Better late than never. I got into Singapore 18 days ago, on the 8th. (The time difference between the US and here is about seven weeks, so I'm doing all this in Singapore time). These first days have been good, and I've quickly nestled into a domesticated life here. Lots of Netflix and grocery shopping, even did a dreaded couple's outing to IKEA, which we came out of with our relationship intact. Speaking of we, the best part of this trip has been seeing Akiko. It was such a long time that we hadn't seen each other (3 months), and now we've essentially moved in together, a first in my life for me and a lady friend. The arc of adulthood is long, but bends towards this kind of shit, I guess. I'm liking this life, a lot, even though the 17-year-old-me would punch me in the balls if he saw me. You know what, screw what that guy thinks, what does he know anyway? I mean film school, really, that's what he considers a plan for life?
Focus, travel blog, right... So, since I had such a long gap before landing and writing one of these, I'll just list the highlights of food and activities for future generations to learn from:
- Samy's Curry in Dempsey Hill. Dempsey Hill is where the whites would eat and shop if the British could be bothered to just hold onto their colonies for Christsake. Samy's Curry does not look like it belongs here. Nestled in a literal compound of extravagant restaurants, high-priced grocery stores, and a Montessori school (which there are literally millions of all over the city), Samy's Curry looks like the kind of place that a bunch of scrappy kids in the 80's would have to save from an evil developer by winning a dance contest. There was more staff than patrons when we walked in, since it seems like they employ a good percentage of the Indian population of Singapore. The service was a little awkward, but the food was absolutely amazing. This place is known for fish-head curry, and for good reason. We tried several different dishes too, including something with cauliflower, and some kind of chicken, and it was all some of the best Indian food I've ever had. We then followed it up by walking among all the other restaurants of "better stock" in Demspey Hill, and even bought some bad-ass cheddar and $8 ice-cream sandwiches from a store called Jones.
- Newton Food Center. This is one of many "hawker centers," outdoor food markets that Singapore is famous for. These are the most Asian thing about Singapore, at least what I've seen so far. Cheap, good and dirty, they're the kind of thing that I look forward to every time I come to this part of the world. I had something at a stall that said "Muslim Food." I don't remember what I had, it was some kind of reddish noodle dish that was really amazing. I think it had meat in it. The guy at the counter very politely told me what was in it, but in "Singlish," which is just like regular English only incomprehensible. Actually, you understand everything except the one key word that gives a sentence it's entire meaning. I'm sure this is done on purpose. English is the official language here, and literally everyone speaks it, but very broken. While it definitely makes dealing with the city easy for us 'mericans, it does produce moments where you're told something by someone, and feel embarrassed to ask them to repeat it after you can't understand what they said the first couple times. Like this moment with the guy at the Muslim Food stand, explainign what I'm about to put into my mouth. Whatever it was, it looked good on the pictures on the menu, if that helps anyone who is using this long-winded tirade as a guide for some reason.
- Urban Bites Mediterranean Cuisine. The "Mediterranean" here refers to Lebanese food. This was kind of an awesome place too, with a complete half-ass wait service that I'm realizing is standard for almost every restaurant in the city. Not bad service, just half-assed. You have to repeat things a lot, and sometimes remind them you asked for water. If you ever get annoyed when waiters ask you "is everything OK here?" then you will love eating out in Singapore. Urban Bites had some amazing hummus, baba ganoush, and tabbouleh, along with a pretty good lamb kibbeh. The best was this yogurt drink thing, that was surprisingly amazing. Definitely want to come back for more.
- Adventure Paddlers. Like the name says, these aren't some off-the-rack bitch-ass paddlers, these are adventure paddlers, and they don't have time for your "hey, how do we work this kayak we want to rent from you," or "hey, we're having trouble carrying our kayak to the water, could anyone help us out?" No, they're pretty busy here, I'm assuming with adventuring. We were just outside of Pulau Ubin island, northeast of the city, which is the one spot in the nation of Singapore that still feels wild and untouched by its very micromanaging government. The owner did give me a quick heads up on where's a good spot to row to, how to cross over the bouy barrier ("find a spot where there's a gap, and just paddle over the chain") and how to avoid the ships along the active shipping lane ("if you see a ship off in the distance, wait until it passes"). After considerable effort rowing and dodging cargo ships, we finally made it to the island, and made it down a small river which runs right down the middle. It was absolutely beautiful, tranquil and calm, just floating alone among nature (and the random local dudes just chilling on fishing boats here and there.) The city of Singapore can be overwhelming, and having a small tropical island that you can get away from it was definitely worth it. Then we had haul ass back, spending more time getting across the strait to the mainland then we did along the island river. We were also in a two-person tandem kayak, aka a "divorce boat," but somehow managed to survive this much like we did IKEA. It was grueling, and the whole experience would be much better of we could start on the island, instead of spending what felt like a whole hour paddling for your life across an open-water shipping lane. But being able to just go alone, without a guide or a group, was kind of refreshing, especially in such a hardcore nanny-state like Singapore. And it was cheap, the guy who ran the service was, after everything, pretty nice and knowledgable, and we did get to feel a sense of accomplishment by going alone. And I did get to appreciate some mangroves and a kingfisher. And I also was somehow able to convince Akiko that bubbles coming out ahead from the three-foot deep stream could be hippos, statistically the most dangerous animal in Africa.
