8/31/2013 - Tanglin Halt Peanut Pancakes

I needed a creative break from the family adventure and also wanted to catch up on the current comings and goings of our lives in Singapore.  Hoping to journalistically pop back into Hanoi and start back up with the tour of Southeast Asia tomorrow.

One of the great parts about the family adventure is it has inspired us to try and do something new and different each weekend.  We got off to a good start last weekend by venturing into uncharted waters and a new hawker centre.  Our unsuspecting target, Tanglin Halt Peanut Pancakes.  Much like Doc Brown, I needed fuel.  I had a lot of expense reports to catch up on, which in Singapore is a rather dangerous, physical activity what with the copious amounts of scotch tape that are used as well as the ever present danger of a life threatening paper cut.  Lots of griddled pancake batter, peanuts and sugar seemed as good of a solution to this problem as anything and much tastier than dumping banana peels and old cans of Miller Lite into Mr. Fusion.

Step 1 - determine the best way to arrive while minimizing the inevitable amount of sweat on a sunny, Saturday morning.  We opted for the bus, the MRT was going to result in a switching trains which usually means you get to the bottom of the escalator just as your new train is pulling away.  Unfortunately, if you take the bus you need to pay more attention than two people planning out the rest of their weekend were doing and suddenly we were one stop past where we should have been.  There is a 30% chance we were laughing about someone on the bus' weekend outfit.  No further comment.  As it turns out, the Tanglin Halt food centre was in between the stops we had to choose from anyway, so no major detour.

Step 2 - actually finding the right stall once you have gotten yourself into the proximity of food centre, still while trying to minimize the impact of the tropical sun.  Two busy street crossings later, we found ourselves weaving through slower walking pedestrians on a side path next some large HDBs. Finally, we saw the telltale sign of smoke wafting over a large building and knew we were close. Once inside though, where was it?  This place was larger than our local Empress Market food centre.  It turns out, it was pretty easy, look for the longest line and sure enough, everyone is waiting for their weekend morning breakfast treat as well.  I got in line while Sarah went in search of a table for us, preferably near a fan.

Step 3- figuring out how much to order and how long would I be waiting?  I was out of the sun, but an open air hawker centre with a roof isn't exactly the temperature of an indoor skating rink (yes, still sweating).  10 minutes later, the line did not seem to be moving, so I put my roughly 14 inch height advantage to work and peered over the crowd of people.  What I saw could have easily been the inspiration for the Henry Ford's assembly line, if the assembly line comprised of one individual.  An elderly man was bouncing back and forth between 2 large skillets the size of garbage can lids, a bucket of crushed peanuts that Oscar the Grouch could comfortably live in, two cooling racks and a preparation area.  Highly efficient, but also a little time consuming, this turned out to be the reason for the slow wait.

15 minutes later, I was at the front of the line and watched him take a fresh pancake the size of an elephant ear off the cooling rack, fold it over and use both a meat cleaver and scissors to divide it up into sections a little smaller than my hand.  Since they were only 70 cents and by now I was absolutely starving, I ordered 5 for the two of us.  He looked me up and down, smirked and chuckled a bit and said "I'll give you a big box." I could only presume I had made a minor ordering error and after we had each eaten one, yes, yes I had. With the help of some Teh Tarik (pulled tea with sweetened condensed milk), we ate close to 4 of them, but afterwards I felt like I had been sitting at an all you can eat pancake breakfast for close to an hour and contemplated looking at my taxi app on my phone to see if 'forklift' was an option for a taxi you could order.

Step 4 - well step 4 really just involved needing a nap after that mini feast.  The recommendation to come on a Saturday (they are closed on Fridays to roast the peanuts) was spot on.  The pancakes were crispy on the outside, doughy on the inside, and each probably had a bag of Planters peanuts worth on them.  Luckily this place isn't closer to home, it would have to turn into our only meal of the day.  Maybe next time we'll just walk.... and hope for a cloudy day.

