Singapore

"You've got to do one of two things when you've got to keep people happy: either, give them something that will satisfy them, better food, better clothes, better homes; or if you can't do that, then give them the vision of greatness to come". - Lee Kuan Yew (First Prime Minister of Singapore)

To set the record straight... I didn't want to go to Singapore.  I'd just spent eight days with my friends on Gili T (see previous blog) and I was ready to go home.  Half of the group was planning to do a three day layover in Singapore on the way home and they wanted me to go with them.  I had the time off but I was mentally and physically done and told my friend Alex just that.  She responded "Don't be stupid you're GOING to Singapore.  If you hate it you can go home, but you are going to LOVE it."  I gave minor resistance to going after that but I decided to trust Alex.  She knows I rarely say no to her because she has never steered me in the wrong direction.  My desire to be in my own bed was quickly overruled and I decided to give Singapore a try for a day. 

Don't you hate when your friends are right?  If any Asian countries are on your bucket list, just move Singapore right up into to the top three.  Yes, it's that amazing.  It hadn't even been on my radar as a place I wanted to go and now I can't say enough about the beauty of Singapore.  

Let me disabuse you of two things you might be scared of...  If you're worried about going because you don't speak Chinese, know that the country, while mainly Chinese, is widely accepting of all and nearly everyone speaks English as a second language.  If you're a woman and you're worried about traveling alone... for an island country, with a population of 5.6 million, it is remarkably clean and safe.  You'll find women jogging alone at midnight during the summer months because of the cool air and the lack of crime.

You'll be amazed at how ecologically forward thinking Singapore is.  You'll find multiple skyscrapers with plants growing along the building walls.  They are a "green" country.  Green roofs and vertical gardens.  The country has been attempting to reduce their carbon footprint since 1992 in a way that beautifies and adds oxygen to the environment.  Their Gardens By the Bay Supertrees provide canopy during the day and at night a beautiful light show - all run on solar power collected by these structures.  For spectacular views, take time to walk across the bridges in the trees - the Supertree Grove and Skyway.  www.gardensbythebay.com.sg While you are in the area, spend a few hours in the Cloud Forest Conservatory for a indoor waterfall that will take your breath away, and Flower Dome Conservatory, for examples of local flora.  It will be beautifully decorated for whatever season you're visiting in.

There are multiple places that locals and tourists will tell you that are "must see" places in Singapore.  One of those is the Marina Bay Sands Casino and Resort Hotel - you may not recognize the name, but you will immediately recognize this nine year old iconic hotel in the Singapore skyline... it looks like three skyscrapers holding up a boat in the sky.  You WANT to go to the observation deck, you won't find a better 360' view of Singapore.  It'll cost you $23 Singapore dollars which equates to approximately $17 USD.  Have a drink, check out the views... or if you want to stay longer, pay for a swim in the Infinity Pool - where you get to swim 57 stories above Singapore.  It's the swim of a lifetime.  For more information on the hotel see https://www.marinabaysands.com/

Another must see attraction is the Raffles Hotel.  Dating back to colonial Singapore this hotel is a beautiful example of late 1800s architecture in Singpore... and more importantly, is home to the Singapore Sling.  Go to the hotel to have this iconic drink and some peanuts.  It truly is the touristy thing to do.   https://www.raffles.com/singapore/  The bookshelves in the bar are absolutely stunning.  It feels like you're in an old library or gentlemans club.  Drinks aren't cheap but being able to say you had a Singapore Sling in Raffles is priceless.

