Getting Cultured in Greece

Singapore was the last leg of our fantastic travels around Asia, which meant on to our first stop in Europe: Greece! I had initially planned to go there for the amazing beaches, but like everything in life, balance is key. Before we went to the Greek islands to soak in some rays, we decided to see some of Greece's ruins and architecture.

Our first stop was Meteora, five hours north of Athens. Like we've grown accustomed to on our travels, Carolyn and I did some crazy, non-stop traveling to get to Meteora. We left Singapore on a six-hour flight to a nine-hour layover in Doha (Qatar Air was cheap and actually very amazing), before taking a four-hour flight in the morning to Athens, followed directly by a five-hour bus ride to Meteora. Pretty much 24 hours straight of traveling. It was worth it.

A couple of my friends strongly recommended visiting Meteora when they heard I was going to Greece. I was already sold because the name sounds rad (yup, rad), but was further convinced when they told me Meteora had five monasteries built on towering cliffs. They swore by it, so I decided I had to see it for myself.

One word: amazing. Two words: freaking amazing. The monasteries on cliffs were surreal. It almost looked fake; like I was looking at a real life post card. We pretty much spent the entire day trekking between the monasteries and soaking in the views of the cliffs and of the city below. Our entire time in Meteora equaled the amount of time it took to get there, but it was a a once in a lifetime, unique experience I was really happy I saw. Oh yeah, we also had gyros so that's good too.

Rad.

Beautiful views from up top.

My first meal in Greece: fry-filled gyro.

My bracelet buddy. He got mine from Thailand, I got his Greek one.

After our day in Meteora, we bussed back down to Athens so we could continue getting learned. The next day, we got up bright and early, and made our way to the Acropolis, so that we could get caught in a sea of tourists. Mission accomplished. It was great to finally see up close in person all of the "Greek images" I've always seen in photos. Not to mention that there is so much history behind each of the structures. We ended our time in the Archaeology Museum, which was expansive and really amazing. I didn't have the strongest urge to see Athens because of my "ruins fatigue" but I'm really glad I saw the must-see sights. We also had more gyros.

At the famous Acropolis.

  A lot of beautiful items at the Archaeological Museum.

A huge plate of mixed meats in Athens.

Now that our brains were filled to the brim was Greek culture, it was time to jet off to the Greek Islands to lay horizontally on sand. And eat more gyros. Tune in next time to check out these adventures. Same bat time, same bat channel.

VisEATing Singapore

**DISCLAIMER: Grab a bib. This is a food heavy post.**

It's been about a month and a half in to my travels and I've been really blessed to have seen the countries I have. Lots of beautiful architecture, serene beaches, and amazing food. It's a tough life. But with that said, there's something about Singapore that gets my heart racing and excited as if I'm in second grade again waiting to open Super Mario 3 on Christmas morning (Mario with a raccoon tail!). And I have a feeling I know why.

For those who heard me talk about my trip to Singapore last summer, you know how amazing the food is there. Chinese? Check. Indian? Check. Malaysian, Turkish, Japanese? Check, check, and check (you're welcome for not writing the "Czech? Check." joke). Knowing ahead of time the multitude of options Singapore had to offer, I came a little better prepared this time around and used a little more strategery when planning my food conquests. With a little help, of course.

My lovely friend Gitanjali (truly one of my favorite people) let me stay in her swank 42nd floor apartment complex (thanks, Accenture!), which I used as a recovery center between face-stuffing sessions. I love Gitanjali for many reasons, but one of them can be summarized with one of the first sentences she spoke to me when I arrived: "OK, so you have like ten meals in Singapore. Let's start planning!" Is there anything better than the love of food combined with Accenture's Delivery Method? Wait, don't answer that.

What can I say, she's lovely.

A welcomed stint of luxury.

The beautiful view from G's apartment.

My first meal in Singapore? Chicken and rice! One of the simplest and deliciousest meals you'll have. Gitanjali met me for lunch every day of my stay, where we mostly did our damage in Singapore's amazing food courts. I know everyone loves them some Sbarro's and Orange Julius, but Singapore food courts are a different animal altogether. You can get delicious roti prata, oyster omelettes, roast pork/duck/chicken, dim sum, soup noodles, dry noodles, satay. Pretty much anything you want, you can get. What happens when you have too many choices to choose from? You say yes. Most of our meals ended with groans of pain, but because our Sauron-sized eyes were larger than our frodo-sized stomachs, we were able to sample a lot of the food we couldn't decide between. We followed a similar routine when we went to the equally diverse and sprawling hawker markets at night.

Roast and steamed chicken and rice.

