Happy Cinco de Mayo! Aiaiaiaiiiiiiiii
Not too much celebration here in Singapore for Cinco de Mayo. There is some kind of celebration at a place off Orchard Road called No.5 They're going to "celebrate the liberty to Mexico with samba percussionists" according to their website. I guess you have to celebrate something even if it's not exactly right. It's not really a Mexican bar but there are a lot of Tequilas on the shelf and it's as good as any, if not better, to celebrate Cinco de Mayo.
Saturday, May 5, 2007
Friday, May 4, 2007
Geylang Food Tour
Some coworkers organized a 'food tour' as a team outing on Friday. These food tour things seem to be a very popular pastime here- I just did a quick search on google and found a lot of sites about either peoples' experiences or suggestions on where to go them. One place that usually comes up on most blogs is Geylang because as locals say- Geylang got good food - and the heart of Geylang is exactly where we went. I know what you're thinking. Isn't that Geylang the Government regulated redlight district full of legal brothels, illegal street walkers and cheap hotels advertising rooms for $10/hour. Yes. Yes, it is but that's mostly on the even numbered streets and most of the food is on the odd numbered streets north of Geylang Road. I've drawn up a little map to show our 'food tour' route and menu.
The Menu:
1. Beef Kway Teow and Frog Porridge
2. Been Curd, Soya Milk and other snacks
3. Durian
4. Fermented Fried Bean Curd (and Deep Fried Pig Intestines as an unexpected appetiser)
Stop 1: Beef Kway Teow and Frog Porridge
Beef Kway Teow from the restaurant called Famous Beef Kway Teow. It's beef with noodles like Asian beef stroganoff, really good.
The frogs legs and porridge in two separate pots and the Seafood Kway Teow on the other plate. Not everyone can eat beef so I guess seafood is a good alternative. I like the seafood version better than the beef.
The frogs legs are served on top of the porridge in your bowl and it's very tasty. Supposedly it's supposed to be just frogs legs but then some of my coworkers pointed out that would be wasting a lot of the frog so they actually use part of the body as well...but not the head! so they said. As I looked at the different chunks of frog meat in my bowl that definitely were not legs I thought it's pretty subjective for the chef to decide where the frog's head ends and it's body begins...it's all kind of the same thing isn't it? Anyway, frogs are good and they really do taste like chicken though I think the are lighter tasting and more delicate than chicken which is usually really tough when I've ordered it in restaurants. One of my coworkers explained the subtlety in the Chinese name for the frogs we were eating.. translated as field chickens...or paddy chickens because that's where they were collected and they, of course, taste like chicken. It's really easy to catch them. They said all you have to do is go at dusk and shine a flashlight on them and they freeze so you can just pick them up. All right, sounds easy enough, though they said they of course had never done it before.
The secret to good frogs are fresh frogs, I'm sure. Since we were actually sitting in the alley behind the restaurant where they set up some tables for our big group, we got to see a fresh shipment of frogs coming in....about 10 feet from our table. That's a lot of fresh frogs, he probably delivered over 200...a couple even got away from the guy and hopped over to our table trying to escape. I don't think I've every seen something quite like this at a restaurant before but it was kind of nice to know your food is so fresh. And yes, those are the two big dumpsters right there by our tables, too.
Stop 2: Soy Bean Extravaganza
I like a nice simple menu- It really makes ordering easy!
Some been curd. This place added soaked peanuts into it. It was a little course and sugary for my taste and the peanuts were not a nice touch. I've had better ones at other places.
Oh, these things! I still don't know what they're called but it's basically deep fried dough. It's like a doughnut but it's not sweet and it doesn't have any filling and they're dripping with grease. The ones at this place were huge and I ate too much. After eating the bowl of bean curd, the fried dough, a glass of soya milk, and some other fried snacks from this place plus the beef and frogs and seafood I was getting full.. but ready for the next stop:
Stop 3: Durian (the king of fruit)
Durian stinks. No matter what people say about them, have a really strong smell that most people say stinks. You're not allowed to take them on the bus or the MRT because they have such a strong smell. Some people say they smell like bad cheese, and some people say they smell like old gym socks but I've never thought the smell or taste is as bad as people say. I think it's some version of a sweet smell and I like them. There are different strains of Durian. D24 is apparently the most popular and it's what all the vendors in Geylang were hawking.