Now, I've already said I wasn't planning on going... but was talked into it... so I hadn't looked to see what I should see, do or eat in Singapore.  I asked the flight attendants where to go before we landed in Singapore.  Everyone around me said I needed to go have Chili Crab at No Signboard.  When I asked around in Singapore they all said the same thing, but added that I had to go to the original No Signboard restaurant.  The original is in a red light district, but it's TOTALLY an experience to behold.  No Signboard started in a large open market hawking their Chili Crab... they didn't have the money to place a sign over their stall.  Their Chili Crab was a hit and people told others to go to the "no signboard" stall and the name stuck.  http://www.nosignboard.com.sg/.  My group couldn't chose between the Chili Crab and the White Pepper Crab so we got both.  We happily licked our fingers throughout the meal...  BOTH preparations were amazing and worth the Uber ride.  

Let me tell you the ONE food that truly is stuck indelibly in my heart and mind forever.  You'll find this delectable at Mouth Restaurant.  We went there for dim sum one afternoon.  After looking at the menu we told the waiter to just bring us what he loved... One of the things he brought to the table was this innocent looking bun - a Liu Sha Bao (Salted Egg Yolk Bun).  I took a bite, died and went to heaven.... licking my fingers all the way up.... OMG it's this sweet sticky caramelish stuffed bun that one day I'll learn to make at home.  It will forever be in one of my top culinary delights tasted during travels.  https://mouth.com.sg/

To walk off this delicious meal go to the Arab Quarter of Singapore and visit Haji Lane.  A plethora of cute boutiques to shop in... in addition to TONS of stores selling pashima shawls for next to nothing (I purchased a bunch as souvenirs to take home as gifts for family all for under $10)...  If sewing is your passion you'll also find lots of stores selling silks, bric-a-brac and other fabrics.  I wandered all afternoon from store to store... the murals outside and the wares inside were all tantalizing eye candy.  

I spent all of the three days my friends had chosen to do in Singapore after saying I wasn't going to go.  It wasn't enough.  It was a small taste of all this country had to offer and I'd go back in a heartbeat.  For me, it was love at first sight with Singapore... proving once again... that my bestie is nearly ALMOST always right.

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Gili What?

"Peace is always beautiful" - Walt Whitman

On our "big" birthdays (the ones with fives and zeros), my three closest girlfriends and I pick places to travel to for that birthday celebration.  We pack up and go for a week on a girls trip and explore each other's bucket list dreams.  Since we're all born in different years it means that pretty much every year we're going on a trip together.  I've chosen one of these trips to be the first to write about in this new blog.  For Cherie's big "0" birthday she wanted to go across the world... somewhere where there was beaches, peace and adventure.  She chose Gili Trawangan (Gill-ee Traw wan Gan).

I know you all are thinking "Gili what"?  followed by "where???" ... at least that was the response of each of the seven friends she asked to join her on this trip.  We looked it up on a map, saw the beaches and the villa and said "OK"... and she began her planning.  I'm not really sure any of us truly understood the complexity of going to a little bitty island in Indonesia.  You just jump on a plane and go right?  Nope.

Us on the van across Lombok

We're really conditioned with flying here in America.  You get on a plane to go overseas... you eat, sleep, wake up and then you're magically where you want to be.  Sometimes, you actually have to do a connecting flight... but while you know you'll be tired, you don't really think much about it....  This is where I was in my head the day we left.  We flew from Atlanta (ATL) to Seattle (SEA).  Seattle to Hong Kong (HKG).  Hong Kong to to Ngurah Rai International Airport (DPS) in Bali, Indonesia.  Where we had booked a hotel for the night, for which, I was eternally grateful.  I was done being on planes.... the next day we met up with the rest of the group and hopped on a smaller plane to Lombok International Airport (LOP) in Lombok, Indonesia.  Then we took a one hour van ride around to the other side of the island to get on a high speed boat that will take you to Gili Trawangan, the furthest of three Gili Islands from Lombok.  Once you reach Gili Trawangan there are no cars... only horse drawn cart taxis that jostle you to where you're staying... in our case, the other side of THAT island.  It was about 26 hours of travel for us all and I know I said something to the effect that she was lucky I loved her... multiple times during that travel day.  But finally late the second night, we arrived at the villa we'd rented for the week... Villa Coral Flora. https://www.villacoralflora.com/

