Month: April 2005

The food in Singapore is simply fantastic… (there is now a break of 12 hours in this post – the guy sitting next to me was an industrial designer from Bury St. Edmunds – we had several beers talked the designer talk, and it turns out he is on his way to Oz to evaluate interactive TV in Asia for the BBC. Fascinating! Just shows who you bump into, eh).

Anyway, yes the food is amazing here. There are places called ‘Hawker’ markets that are similar to night markets in Taiwan, but they are slightly better organised. There are dozens of stalls, you pick your food and drink from each of them and then sit in communal areas to dine. I have had, without exception, amazing food at every opportunity.

At lunch time, after booking my bus up to Malaysia, I wandered along to Little India and had a world-class curry in a really busy local eatery. The colours on display were amazing, the fruit stalls screaming for attention alongside the spice stalls and incense filling the air with exotic aromas. The Bryani was packed with wonderfully dry, mature spiciness that gradually heated up from your belly as you ate it. I jad to turn around to see how to eat the thing, and was met with laughter from some local ladies who signalled I should turn out the pot onto the dish – though only after did I realise that everyone was eating with their hands! The knife and fork were wheeled out for the unsuspecting visiting Brit.

Last night I was lucky enough to sit down next to two local women – it was immediately apparent that we had all ordered far too much food for ourselves, so we arranged to share. I was initially test driving my Chinese and of course they helped my battle through, but of course they spoke perfect English and thought it amazing and hilarious that I was learning. I was fortunate to get talking to them because they had ordered exactly the food I had been wanting to check outm, but that was rather too much for one person. The Barbecued Sting Ray was scintillating, the Black Pepper Crab (a crab cooked in a rich peppery sauce – messy but devine) was mouth watering, the La La clams fresh as sea daisies and this was backed up by the Dim Sum and some very special Chicken Satay. I went to bed very satisfied.

Right now (12:50pm) I am off to get some Arab flavours. Again, I was woken at dawn by the dawn prayer in the Mosque at the end of my street. And again I felt really lucky to be in Singapore. This place is really growing on me. A real meeting point of Malay, Indian, Chinese and European worlds, resulting in a well-fed belly!

A 24 hour Arabian restaurant … downgraded to 21

I am now moderately drunk sitting and writing. I have had a very enjoyable day doing nothing too much. I had the most fantastic sleep and woke up to a rather louder Singapore than the one I left the previous night – specifically the Mosque at the end of the street with its morning call, the Hindu tailors in the street outside my hostel and the Chinese market traders hawking everything from cell phones to dried mushrooms. A very different Singapore to the early AM of yesterday.

I had a very slow start to the day due to my Malaria tablets and their doping effect. This fitted in perfectly into my innactive holiday mode of sitting drinking coffees in the sun and watching the world go by. Singapore is strangely familiar, and yet unlike anything I have seen before. Laid back, organised and hygienic, and yet busy, cosmopolitan and humid to distraction. Places it reminds me of include Brighton, Victoria BC, Hamburg… a strange mix. But an attractive and very accessible one.

China town in Singapore – I had to wait for a minute until no foreigners were in view (!)

They have managed, unlike Taipei, to preserve at least some of the old colonial areas. I am realising I am perhaps hyper-sensitive to this because I complain about Taipei destroying its heritage, and yet here I am along a beautifully preserved street of colonial houses… and it is all rather Disney. Where is the perfect balance? Europe, I suppose – where I grew up! Hard to please, eh.

Bussorah Street – where I stayed and centre of the Arab district

Singapore is certainly reminiscent of Hong Kong, but is more… colonial. A cricket clun in the centre. More low level luxury hotels. More influence from Arab and Indian quarters. And at the same time I am noticing ridicuous details, perhaps because I am already tuned into ‘Radio Asia’ amd Singapore is quite western compared to Taipei. So, there are pidgeons here (do we have them in Taipei?), people ride Honda more, there are less scooters, people speak kind of a mix between Chinese and English, I think, and well…. it is very comfortable. Just some impressions.

Raffles Hotel – the quintessential British establishment in Singapore and home of the Singapore Sling, bless ’em

I spent the night along the waterfront of the south china sea drinking massively over priced beers. I had a great time, but realised that most Brits out here are public school boys and absolute bigoted arseholes. Man, I hate that friday night white collar trash thing in London and I hate it even more here where the pay is relatively higher and the targets of their scorn (the local girls on the whole) are not able to defend themselves.

Still, I like the place – but I feel more connection with Hong Kong. More edge. More…. Just more.

Cricket club in the very heart of Singapore. You can see their priorities when they landed! Government, then Library, followed by Cricket pitch, and then plenty of drinking establishments – the Brits certainly colonized in style!

BJ Massage – I had to take a photo!

So, here I am sitting in the colonial district of old Singapore. The fan is whirring away above me and I am necking a Tiger beer. I am on holiday!

I had almost forgotten I had the rights to vacation – especially since the locals in the office do not really get much. I am ready to have a massively decadent 2 and a half weeks here and plan to jungle trek, then up to the perinthians to dive. I am sure that will change, but this is the contract for now.

The trip from Taipei was smooth. I flew with Jet Star Asia – more or less the first budget airline to operate out of Taiwan, and my ticket to paradise… for about fifty quid. All of a sudden, Singapore, Malaysia, and all of south-east Asia is laid out in front of me.

The four and a half hour flight was punctuated with children puking and coughing and crying in my immediate viscinity, which was exactly what I did not want. However, the little critters redeamed themselves when one turned around when alighting the aircraft and said ‘goodbye mister airplane’ in the cutest possible English. I almost puked.

Singapore itself, apart from the astonishing humidity, seems nice. Very tame and quiet after Hong Kong and Taipei, but nice. Strangely, at night my local area (the Indian quarter) takes on the feeling of a northern town at night. Old houses and a moaque juxtaposed. All is very clean and controlled, which is fine by me on the first night when arriving at midnight – but it does have a reputation as a ‘Switzerland’ of Asia, with many rules and disinfectants.

And, mes parents will be mid air right now. So hello to them. And a special hello to July – the new sunshine of my life.

Just realised… it’s April Fool’s day… let’s see what happens to me…