Day 15: Enter the Dragonboat

My third week in Singapore started with me getting up earlier than usual so I could ride on a dragon boat, which was something I signed up for shortly after arriving here. Dragon boats are long, narrow vessels that are paddled by many people at once. They are the basis of the ancient sport of dragon boat racing, which originated in China thousands of years ago. Dragon boat racing requires strength of body and strength of mind, but above all, teamwork is key to success. We learned that dragon boats typically have a drummer in front to help the paddlers keep rhythm, but since we didn't have anything like that, we used our voices. We learned all the basics of dragon boat racing while splashing ourselves and the other half of our group in another dragon boat. At the end, our two boats had a short race, and my team won! It was a lot of work paddling, but also a lot of fun. I may be sore tomorrow, but I doubt I'll regret doing this.

I was thoroughly soaked after that excursion, so I changed into a spare set of clothes before I made my way back. I stopped for lunch in a mall near the MRT station, and while there I spotted a little shop called 320 Below. It's an ice cream store unlike any I've ever seen: they make the ice cream right in front of you using liquid nitrogen! The name of the shop comes from the boiling point of nitrogen: -320°F. As a science buff, I wasn't about to walk away without sampling a little. I ordered the Belgian Dark Chocolate, and while it was kind of pricey (S$5 for a small cup), it was good. The nitrogen starts evaporating as soon as it comes out of the faucet, so it doesn't actually get incorporated into the ice cream. The whole point of it is to flash-freeze the ice cream so it's as fresh and smooth as possible when you receive it. It's a really neat idea, and I'd love to see something like that in the U.S.