Tandoori chicken with naan and veggies from Lau Pa Sat hawker market.

Fried chicken and rice with Carmen. "Put an egg on it!"

It probably wasn't good for me that this hawker market was a five minute walk from the apartment.

Assorted roast meats...from a food court!

One of my favorites: chicken murtabak. Roti filled with chicken and eggs and dipped in curry.

Indian style fried chicken and rice.

It lingers so good.

Almond pudding and longan shaved ice.

My next partners in crime? Jamie and Carmen! I'm not only lucky that Jamie and Carmen have a great love of food and have the best recommendations whenever I visit, but they're also some of the most generous people I know. Carmen is some sort of magician at paying for the check without anyone knowing. I will learn these black arts some day, and will find a way to pay them back (but really, thank you guys). This trip, they took us out to some truly delicious meals. The first was Ippudo. I had always heard Ippudo had amazing ramen, but had never gotten to try it. I was not disappointed. The next meal they took us to was a first for me: Turkish. I didn't even really know what Turkish food was, but it turned out to be a really delicious meal at Ala Turka on Arab Street.

Drinks with Carmen at Clark Quay. Beautiful spot to enjoy the sunset.

Ippudo!

Turkish bread to be dipped in...

...this assortment of dipping sauces.

Falafel? No, faldelicious.

Turkish pizza.

Lamb-filled pastries. 

Turkish dessert called kunefe - shredded filo with a sweet cream sauce. Really tasty.

No trip to Singapore is complete without getting some chili crab. Near the end of my trip, Gitanjali, Gregor, Carolyn, Kent, Carmen, Jamie and I went to No Signboard to feed our cravings. Chili crab is the staple that everyone loves, but the real specialty of No Signboard is their salted egg crab. Between all the crab, lobster-sized prawns, and rolls, we definitely ate way too much, but if there is ever a right way to get a stomach ache, it's with great company on a warm night with some cold beers.

Giant deep fried prawns.

Salted egg crab. A specialty unique to No Signboard.

Chili crab!

Great meal with great company.

I haven't even gotten to my family yet! I found out last year when I traveled to Singapore that I have aunts, uncles and cousins in Singapore. Last trip, they spoiled me by taking me an a day excursion to Sentosa Island and feeding me authentic Singaporian food. This trip, I didn't want them to spoil me as much (just a little), but they still went over the top by inviting me to their house and feeding me a home cooked meal. For someone who had been traveling non stop for six weeks, a home cooked meal with family was exactly what I was craving. And you know what we had for dessert? Durian egg tarts!

The lovely fam bam.

A very welcomed home cooked meal.

Regular egg tarts, Portuguese egg tarts, and wait for it...DURIAN EGG TARTS!

My cousin Joleen told me that I had to, had to stop by the gelato shop she worked at to try some of the local flavors (I think she had one in mind for me). I stopped by her shop one day and her being the generous cousin that she is, wouldn't let me pay for a couple scoops of the good stuff. What is the good stuff you ask? Keeping with our theme, obviously the good stuff is durian gelato. It was remarkable how much like real durian the gelato tasted like. Singapore knows how to do durian right. And by right, I mean put durian in everything possible.

Durian gelato. My favorite durian concoction of the trip.

My wonderful cousin Joleen who has always been a great host to me in Singapore.

So far, you can see how lucky I am to be able to meet up with these great people in Singapore. But wait, there's more! By chance, my friend Mark was in Singapore for a short stay in order to fly out to Indonesia and it worked out that we were able to meet up for a night for drinks, dinner, and a romantic walk around Clark and Raffle's Quay. Mark has been doing his own traveling for the past few months doing some skiing, volunteering, and generally changing the world for the better. No big deal. It was so nice meeting up with him, sharing stories about our travels, and watching people get engaged on bridges while cheering them on and getting free chocolate (yup, that happened). Really a great night.

My date around the multiple quays.

So, what is it about Singapore that gets me all giggly? You'd think it was the food. And you'd be partially right. The food in Singapore is second to none (maybe Vietnam), but my excitement really comes from the people I get to spend time with in Singapore. Take away all the food and give me hot pockets for the week, and my excitement would be unwaveringly high. If ever the old adage "people make the place" was appropriate, it's for Singapore. Coming here is a constant reminder of how blessed I am to have so many lovely people in my life. That and that fact that I can eat better than hot pockets for the week.

Experiencing the "Real Bali": Pork Edition

Here's what I envisioned as Bali when I planned a four day stop there before heading to Singapore: gorgeous, white sand beaches surrounded by clear blue water. I'm a beach guy and I thought Bali was the ultimate destination for the beach lover. In my four days in Bali, I saw zero beaches, but still loved every minute of it.