More of this shit later...
Focus, travel blog, right... So, since I had such a long gap before landing and writing one of these, I'll just list the highlights of food and activities for future generations to learn from:
- Samy's Curry in Dempsey Hill. Dempsey Hill is where the whites would eat and shop if the British could be bothered to just hold onto their colonies for Christsake. Samy's Curry does not look like it belongs here. Nestled in a literal compound of extravagant restaurants, high-priced grocery stores, and a Montessori school (which there are literally millions of all over the city), Samy's Curry looks like the kind of place that a bunch of scrappy kids in the 80's would have to save from an evil developer by winning a dance contest. There was more staff than patrons when we walked in, since it seems like they employ a good percentage of the Indian population of Singapore. The service was a little awkward, but the food was absolutely amazing. This place is known for fish-head curry, and for good reason. We tried several different dishes too, including something with cauliflower, and some kind of chicken, and it was all some of the best Indian food I've ever had. We then followed it up by walking among all the other restaurants of "better stock" in Demspey Hill, and even bought some bad-ass cheddar and $8 ice-cream sandwiches from a store called Jones.
- Newton Food Center. This is one of many "hawker centers," outdoor food markets that Singapore is famous for. These are the most Asian thing about Singapore, at least what I've seen so far. Cheap, good and dirty, they're the kind of thing that I look forward to every time I come to this part of the world. I had something at a stall that said "Muslim Food." I don't remember what I had, it was some kind of reddish noodle dish that was really amazing. I think it had meat in it. The guy at the counter very politely told me what was in it, but in "Singlish," which is just like regular English only incomprehensible. Actually, you understand everything except the one key word that gives a sentence it's entire meaning. I'm sure this is done on purpose. English is the official language here, and literally everyone speaks it, but very broken. While it definitely makes dealing with the city easy for us 'mericans, it does produce moments where you're told something by someone, and feel embarrassed to ask them to repeat it after you can't understand what they said the first couple times. Like this moment with the guy at the Muslim Food stand, explainign what I'm about to put into my mouth. Whatever it was, it looked good on the pictures on the menu, if that helps anyone who is using this long-winded tirade as a guide for some reason.
- Urban Bites Mediterranean Cuisine. The "Mediterranean" here refers to Lebanese food. This was kind of an awesome place too, with a complete half-ass wait service that I'm realizing is standard for almost every restaurant in the city. Not bad service, just half-assed. You have to repeat things a lot, and sometimes remind them you asked for water. If you ever get annoyed when waiters ask you "is everything OK here?" then you will love eating out in Singapore. Urban Bites had some amazing hummus, baba ganoush, and tabbouleh, along with a pretty good lamb kibbeh. The best was this yogurt drink thing, that was surprisingly amazing. Definitely want to come back for more.
- Adventure Paddlers. Like the name says, these aren't some off-the-rack bitch-ass paddlers, these are adventure paddlers, and they don't have time for your "hey, how do we work this kayak we want to rent from you," or "hey, we're having trouble carrying our kayak to the water, could anyone help us out?" No, they're pretty busy here, I'm assuming with adventuring. We were just outside of Pulau Ubin island, northeast of the city, which is the one spot in the nation of Singapore that still feels wild and untouched by its very micromanaging government. The owner did give me a quick heads up on where's a good spot to row to, how to cross over the bouy barrier ("find a spot where there's a gap, and just paddle over the chain") and how to avoid the ships along the active shipping lane ("if you see a ship off in the distance, wait until it passes"). After considerable effort rowing and dodging cargo ships, we finally made it to the island, and made it down a small river which runs right down the middle. It was absolutely beautiful, tranquil and calm, just floating alone among nature (and the random local dudes just chilling on fishing boats here and there.) The city of Singapore can be overwhelming, and having a small tropical island that you can get away from it was definitely worth it. Then we had haul ass back, spending more time getting across the strait to the mainland then we did along the island river. We were also in a two-person tandem kayak, aka a "divorce boat," but somehow managed to survive this much like we did IKEA. It was grueling, and the whole experience would be much better of we could start on the island, instead of spending what felt like a whole hour paddling for your life across an open-water shipping lane. But being able to just go alone, without a guide or a group, was kind of refreshing, especially in such a hardcore nanny-state like Singapore. And it was cheap, the guy who ran the service was, after everything, pretty nice and knowledgable, and we did get to feel a sense of accomplishment by going alone. And I did get to appreciate some mangroves and a kingfisher. And I also was somehow able to convince Akiko that bubbles coming out ahead from the three-foot deep stream could be hippos, statistically the most dangerous animal in Africa.
More of this shit later...
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