The wall of durian at the stall we stopped at was both impressive and dangerous.
By the time we got to the durian stop on the tour almost half of our group had already left. We had passed the point of no return now moving to the 3rd stop and in the back of my mind I knew it would only get worse when we got to the 4th for the fermented bean curd, the wild card- the only thing on the menu I hadn't tried before. I think we had 6 or 7 durians split between our group of about 10 at that point. This was the most durian I had ever eaten. I was feeling even more full now but also starting to feel confident that I could handle the fried fermented bean curd.
After the durian we had a very long walk to the final stop. This part of the street is lined with other fruit markets for blocks.
It was a long walk. Too long. I was way too full from so much food and I don't actually think anyone was looking forward to fermented bean curd which is neither refreshing nor a desert in my opinion. Why were we eating it last? No one knew but still we walked on.
Stop 4: Fermented Bean Curd/Pig Intestines (The last straw)
It smells and everyone knows it smells. Bad. Even look at this newspaper clipping the place has on the wall. Yeah, "Phew" for sure. Some people say it's smells like a barnyard and some people say it smells like a sewer, which I tend to agree with, so I don't get what the attraction to it is. This place apparently has won a lot of awards and the walls were full of newspaper clippings and awards so at least we were getting the good stuff (though I'm not sure if that just means the smell and taste are even stronger or not).
The deep fried pig intestines were an unexpected appetizer our leader ordered (they're up on the top of the photo). She also ordered fresh lime juice for everyone as a 'chaser' for the bean curd if we needed it. Basically the intestines tasted like deep fried fat encased in a sausage wrapping (intestine). I told myself it was basically the same as hot dogs and it was fine to eat but I didn't really see the attraction...I guess it's just like snack food. The fried fermented bean curd is in the bottom of the picture and the chili sauce to dip it in is in the middle. Whatever you say, this stuff was horrible. I had two pieces and the second was more difficult to get down than the first. The smell was definitely worse than the taste and if you exhale though your nose when you eat it.. it's manageable to get down. Trying to get the second piece down was the only time when I think my gag reflex was triggered trying to eat something...I got it down but after that I really wasn't felling well and I think drinking the whole glass of lime juice after was a bad idea. Food tours sound like a good idea but we just had way too much food and having that fermented bean curd taste lingering in my mouth wasn't making me feel happy.
The long ride home:
Well the way home was rough. I was walking to the MRT line with my coworker Jeff and some Singaporean coworkers and we were talking about the last stop we were at. No one liked it. I don't know why I ate that 2nd piece. That fermented bean curd and lime juice weren't sitting well and I really just wanted to be home so I could go to sleep. My place was only 4 subways stops from where we were but I was really feeling like I was going to puke. The rocking cars on the subways as it starts and stop and goes around corners become so noticeable when you're tyring to repress your natural reflex to vomit out something that smell like a sewer. When we got to the 3rd stop I told Jeff I was getting off because I didn't think I could have made it to the next stop. He said something like 'Good Luck, See you on Monday,' I thought, 'what-ever,' as I walk off then straight down to the end of the platform. As the train pulled away I sighed in relief. Then, the inevitable. Luckily the platform was pretty much empty and I felt I was exceptionally discrete considering the situation. The smell of durian with lime juice and fermented bean curd is really not a good combination but I felt 100% better.
