say, too much for one bite.

Popcorn Chicken

Bread Society: ION Orchard Turn, #B2-19, Singapore

My early morning arrival would not be complete without the mention of Matt. He picked me up outside of Customs with open arms and a bunch of fresh flowers. For our stay in Singapore, we were housed at the Orchard Hotel. We recommend their Signature Club Deluxe with access to their Executive Club.

Briefly, he got stuck in the bathroom door.