Food in Singapore

5/25/2006

OK. Singapore sucks as a tourist destination. Sorry Dale, I should've told you this before you left. There's pretty much nothing to see that's natural - most of the tourist sites are man-made and relatively nondescript - present in virtually every large city (maybe that's the marvel?).

But that said, the food is something else entirely. I got bored of the food in Japan after a week. In Singapore though, the fusion of Chinese, Malay and Indian food make for something really special. My sister and I were pondering why the food was so special in Singapore. Maybe it's just the fact that we grew up eating it - so it's "comfort food"... Anyway - I made a list of the food I had when I was back. A good list to try if you're in Singapore. I did get most of it at the Penang Buffet at the Copthorne King's Hotel

• Chee Kueh
• Laksa
• Roti Prata
• Soup Kambing
  
• Popiah
• Otah
• Satay
  
• Prawn Noodles (Beach Road)
  
• Hokkien Mee
• Chow Kway Teow
• Chicken Rice
• Nonya Kueh
• (little desserts)

I also had Durian while I was home. Supposedly the "King of Fruit", although his highness does have a rather pungent aroma that puts off many visitors. It's a shame really, because once you get past the smell, the fruit is delicious - the consistency of creamy custard. I remember we used to buy these and eat them right at the roadside stalls, so as not to stink up the family car. For some reason, we would drink salty water from the shell - I think because durian was a "heaty" fruit and the salty water had some "cooling" effects. This time back though, we were able to get these from the local supermarket - vacuum sealed. It just wasnt' the same.

Memories...

5/25/2006

I was back in Singapore last week to visit my grandfather, who's suffering from liver cancer. It was a bit of a shock to see him -- he's lost a lot of weight. Some of my earliest memories of my grandfather were when I was 8 years old or so, and we went out for turtle soup at one of the hawker centers in Singapore. Turtle soup was one of my grandfather's favorite foods, and even now with his dietary restrictions, his eyes lit up when I mentioned that memory, and he asked if I wanted to sneak out with him for some turtle soup.

Later that week, I was cleaning out my old room so that my mother could make it her real estate office (translation: stash more junk), when I came across a pile of old letters many friends had written me when I first moved away to go to school. Aside from a few close friends I kept in touch with, I had lost track of many of the others. I caught up with one friend, Jon, to see if he knew where these other friends were, but he proved largely unhelpful. The conversation went like this, "Whatever happened to X?" "Disappeared". And Y? "Got married, and then disappeared". What about Z? "Dunno." So as with all things, when you just have to know, I did what I should've done in the first place. I googled.

However that's an adventure in itself. See - my parents are the last people in the world to get Broadband. (OK, not really, but I tell them that to motivate them to keep up with everyone else). So I end up stealing one of the neighbor's wireless connections. Catch was - I couldn't sit comfortably on the couch to do this - I had to stand on it. Even then - it was painfully slow.
But the net result was that I found one friend, Trina - who I knew had gone to Australia to study physiotherapy. I found a company web page, which listed her as the owner and manager. I sent an email, and a couple days later received Trina's trademark sarcasm in reply.

Well - hopefully one of these days we'll get together for a reunion. It has been 18 years. Maybe in 2008, we can have a 20 year reunion somewhere.

Debbie's Graduation

2006.05.14 (Mother's Day)

My sister Debbie graduated from Wharton last weekend. While I kid her about Wharton accepting anyone, I'm secretly quite proud of her and impressed by her accomplishment. She still has to do some 6 week internship in Italy before getting the official paper, but that sounds more like fun than work.

As I contemplate Business schools, and what I want to do in my next career (you know, the short 3-5 year stint as Vice President of something or other that enables me to retire at 40), I think if I had the opportunity to do things differently, I probably would ditch the techy stuff in favor of a CPA or similar.