Alright, now look. I know it's not cool to puke on Singapore's MRT platform and I don't feel good about it but what are they doing allowing people to legally sell that fermented bean curd when they regulate so many other things for their own good. People have the right to eat what they want but how do they know what they should or shouldn't eat? Forgive me but I just had to find out the hard way. Plus I had made my way to a corner away from everyone else. Besides I had bigger things to think about at that point- Like getting home. I took a quick look around to see if there were any cameras watching (I was almost surprised to not see any as I pretty much figure they're are always cameras watching here in Singapore) then walked back up closer to the main part of the platform where the LCD screen said only 4 min to the next train, perfect!. Thank god the trains come so often. I was still not feeling normal but I got in, went one stop, got off then started the 15 min walk back to my place which seemed to take an eternity. Once I got to my place I was straight to the bathroom and puked a few more times and I think I got it all out. I took a quick shower and went straight to bed where I finally felt good.
Looking back over the night, I'm glad I tried everything but I'm not really happy the way it wound down.
So my summary for the night is:
frog legs= good
frog bodies= bad
porridge= good (tasteless)
beef= good
seafood= good
soy milk= good
fried dough= too greasy and bad
bean curd= bad
durian= good in moderation
fried pig intestines= bad
fried fermented bean curd= just wrong
lime juice= good
The Menu:
1. Beef Kway Teow and Frog Porridge
2. Been Curd, Soya Milk and other snacks
3. Durian
4. Fermented Fried Bean Curd (and Deep Fried Pig Intestines as an unexpected appetiser)
Stop 1: Beef Kway Teow and Frog Porridge
Beef Kway Teow from the restaurant called Famous Beef Kway Teow. It's beef with noodles like Asian beef stroganoff, really good.
The frogs legs and porridge in two separate pots and the Seafood Kway Teow on the other plate. Not everyone can eat beef so I guess seafood is a good alternative. I like the seafood version better than the beef.
The frogs legs are served on top of the porridge in your bowl and it's very tasty. Supposedly it's supposed to be just frogs legs but then some of my coworkers pointed out that would be wasting a lot of the frog so they actually use part of the body as well...but not the head! so they said. As I looked at the different chunks of frog meat in my bowl that definitely were not legs I thought it's pretty subjective for the chef to decide where the frog's head ends and it's body begins...it's all kind of the same thing isn't it? Anyway, frogs are good and they really do taste like chicken though I think the are lighter tasting and more delicate than chicken which is usually really tough when I've ordered it in restaurants. One of my coworkers explained the subtlety in the Chinese name for the frogs we were eating.. translated as field chickens...or paddy chickens because that's where they were collected and they, of course, taste like chicken. It's really easy to catch them. They said all you have to do is go at dusk and shine a flashlight on them and they freeze so you can just pick them up. All right, sounds easy enough, though they said they of course had never done it before.
The secret to good frogs are fresh frogs, I'm sure. Since we were actually sitting in the alley behind the restaurant where they set up some tables for our big group, we got to see a fresh shipment of frogs coming in....about 10 feet from our table. That's a lot of fresh frogs, he probably delivered over 200...a couple even got away from the guy and hopped over to our table trying to escape. I don't think I've every seen something quite like this at a restaurant before but it was kind of nice to know your food is so fresh. And yes, those are the two big dumpsters right there by our tables, too.Stop 2: Soy Bean Extravaganza
I like a nice simple menu- It really makes ordering easy!
Some been curd. This place added soaked peanuts into it. It was a little course and sugary for my taste and the peanuts were not a nice touch. I've had better ones at other places.
Oh, these things! I still don't know what they're called but it's basically deep fried dough. It's like a doughnut but it's not sweet and it doesn't have any filling and they're dripping with grease. The ones at this place were huge and I ate too much. After eating the bowl of bean curd, the fried dough, a glass of soya milk, and some other fried snacks from this place plus the beef and frogs and seafood I was getting full.. but ready for the next stop:Stop 3: Durian (the king of fruit)
Durian stinks. No matter what people say about them, have a really strong smell that most people say stinks. You're not allowed to take them on the bus or the MRT because they have such a strong smell. Some people say they smell like bad cheese, and some people say they smell like old gym socks but I've never thought the smell or taste is as bad as people say. I think it's some version of a sweet smell and I like them. There are different strains of Durian. D24 is apparently the most popular and it's what all the vendors in Geylang were hawking.