8/21/2013 - Days 5 & 6 - Cruising amongst giants in Halong Bay

How is my alarm going off before 7 again?  More importantly, what country are we in now?  The events of last night finally started to wind back in my brain.  After a relatively uneventful flight in which the biggest mishap was our dear mother getting water dumped on her by what turned out to be a very friendly and apologetic flight attendant, we arrived in Hanoi and cruised through immigration.  Unfortunately baggage claim was another matter.  There were only two carousels on opposite ends of the building and about half an hour in, they switched our luggage to the other one.  One of the more entertaining parts of the trip was watching the security guard try and get people to go through security, but just giving up after a hoard of people ran past and slightly over him.  

No need to rush though, 30 minutes later our luggage still had not arrived.  

After an endless assortment of random boxes and cases of beer (beer?) coming down the conveyor belt as well as multiple people yelling in Vietnamese, our suitcases finally arrived.  The only question now was, would the van still be waiting for us?  Ahh, nothing like seeing 'Daniel Court' on a signboard after all that.  Our adventure, however, was just beginning.  First, the driver managed to Austin Powers style back the 11 passenger van out our spot in the parking lot.  Then, halfway between the airport and Hanoi, he passed a few cars on the shoulder of the road and finally proceeded to drive down the dotted line for a few kilometers.  Who would have thought once we started winding our way through the narrow streets of the old quarter the ride would be more subdued.  After all that though, the staff at the Essence Hotel (another solid Tripadvisor find) were waiting with cold towels and banana smoothies. Sleep came immediately.

With last night in our head, we again stumbled downstairs for another breakfast of fresh fruit and pastries and then jumped in a different 11 seater van for the 3 hour drive from Hanoi to Halong Bay.  The Vietnamese countryside and villages kept us entertained, that, and the driver seemingly randomly pulling out from behind the car we were following to pass even though a semi would be barreling at us from the other side.  This happened multiple times and yet we never even came close to hitting anyone or worse, being hit ourselves.  Finally, we pulled into the harbor area and were greeted by the staff who would ferry us out to the Ginger, our white Chinese Junk and home for the next 3 days and 2 nights.

We had barely settled in when it was time for the first of what would turn out to be multiple five course meals.  We had heard great reviews about this boat, but they were starting off on the right foot so far.  After lunch, we walked upstairs to take in the limestone karsts everywhere and started to begin to understand why Halong Bay means 'descending dragon' in Vietnamese.  It wasn't long before we were being called back downstairs to board the launch to walk through a cave on one of the islands that had been inhabited in the past.  The next stop was a local fishing village hidden in a cove.  Pair by pair, we boarded little row boats that seemed to flit across the water like water bugs.  The village had everything, a school, a visiting floating store, even dogs running around the floating houses.  

After the 3 hour van ride, cave tour and fishing village we were a little wiped out.  The last item before dinner though, had seriously caught my eye.... spring roll making demonstration!  Gin and tonic in hand (how else do you enjoy an open air cruise in Southeast Asia) we learned the tricks of the trade.  Chop everything up first, pork, carrots, shallots, onions, and mix it all together with some salt and pepper.  Then you take your rice paper, put it on a damp towel so it gets soft and then roll up the goodness.  We're going to try and replicate it this weekend, will report back on our success or lack thereof.  

Spring roll appetizers, check.  Evening drink on the top deck, check.  Amazing sunset over Halong Bay, check.  We had officially left the modernity of Singapore behind, the temples of Cambodia were South of us and the craziness of Hanoi was already a fading memory.  Tomorrow promised biking, swimming and kayaking.  Can't wait.

8/18/2013 - Days 3 & 4 - Its Temple Time

5 AM? I don't wake up this early for work, let alone when on vacation. The alarm clock going off besides my bed makes me question my sanity about trying to get a sunrise photo over Angkor Wat.  Vandy would be waiting though, so we slowly got moving and dressed in our best Tomb Raidering/temple exploring attire.

The first step outside made it seem unlikely that we were going to have much of a sunrise as the rain clouds that had rolled in over the evening continued to spit drizzle on us.  It promised to at least be a cooler day than if we had the sun beating down, so we were thankful for that.  It was still quite dark as we slowly picked our way over the cobblestone causeway that bridged the moat surrounding Angkor Wat.  Luckily, hundreds of other adventures were traversing the same stone path and became a small army of fireflies to light the way.  Alas, the sun stayed behind the clouds, but seeing the temple appear from behind the mist was incredible.

