October 17 (Part 2) - Foodie Blogging and Being a Tourist

I'm starting to think that this blog has become a foodie blog -- as I've devoted too many words and photos to the culinary part of this adventure.  But, alas, a fun part of all adventure travel is to stop the easy, comfortable path of "doing what one has always done" and food is a big part of the change. Anyway, that's my segue to continuing on the foodie theme for another paragraph!

Picking up from yesterday's posting, it had been suggested to me by a few different people that I should consider trying another Singapore specialty, Chili Crab (also spelled Chilli) -- so I did.  And if you've looked to see how many foods on CNN's 50 Most Delicious World Foods you've tried, you'll find Chili Crab at #35. (If you don't have time to follow that link, I'll give you a preview - #50 is Buttered Popcorn from USA -- and the only other USA entries are ice cream, donuts, ketchup, potato chips and Texas barbecue pork!  What, no In-N-Out Burger!  The list is obviously incomplete!)

To be sure, Chili Crab is expensive -- for a beer and the crab I paid $15 shy of what my 3 hour flight from Bali to Singapore cost -- but it was yummy, and messy, and I enjoyed thinking that someday I might get to share this delicious Chili crab with daughter Debi and granddaughter Amelia -- my fellow crab lovers in my immediate family.

 OK -- enough food already!  Until tomorrow!

In between the wonderful meals today, I also visited Singapore's "City Gallery" which was a perfect place to get oriented because of the large, beautiful, detailed model of the city:

My love of maps extends to these 3-D displays, and like the one I visited in Shanghai, I marveled at the detail while enjoying the overview of the city.  The entire, free exhibit is a city planner's playground as there were interactive exhibits to demonstrate the difficulty/challenge of choices in the geographically confined and combined City, State and Country of Singapore (278 square miles and a population of 5 1/2 million).

I'm not sure it will be visible on small devices, but I've had fun tonight labeling a portion of the display with the Buddha Temple, my hotel and the Maxwell Hawker Food Center -- just for perspective:

Thereafter I jumped on the light rail ("MRT") and found my way to Singapore's #1 tourist destination (according to tripadvisor.com): Gardens By The Bay which includes the Flower Dome and the Cloud Forest Dome.  I took a very leisurely stroll through both and found them beautiful and interesting (plants and flowers from around the world) as well as informative and educational.  The Cloud Forest had an entire, excellent exhibit and video devoted to educating on the adverse effects of global warming over the next century (the Republican naysayers on global warming should be required to visit!)

As with so much, photos aren't adequate -- but just for my memories:

I can hear my kids teasing now about my "head" photos in this blog.  Maybe it's time to spring for one of those selfie wands that are everywhere!