Chinatown and more

Hey everyone! I posted a few pictures that I took of Chinatown from tonight and the signs that are all written in different languages. I'm really starting to love the culture here but it's taken some getting used to being the minority. I love the people that I work with - we go to lunch as a group (7-8 of us usually) to either one of the 6 food courts in Singapore Polytechnic or one of the nearby Hawker centers - outdoor food courts with a million options of foods from different cultures to choose from. The best part is it only costs $2-4! So far I've tried Mui Fun (rice with seafood and veggies in a thick sauce), fried noodles, pork-stuffed steamed buns, chicken rice, Carrot Cake (not a cake in fact but a meal - sauted turnips and this spongy potato-like stuff and eggs) and a seafood soup that was really good. Not to mention I tried durian fruit today - it's this spiny fruit that has a very pungent smell to it and the taste isn't all that much better. Some people absolutely love it but I can definitely say now that I'm not much of a fan. I haven't done much shopping yet but I'm afraid this place is going to leave me broke by the time it's all over. 

There are a few things that I find interesting about Singapore I thought I'd share: they only use forks and spoons (no knives), everything is very open - everyone leaves windows open during the day and dries clothes on bamboo sticks hanging out of their windows because no one has dryers, they eat with two hands (fork in one and spoon in the other - or chopsticks in one and spoon in the other depending on the food), they drive on the left side of the road, there are a lot of outdoor eating facilities that provide hundreds of affordable options of foods to try, there are malls everywhere you turn, and all their outlets have a switch to turn them on and off. For instance, when we're not using a fan we turn the fan and the outlet it's plugged into off. 

Tomorrow is Friday! I'm so excited - plans for the weekend: shopping, Harry Potter, the zoo, and Chinese theatre!