The villa was everything we expected from the pictures on the internet and then some.  On the quiet side of the island, it is waterfront property - just a step across the dirt road.  We spent hours on the porch with drinks in hand enjoying the views.  There was instant forgiveness for the brutal travel schedule.  We finally got into our rooms that would be ours for the next week and passed out... only to be awoken in the dead of night with Muslim prayers being broadcast across the island via a loud speaker from a mosque somewhere on the island.  I remember rolling over, looking at my other best friend and murmuring something about Cherie hating me....  we came to find out these prayers are daily... 5:20am, 6:18am, 12:14pm, 3:35pm, 6:09pm, 7:08pm and 1:35am.  If you want to understand the true horror I felt that first night at 1:30 and 5:30 in the morning... google prayers on Gili Trawangan.  There are a ton of videos of tourists heads exploding from the sound.

I came to accept and embrace the sunrise prayers.  I got up each morning, put shoes on and found a spot on the beach to watch the sun rise.  The rest of the girls would slowly drift out and join me.  A quiet coming together and finding peace in this idyllic location.  There'd be a walk down the beach to see what shells had been exposed... to watch locals wash their horses in the ocean... to see starfish drift in the water... and when we were done, we'd all go back to the villa and have the breakfast the staff made for us daily.

Our mornings were unplanned.  The staff brought a masseuse in on day one and asked if any of us wanted an hour long massage for $15.  We all signed up, another masseuse came over, and they both were busy every morning with us that week.  It was blissful to be outside, hearing the sounds of the beach and the jingle of the bells of the horse drawn carts.  It was pure hedonistic heaven.

Princess Margaux

One afternoon, one of my friends rented a traditional wooden outrigger for all of us to go on a snorkeling trip.  At $180 per hour it was on the pricier side but it was a beautiful boat.  Big comfy cushions.  Places to perch on the rooftop deck.  They took us to different locations around the island to see turtles, to swim and jump off the deck of the boat and in general to rest like we were millionaires.  For more information go to:  http://www.pondoksanti.com/experiences/

We had two memorable dinners on the island that we talk about still, two years later... the first... Scallywags Seafood Restaurant (https://scallywagsresort.com/bar-grill/) on the busier side of the island.  You get a table.  You get in line.  You pick out the size lobster you want.  They cook it the way you want it.  Then it's delivered to you.  Most of our group ordered individual one pound lobsters.  Alex talked me into sharing a larger one with her.  She ordered a monster.  This picture doesn't do it justice.  The two of us can put away a lobster... but this one we struggled to finish.  I vaguely remember it being five pounds.  It was amazing.  Nibbling on fresh lobster, sitting at a table with our toes in the sand on a beach with candlelight and wine.  Nirvana.

The best meal we had though... was done by the staff at Villa Coral Flora.  They asked us on day one if we wanted a bonfire meal on the beach and we decided to do it for Cherie's birthday.  We didn't know what to expect.  Just let the boys do their thing.  To this day I look at the picture I took of the set up before the meal, and I think I'm looking at a picture in Conde Nast travel magazine.  These are the things you see and think you'll never experience.  They brought us a huge meal that they barbecued and as the sun set, they started a raging bonfire on the beach.  In a word...   It was magical.

Like everyone else who travels, I wanted to find a souvenir to bring home to remind me of my trip.  I really didn't know what the island was known for... hadn't looked it up at all... obviously or I would have known how long it'd take to get there.  I did what I usually do, watch and wait for the right moment.  One day we were having lunch on a beach closer to Santorini, when a beach hawker came up to our table trying to sell us pearls.  I'm a sucker for jewelry but I already had a white pearl necklace close to what he was selling.  There were shorter peachier pearl necklaces but I don't like choker style necklaces.  The guy looked at me and said he could make me a long one in the peach pearls while we were eating.  He had my attention completely.  We haggled on a price and he sat down and started stringing the pearls.  By the time we were done eating he had a beautiful 80" strand that I can either tie 1920s style - like what is in picture... let hang loose, or wrap twice and have a double strand of pearls... individually knotted... for $80.  Now THAT is a steal.  It's my go to necklace two years later.