We would return later in the day, but now, it was breakfast time.  On the other side of the road were a variety of restaurants with thatched roofs and smoke rising from the backs of the buildings.  At this point, all I really wanted was some coffee, which turned out to be outstanding.  The local coffee was very thick with a chocolate hint to it.  After the coffee, a coconut and some eggs with sausages (which turned out to be hot dogs) I was fully fueled up and ready for more exploring.

The rest of the morning and afternoon became a bit of a blur as we bounced from temple to temple.  Bayon had its 216 smiling faces that made you want to walk around with a grin on your face as well.  Ta Prohm has become so synonymous with the Tomb Raider movie that everyone simply calls it Tomb Raider temple now.  Pretty crazy that the trees will actually grow up and over the temples and left unchecked, are actually what destroys them.  All the temples we went to the first day had either been restored or were in the process of being restored.  Day 2 would take us to temples that were still in their 'natural' state.

After 8 hours of scampering around, energy levels started to dip so it was back to the hotel to recharge. Nothing like a dip in the pool and a quick nap to gear back up for dinner.  We had been in Cambodia for 24 hours and somehow had managed to not cruise around in a tuk-tuk yet.  This is more of an accomplishment than you may realize as we had been asked to ride in one approximately 372 times.  Problem solved as we split into 2 groups for the ride to dinner and hopped in the cart being pulled by a motorbike.  Its kind of like being a little kid again, being pulled in an open air wagon behind a bike.  You know it would never fly in the U.S. but after paying $2 to get to our destination, you sure wish it was an option.

In the middle of dinner the sky opened up again and everyone got their first taste of a Southeast Asian thunderstorm.  Lighting flashing, thunder crashing so hard your teeth start to chatter, exciting stuff.  The silver lining for this was we had to stay for dessert since we didn't want to go out in the rain.  Finally, after some fried bananas and ice cream, we decided we couldn't wait any longer and headed for the doors.  We had never seen more than 3 people in a tuk-tuk, but given the rain, an ambitious driver told us all to hop in.  Somehow we all squeezed in, limbs askew but laughing the whole way back to the hotel.

Day 2 took us waaaaaay out into the country side, past rice paddies, water buffalo and a variety of fruit farms.  We saw a temple that was considerably older than the one's we had been exploring the first day and then a temple that was still being carved out of the jungle and will eventually be pieced back together again, like a giant lego set. Walkways had been set up, but with Vandy leading the way, you really had free range to explore and let your inner Indiana Jones come out.

All good things must come to an end and we had more countries to check off the list.  We bid adieu to Vandy, thanked him for all the great restaurants, information and answering all our questions and headed back to the airport to catch the flight to Hanoi so we could begin our journey in Vietnam.  While waiting for the plane, there may have been a Dairy Queen and a member of our family may have intentionally ordered a hot dog for a meal this time vs. being served as 'sausage' for breakfast.  Names will be omitted to protect the innocent.  I ordered a blizzard though, so I guess I'm slightly guilty as well.

The only question left for Cambodia was, would we be on a propeller plane?  I peered out the window, looking for our Vietnam Airlines plane.  There was a propeller plane on the tarmac, but was it ours?  20 minutes later, it left, and we were still in the terminal.  A little while after that, we were boarding a bus to take us to our jet plane and getting ready to head north.  Next stop, Vietnam!

8/11/2013 - Day 2 - Taking the Plunge in Cambodia

The sun came up, the rooster thankfully stayed silent, everyone slept surprisingly well and we were off to the Botanic Gardens for an al fresco breakfast before heading back to the airport.  The little outdoor cafeteria in the Botanic Gardens is one of our favorite weekend finds.  You can get coffee, juice, eggs, sausage, bacon, potatoes and toast for breakfast for a little less than $12.  Once again, in Singapore, thats a steal.  You just have to get there at the right time because the tables fill up and they stop serving around 10:30.  Not a problem for most people, but when you are lazy like us and we now know Hatched in Holland Village serves breakfast all day, we may not get there as often.

