Singapore to Cambodia

Donovan Writes:
After arriving back in Singapore, we met up with our friends and did a little shopping and eating, traditional Singapore activities. Another incredible spread of many different kinds of Asian cuisine. The only think I don't think either of us liked was the preserved duck eggs. Gerald mentioned they had been featured on FearFactor. The meal also included a unique dessert consisting of flavored ice, fruit, and beans. We both enjoyed it.

Following dinner, we headed out to an Sentosa Island. Its a developing resort island directly adjacent to Singapore. You can get there by rail, car, boat, or gondola. I believe there's a water park there too, but we just visited the bars. Cafe del Mar, modeled after a bar in Macao, was situated right on the beach with two stories of seating, a pool, and huts in the sand. Not a good night to close down the place since we had a 6:00 am flight the following morning.

It was funny that we had to leave Iggy's house for the airport at the same hour (3:30 am) that we had arrived several days earlier. Iggy, being the great host that he is, drove us to the airport, although Manchester United was playing at 2:45 am. Don't know how he only seems to sleep 3-4 hours a night.

Cambodia:
It was nice to arrive in the morning and have the rest of the day to explore the city. The hotel we are staying in is a far cry from the way a typical Cambodian would live, but it seems that hotels and resorts are popping up all over the area. It's interesting to see a new 5-star hotel a block away from small shacks where many families live. Although the tourism does bring money to the area, all of the high-dollar hotels are foreign-owned, meaning most of the profits leave the country. The proliferation of tourism here did make things a little easier on us. The pharmacy had everything we needed, and Jess was able to replace her prescription glasses (left at Iggy's house) for 32 bucks while we both got a well needed massage.

Although I thought I had actually seen what it might be like in hell, Jess seemed to really enjoy the open-air market. A steaming hot, congested, area that smelled of fish really wasn't what I would consider "open-air", but I have to admit they did have many interesting goods for prices hard to believe. I did enjoy almost stepping on a squirming fish that jumped out of its tub on our way out of the market.

One of the most interesting things to do here is sitting on one of the many street-side restaurants or bars, drinking dollar beers and watching what locals can cram on top of the hundreds of motorbikes passing by. The highlights were a guy and a pig, two guys and a 16-foot ladder, two guys and a 4 ft by 8 ft sheet of glass, two guys and a tire, and a family of five.