To size up the trip we all arrived totally wrung out and stressed and we left in complete and utter total peace... If you're the feint of heart kind of traveler... I'd stop in Bali and stay with the crowds.  If you want a once in a lifetime trip to meditate, scuba, snorkel and just... be... this is an island to put on your bucket list.  May I suggest a two day layover both directions though... On the way in Hong Kong... on the way out... Singapore... you'll thank yourself for giving yourself a break in the traveling... you'll arrive a little less shattered than we did when we got there.

A Blending of Passions

“If you can’t figure out your purpose, figure out your passion. For your passion will lead you right into your purpose.” —Bishop T.D. Jakes

Welcome to the inaugural addition of Finding Treasures!

I've been a writer since childhood and a blogger since it became the thing to do... I've written blogs on southern living, this crazy beautiful thing we call life, junking and up-cycling, the thrill of the hunt, the trials and tribulations of gardening and, most recently, on renovating my 1905 farm house.  Writing has always been for fun - therapeutic even.  Throughout the majority of this time my actual employment has been in the skies.  I feel its time to add a twist to my professional life by blending it and my passions and see if maybe I can make a career out of it... I don't want to leave the freedom of flying (call me crazy but I love flinging peanuts).  Today starts a new blog, a journey in which I hope I can reach more people than just my family and friends.  I've been told over the years that people live vicariously through my photos and quick blurbs about traveling on Facebook... so I'm taking it one step further.  I'll be writing about the treasures I find and that can be found while traveling.  These "treasures" can be items to purchase in specific areas of the world... places to visit such as gardens and beaches less explored...  and for those like me who love bargain hunts of the junking kind, places to go to fill your trunk with your love of junk...

For those who are just finding me, I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area but currently live in the suburbs of Atlanta, GA.  I got the antiquing bug from my mother and the thrill of the find from my "frugal" grandfather (her dad).  I've been an antique dealer in both California and Georgia over the past 21 years.  My husband and I put that business on hold last year when we purchased our farm house renovation project.  Starting one April in the 1970's, my parents taught me to love traveling when we piled into a Chevy station wagon and drove across the USA for a couple of weeks.  The education you get when you travel is priceless.  Since then I have traveled to 49 US states, England, Scotland, Europe, Mexico, Canada, the Caribbean, Japan, Singapore, Bali and many more countries.  There are still a ton of places to go to on my bucket list, of which I average two to three a year.

This blog will cover everything from mussels in Brussels, to turquoise in the Southwest US, to hugging a redwood tree in Northern California, to Mexican vanilla, to ceramics and leather in Italy... and more.  While I write in the upcoming weeks, I'm also open for suggestions of places for me to explore and give feedback on...

My current shopping bucket list includes:

• Brooklyn, NY (Flea Market Every weekend) - attempting to go in the Summer
• Brimfield, MA - July 9-14
• Alameda, CA (Monthly Flea Market) - August 4th
• Roundtop, Texas (Marburger Antique Show) - October 1-5
• Netherlands - to join friends that live there and experience their flea markets... 

In addition to my dream Netherlands trip...  other countries I still want to visit include:

• Iceland
• Australia/New Zealand
• Africa
• Russia

My first "Finding Treasure" blog will be posted shortly, until then think about places you wish you could go to, or the unbelievable deals/food you've heard stories about that you want to know if they're true.  Leave me a comment and I'll add these thought to my list.  Stay tuned!

Follow me on instagram @junkingwiththecrows (antiquing & junking) and @skycheerleader (traveling, food and garden)...   Subscribe to this blog below!