On the walk back to our place we stopped by to see the hundreds of turtles in the pond and then a large monitor lizard crossed the path in front of us.  Unfortunately, we didn't get any photos of him because my brother and I had already slipped into 'bro code' for speaking purposes and not everyone realized what was going on.  At least everyone got to hear 'Murray' stalking through the woods (we named the lizard that lives by our house Murray for those of you not following along).  As long as I live, I will never forget what that sounds like or what the smell of the Ion Orchard mall is when you get off the MRT at that stop.  Singapore sensory memories if you will.

Back at Changi airport about 36 hours after everyone had arrived, we hopped on a Jetstar flight to Siem Reap, Cambodia.  This was the first of multiple, budget flights over the next two weeks.  Our mother is not the best of fliers and combined with the stories she keeps hearing about me from living here, it was reasonable that these could get interesting.  All in all, she handled the flights pretty well.  Her eyes did get wide when we exited on the tarmac in Siem Reap and a Vietnam airlines flight with propellers was next to our plane.  "Are we on that next?" she asked.  I gulped a little bit, it was our next airline, but I thought we were on a jet.  Luckily we had to keep moving, so I somewhat dodged the question.  Tim cackling in the background hopefully went unnoticed, at least he refrained from making propeller noises and yelling 'Dr. Jones, Dr. Jones.'  We would find out quickly enough in 48 hours, no need to dwell on it at the moment, we had places to go and a new city to explore.

Most of our forms were already filled out and the cash was ready, so the assembly line that is Cambodia Immigration (I swear 15 people touch your passport before you get it back, Henry Ford would be proud) got our Kingdom of Cambodia Visas inserted fairly quickly. Once outside, Vandy, our invaluable guide for the next few days, was smiling and waiting for us to arrive.  As you'll see, the whole family would highly recommend him for anyone heading this way in the future.  We stopped at the temple ticket office to pick up our passes so we would not wait have to in the morning, a must for anyone going to the Angkor Temple Complex, and checked into our home for the next few days, the Royal Crown Hotel.  We had some skeptics when we said it was $50 a night, but we were all won over quickly.  Great location, walkable to to restaurants and shops, not too big and even had two pools on site.  Even better, once we were settled, we took the stairs up to the rooftop for a few pre-dinner drinks and panoramas of the city. The $2 large bottles of Angkor beer was a good sign we weren't in Singapore anymore, the parade of motorbikes and pick-ups with large megaphones touting the candidates in the upcoming election was another one.  Somehow I have now seen political rallies in Thailand and Cambodia and been in Malaysia when the election was going on, a little different than yard signs we see for candidates back-home.

That evening we had our first of multiple meals in Cambodia.  Even if everyone's heads were spinning from this new locale (no one was really showing it) the food is a little more on the 'normal' side for an American.  Its obviously not the same, but close to 'American' Chinese food.  Everyone serves cashew chicken, sweet and sour chicken or pork, fried rice, etc. and unlike Singapore or Thailand, it is not spicy.  Cambodia also seems to have spring rolls readily available, so I was clearly sold.  We had a date with Angkor Wat at 5:30 AM for what we hoped would be sunrise photos, so it was off to bed after dinner.  OK, fine, we stopped for ice cream and bought some trinkets in the night market.  Who doesn't need elephant placemats, coasters and a wine holder that says 'I heart Cambodia' on it.  After that, everyone safely navigated the walk back on the dusty streets, even with the lack of stop signs and stop lights, motor bikes everywhere and miniature sidewalks.  We had all cannonballed into Cambodia, but for now, all signs pointed towards heads above water.  Hopefully everyone felt the same way when we joined the line of cars, vans and tuk-tuks heading towards the temples in the morning.  We had a solid 10 hours of temple viewing and tomb raidering on the itinerary next.

