Singapore
Day One: July 17 (Singapore)
Our first day in Singapore started with — no surprise here —
food! We caught the bus from Yee Ning’s apartment at Ion Orchard to Clarke
Quay, where we ate bak kuh teh, peppered pork ribs cooked in a broth of spices
and roasted garlic. We dipped the pork into spicy chili sauce and viscous dark
soya sauce. On the side, we picked at salty vegetables, bean curd skins, cia
xian (Chinese spinach) and fried dough fritters which we let soak in the spiced
pork broth before eating. Delicious! Despite my humble attempt to fit in with
local diners, apparently I (and Yee Ning!) squander food since we do not suck
clean every last shred of meat and cartilage from the bone. I guess we’re not
“real” Asians after all. :)
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| Bak kut teh, pork ribs simmered in an herb broth |
We walked off lunch at GOD, a Hong Kong retailer that sells
vintage chic home goods, knick-knacks and clothing. Of particular popularity is
a trendy line of merchandise printed with the phrase “Delay No More,” which in
Cantonese means something along the lines of “Go f- your mother,” but I’m sure
many an unassuming tourist misinterprets “Delay No More” as an inspired, poetic
call to arms like “carpe diem” or “go for broke.” Ha - suckers.
We meandered our way to Chinatown and visited the Chinatown
Heritage Center, where we learned about the plight of Chinese migrants to
Singapore more than a century ago. The most fascinating part of the museum
exhibit (for me) were the mock living spaces that reflected life in Singapore
for Chinese immigrants. Ten family members to a small room, shared kitchens and
bathrooms among families, buckets as waste management, tea and gambling houses.
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| Both a kitchen AND bathroom shared by multiple families. |
Thank (the humid) heavens for air-conditioned MRT trains
where we found cool reprieve from the mugginess outside. Sticky and sweaty, we
took the MRT to Bayfront, then hopped off to explore the Marina Bay Sands
resort (which boasts the famous rooftop infinity pool). We walked through
Gardens by the Bay, a new Singaporean experience built with ecologically
self-sustaining garden structures and conservatoriums.
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| Gardens by the Bay |
After a browse through Louis Vuitton, we did happy hour at the top of the Marina Bay Financial Center, which boasts a panorama view of the city and Singapore River including ships anchored in the harbor and the Singapore Flyer (ferris wheel).
For dinner we went to Lau Pasat, a hawker center of street food, or an area lined with food stalls and vendors “hawking” goods….food…delicious, cooked on demand, food! We ate mutton, chicken and beef satay, spicy sting ray (which has the same texture and flavor as any white fish), deer and vegetables, hokkien noodles, and sambal kong kong (green veggies).
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| Sambal sting ray |
Day Two: July 18 (Singapore)
For breakfast we walked across the street and ate one of
Aaron and Yee Ning’s favorite Singapore dishes, roti prata, an Indian fried flatbread,
served with a spicy curry sauce. Court and I ordered our roti prata with
mushroom and onions, while Aaron had his with egg and cheese. So good…the
flatbread itself tastes like fried, slightly doughy puff pastry, but the curry
dipping sauce made the meal for me. So spicy, so flavorful. Perfect for an
early morning breakfast, or a late night, post-drinking snack. Plus, it’s super cheap!
We hopped on another local bus and wound our way through the
sterile Singapore streets to Little India, a hub of shops, markets and restaurants.
Several areas spilled out with people and, surprisingly, these were Hindu
temples. I, brave enough to wrap a rentable, likely rarely washed sari around
my waist, stepped into the temple barefoot after a rain shower had just soaked the
streets, and peaked in to take a look. I expected stern solemnity in a place of
prayer and worship, but I discovered a piazza of people, some making quiet offerings
of bright marigold flowers and incense, some in prayer, some eating and
chatting, some sitting on the floor, some sleeping, some playing a game that
looked like chess, while a Hindu priest sat cross-legged consulting with
someone who had brought offerings and was likely asking important life
questions. It felt like a YMCA more than a temple, but perhaps that’s the Hindu
culture…something for everyone?
Our expert tour guide Yee Ning insisted that we check out
Mustafa, an expansive, multi-leveled store that sells everything from fresh groceries
to jewelry to vacuum cleaners to hundreds of types of curry. Mustafa – not to be mistaken with
Mufasa from the Lion King (which Aaron and I did) – lived up to its retail hype.
Winding escalators, endless hallways, multiple floors, all packed to the brim
with merchandise, merchandise, merchandise. I left with two whitening
deodorants (an Asia product must-have, according to Yee Ning), several bags of
curry, bak kuh teh spice packages (for my experimental cooking with Chris), and
saffron.
After working up an appetite browsing the aisles at Mustafa,
we caught a taxi to Maxwell Food Center, another hawker hotspot lined with food
stands where people “hawk” their goods, in this case…food! Anthony Bourdain visited Maxwell during
one of his Singapore trips, so of course, we had to try the same Hainanese
Chicken Rice that he tried on his show. We ordered a half chicken and fragrant sticky rice, along with side dishes of
carrot cake (which is a fried radish dish, NOT the sweet dessert w/ cream
cheese frosting) and char kray teow (drunken noodles). To wash it all down, we
sipped mugs of iced, sugar cane juice, which was just the sugar jolt I needed
to power through the rest of the muggy, rainy day.
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| At the most southern point of continental Asia. |
For dinner, we visited another hawker center at Holland Village, which is a hot spot for ex-pats. Several signs suffered from a loss in translation. For example, the Holland Village tag line is “Where Good Food and People Meet.” But the sign was incorrectly printed and instead read: “Meet People and Food Good Where.” Is that Singlish? J
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| Should read as "Where Good Food and Nice People Meet." |
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| Wanton noodles for dinner. |
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