There are a lot beach towns in Bali and a few just a short speed boat away such as the Gillies and Lombok. But because I had such a limited amount of time in Bali, and heard such glowing recommendations, I decided to first head to Ubud before deciding if I could find time to actually go to a beach town. Ubud is a small little town know for its cool art scene and surrounding areas of "real  Bali." What is the real Bali you ask? Well, I didn't know either, so I arranged a bike tour and went to check it out myself.

Ready to see the real Bali!

The bike tour was funtastic. Our group of six people were driven up to the top of mountain, then let free to coast down 25k of mountain, making stops along the way to see the aforementioned real Bali. Our stops included breakfast with a volcano view, rice paddies, tasting coffee pooped out by animals (not great), seeing monkeys that were not happy to see me, a Hindu temple, and a tour of a small commune (one had a mangosteen tree!). But my favorite stop was at a rice field where I was able to actually harvest some rice with the strongest 60 year old women I've ever met. They kept laughing at me when I helped them (probably because of my chicken legs), but it was a great time and I'm happy I could provide some comic relief for the hard working ladies.

View from the top of our descent.

Gorgeous way to see the countryside.

Enjoying some poop coffee.

Trying not to mess things up.

Rice paddies.

At a Hindu temple.

We got caught up in a Hindu parade.

A nice buffet lunch to end a 25k bike ride.

I also wanted to check out the unreal Bali, so one day I stayed in the main town of Ubud and explored the local shops and markets. There was definitely a ton of art everywhere, which gave the town a really colorful feel to it. There's also a really lively open air market where you can buy jewelry, clothing, art, and other trinkets. I've never seen more hardcore shop vendors anywhere in my life. They all spoke multiple languages, so they could bargain with all the tourists. Once you start talking to them, they literally won't let you leave until you buy something, grasping your arm the whole time. The bargaining goes something like this.

Me: How much for these pants?
Lady: 200,000.
Me: I only want to spend $40,000.
Lady: No, I lose money if I give it to you for $40,000.
Me: OK, no thanks then.
Lady: OK, OK, $150,000.
Me: No, that's too much.
(start walking away)
Lady: OK, OK, $100,000.
(still walking away)
Lady: $80,000! $60,000! $50,000! OK, OK $40,000!
Me: OK, thanks.

This whole conversation took place in 10 seconds.

Really fun experience at the open air market.

OK, let's talk priorities. Sure, I wanted to see the art scene and culture of Ubud. It was great and I really enjoyed soaking everything in. But the real reason I stayed in town that day instead of doing a volcano hike was because I wanted pork, and could only get this special pork in the middle of the day. My friend Stanley said I must, must, must get roast suckling pig at a small shop called Ibu Oka (stronly championed by Anthony Bourdain as well). It was apparently to die for. Stanely planted this poisonous seed in my brain and I couldn't get it out of my mind. I was a zombie looking for brains. Delicious, crispy brains.

Volcano, Shmolcano. That's what I thought as I took my first bite. And then I couldn't think after that. It was too delicious. Overall, I didn't love the food in Bali, but the roast suckling pig was so good. Too good. Juicy, crispy, spicy. The plate included the moist chunks of pork, a few thicker pieces of crispy skin, as well as one giant piece of thin skin that was absurdly tasty. I wasn't even really hungry when I ate it (had to line up early to make sure it didn't sell out), but it was so good I actually got hungry as I ate my first few bites. Needless to say, I got an order to go for dinner that night.

Round 1.

Round 2 - "Just a little cold; it's still good, it's still good!"

I know what you're thinking. What better way to end a great time in Bali than to sleep in the airport the night before you leave. I know how you feel, I felt the same way. As attractive as it sounds, don't do it. The security guards there strongly practice the art of douchebaggery (kind of like skullduggery, but different). They wouldn't let me sleep in the airport! They kept nudging me awake and telling me to leave because I wasn't allowed in the airport until two hours before my flight. I kept moving around the airport, being nudged awake after 30 minute pockets of sleep, and finally Captain DB (the leader of the douchebags) made me leave the premises. It was a fevered night of half awake altercations and Pringles (putting it that way, it doesn't sound too bad).

A great last meal in Bali...eaten outside of the airport. Captain DB got none of it.

Anyhoo, I had a great time in Ubud. Bali is a place I definitely envision coming back to see more of the culture as well as visit some of the famous beaches  and maybe actually climb that volcano I was eyeing. On second thought, me just want more brain.