Oh those Singapore Nights...: Da Beach

Oh happy Saturday. Being a beautiful day, we decided to head back down to the sunny island of Sentosa to visit the beach. As you recall the last time we went it was raining and did not get to enjoy all the island had to offer. The place was littered with tourists, but that did not stop our excitement. We hit the beach and got in the water. Being a hotter day than normal, the water was very necessary even though it was warmer than we would have liked. It was a bit warmer than the Atlantic Ocean, which I still can't understand why it is warm and the Pacific Ocean is warm. Science.

After laying out for a while, we noticed we were right below a giant zip line, which caused Rachel to decide that is what we were going to do next. Being uneasy with heights, I wasn't so sure but we went up to check it out. It was 450 meters long (damn you metric system) and apparently is the largest zip line in Asia. We got up there just as the weather was starting to change and clouds were forming. It looked like a storm was coming, so this was of course the perfect time to go hurling down a wire. Before getting harnessed up, they had to weigh us to make sure we didn't exceed the maximum capabilities. Surprisingly Rachel and Prashant made it through. After getting a concerned look from the lady operating the scale, I stepped on and heard her hold her breath. To both of our surprise, I was within the capabilities and was then strapped into my harness. Now I have been in harnesses before, don't ask, so I knew what to expect. It was extremely tight in places that I did not want it tight in, mainly the crotch region. When she started tightening it, I had to stop to ask if she was enjoying herself because I was pretty sure you arent supposed to take pleasure in making a grown man squeal. One harnessed up, I was fidgeting around with the harness and realized I had a hole in the bottom of my swim trunks. (Bad time to not be wearing underwear) So the rest of the time in said harness was spent with my legs together. We got up to the top of the zipline lookout and my nerves tried to get the best of me but I pushed through if not for the sake of the video Rachel was taking. We were attached to the zip line by a very small bungee cord that gave me doubts it could support me, but I didn't have time to worry about it because before I knew it we were flying down the line with Rachel screaming the whole time. It was so much fun and I am glad we did it. Once finished we proceeded to wait for Prashant (the theme of the day) and then went to explore the rest of the island.

The rest of the island was littered with shops, hotels, a million 7-11's and a casino and universal studios. Interesting enough, the person who suggested we go into 7-11 was our good friend Prashant. He was in the mood for a slurpee (couldn't make this up if I tried) and I can only assume he got some sort of family/employee discount. After the 7-11 we went into one of the largest candy stores I have ever seen in my life. After stopping to take pictures with the M&M's, we walked in to find every kind of candy imaginable. I started to get a Willy Wonka vibe, and if an oompa loompa has been stocking shelves I might have had a heart attack. Rachel ran straight for the jelly bellies after proclaiming "If they have jelly bellies I am gonna die". She did not. But she did use the self-serve jelly belly machines to create her own concoction of flavors, only to realize she poured too many of one flavor and would now have to pay $15 for a bag of jelly bellies. So after getting the bag tied off and being told to head to the cashier, Rachel decided the money wasn't worth the bellies, and ditched the bag in a stack of reese's peanut butter cups and ran out the front door. This incurred a shout out of "that's going in the blog!" I make sure to say this phrase to remind my companions when they have done something dumb, and it will live on in infamy via my blog. No one is happy to make it into this blog, and yet they still keep doing things that warrant it. Oh well more for my readers!

We left Sentosa after posing for more ridiculous tourist pictures next to the Merlion and random fountains, and went home to get ready to go for dinner. We met up with our coworker and Singapore tour guide extraordinaire Sarah who took us to one of the local Singaporean hawker centers to eat. Apparently this is one of the oldest ones in the country, and they specialize in Pork. Thanks Sarah. We each went and got our own food and came back to chat about work and how we liked Singapore so far. It was good food and conversation, as well as entertaining to watch Prashant eat his crushed up peanuts that came with his pad thai separately, because he does not want to mix them in. Apparently it is also too difficult to use a spoon, because it so much more rewarding to try and eat crushed peanuts with a fork for 30 minutes. Sarah then proceeded to tell me which celebrity I reminded her of (always a fun game) and the answer was Homer Simpson. Gotta love that Singaporean humor. Im pretty sure she meant to say Jason Statham but it just got lost in the translation. Anyways it was a fun day of exploring and we took a lot of pictures. Be sure to watch the zip line video on facebook because if you can ignore Rachel's screaming the whole time its a really cool view. Hope everyone has a great rest of your day, and lets go Team USA! (I am trying to stream the olympics online with limited success)