8/10/2013 - Court Family Adventure - Day 1 in Singapore

Authors Note: The Court family takes Southeast Asia adventure occurred the past few weeks and encompassed Singapore, Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand.  It caused the blog to go silent for a few weeks and then I needed a vacation from my vacation, being a travel guide is rewarding, but hard work.  I'm not sure how many posts I'll squeeze out of our travels and travails, but stay tuned over the next 7-10 days.  Otherwise, how else will you find out of if the Court family makes it to Walley World or if cousin Eddie has a guest appearance.  At a minimum, you know we are going to end up having our own roundabout experience, circling an Asian version of Big Ben.

"Problems already?"  I had just gotten off the plane from Penang to Singapore and had an email from my brother saying the trip was off to a rough start.  The family was scheduled to arrive the next day and they were having issues getting out of the state of Wisconsin.  How were they going to make it 10,000 miles if they couldn't make it a few hundred?  Luckily a flight delay in Madison turned into a minor inconvenience and they hopped on a flight in Milwaukee instead.  They were on their way!

Approximately 24 hours later, Sarah and I were back at the airport to greet the weary travellers.  We spotted them walking out of immigration and everyone was still smiling, so we took that to be a good sign.  The bags took awhile and then a 25 minute 'maxi cab ride' later (if you ever have a big group arriving in Singapore, take the maxi cab, $60 to go anywhere on the island) and we had everyone settled into our 1,000 square foot apartment ready for bed.... at 3 AM.  The wake up call would be at 9 AM, we had a full day planned before departing for Cambodia the following afternoon.

6 hours later I think the jet lagged travellers were doing better than their tired hosts.  We started the day off with a pretty standard Saturday morning activity for me - Empress Market for fresh fruit, banana prata and sugar cane juice.  There were some wary looks at first, but everyone pretty quickly agreed that sugar cane juice should be sold by the gallon in the US and that lychees were a great morning snack.  Fully hydrated and full, we were on the bus heading downtown.

First stops, Merlion, Din Tai Fung for lunch, then Marina Bay Sands for the view and a drink.  Luckily on the way to the Merlion we ran into the best deal on the island for what was the first of many $1 ice cream sandwich treats.  Needed to keep the sugar/energy levels high for the day.  Lunch at Din Tai Fung had a little bit for everyone, there are some un-named picky eaters in the group, so we had to keep  our options open.  I wasn't too worried though after the fried rice disappeared in 5 minutes and then Caitlin ordered a red bean paste bun which even I won't eat.

Straight to the top after lunch, had to catch the view of the city.  Plus, what better way to appreciate where you were and seeing Singapore spread out in front of out you while having a drink that (spoiler alert) costs enough to pay for 3 people to have dinner in Bangkok.  That's a comment on both Singapore and Thailand prices.  Keeping with the overpriced, but totally necessary, tourist locations we cruised over to the Raffles Hotel for a Singapore Sling.  The 5 minute drive, however, turned into a 30 minute taxi ride when our route got cut-off by tanks!  Sure enough the National Day rehearsal was going on and we had a good chuckle when our taxi driver pointed out how shiny and new all the equipment was.  Lucky for us they really only get used five times a year (4 rehearsals plus National Day).

The Long Bar at Raffles Hotel is a tourist trap, but the right kind of tourist trap, right down to the colonial fans that keep you cool while eating the smallest peanuts you have seen and having a fruity Singapore Sling in the bar  where they were invented.  One was enough for me, I've stuck with Guinness on every return trip.  We were starting to see some tired eyes at this point, but we had to squeeze a quick dinner in at our favorite restaurant in Little India.  Visiting Singapore is really just dipping your toe into Asia whereas the next day we would be in Cambodia, more like a cannon ball into Asia and someone holding you under water afterwards.  Little India is at least climbing down the first rung of the ladder into the pool.

What we learned at dinner.... more people were on board with dumplings, fried rice and unusual vegetables vs. curries and naan.  It didn't help that we had been eating all day and on the town for going on 12 hours at this point.  It was a quiet MRT ride back to the apartment, 2/3 of the group was napping on the train.  We both thought that meant they had already acclimated given half the locals seem to be sleeping on the subway on a regular basis.  All in all, first day success and with how worn out everyone was, we had hopes they might even sleep through the night.