The wall of durian at the stall we stopped at was both impressive and dangerous.
By the time we got to the durian stop on the tour almost half of our group had already left. We had passed the point of no return now moving to the 3rd stop and in the back of my mind I knew it would only get worse when we got to the 4th for the fermented bean curd, the wild card- the only thing on the menu I hadn't tried before. I think we had 6 or 7 durians split between our group of about 10 at that point. This was the most durian I had ever eaten. I was feeling even more full now but also starting to feel confident that I could handle the fried fermented bean curd.
After the durian we had a very long walk to the final stop. This part of the street is lined with other fruit markets for blocks.
It was a long walk. Too long. I was way too full from so much food and I don't actually think anyone was looking forward to fermented bean curd which is neither refreshing nor a desert in my opinion. Why were we eating it last? No one knew but still we walked on.Stop 4: Fermented Bean Curd/Pig Intestines (The last straw)
It smells and everyone knows it smells. Bad. Even look at this newspaper clipping the place has on the wall. Yeah, "Phew" for sure. Some people say it's smells like a barnyard and some people say it smells like a sewer, which I tend to agree with, so I don't get what the attraction to it is. This place apparently has won a lot of awards and the walls were full of newspaper clippings and awards so at least we were getting the good stuff (though I'm not sure if that just means the smell and taste are even stronger or not).
The deep fried pig intestines were an unexpected appetizer our leader ordered (they're up on the top of the photo). She also ordered fresh lime juice for everyone as a 'chaser' for the bean curd if we needed it. Basically the intestines tasted like deep fried fat encased in a sausage wrapping (intestine). I told myself it was basically the same as hot dogs and it was fine to eat but I didn't really see the attraction...I guess it's just like snack food. The fried fermented bean curd is in the bottom of the picture and the chili sauce to dip it in is in the middle. Whatever you say, this stuff was horrible. I had two pieces and the second was more difficult to get down than the first. The smell was definitely worse than the taste and if you exhale though your nose when you eat it.. it's manageable to get down. Trying to get the second piece down was the only time when I think my gag reflex was triggered trying to eat something...I got it down but after that I really wasn't felling well and I think drinking the whole glass of lime juice after was a bad idea. Food tours sound like a good idea but we just had way too much food and having that fermented bean curd taste lingering in my mouth wasn't making me feel happy.
The long ride home:
Well the way home was rough. I was walking to the MRT line with my coworker Jeff and some Singaporean coworkers and we were talking about the last stop we were at. No one liked it. I don't know why I ate that 2nd piece. That fermented bean curd and lime juice weren't sitting well and I really just wanted to be home so I could go to sleep. My place was only 4 subways stops from where we were but I was really feeling like I was going to puke. The rocking cars on the subways as it starts and stop and goes around corners become so noticeable when you're tyring to repress your natural reflex to vomit out something that smell like a sewer. When we got to the 3rd stop I told Jeff I was getting off because I didn't think I could have made it to the next stop. He said something like 'Good Luck, See you on Monday,' I thought, 'what-ever,' as I walk off then straight down to the end of the platform. As the train pulled away I sighed in relief. Then, the inevitable. Luckily the platform was pretty much empty and I felt I was exceptionally discrete considering the situation. The smell of durian with lime juice and fermented bean curd is really not a good combination but I felt 100% better.
Alright, now look. I know it's not cool to puke on Singapore's MRT platform and I don't feel good about it but what are they doing allowing people to legally sell that fermented bean curd when they regulate so many other things for their own good. People have the right to eat what they want but how do they know what they should or shouldn't eat? Forgive me but I just had to find out the hard way. Plus I had made my way to a corner away from everyone else. Besides I had bigger things to think about at that point- Like getting home. I took a quick look around to see if there were any cameras watching (I was almost surprised to not see any as I pretty much figure they're are always cameras watching here in Singapore) then walked back up closer to the main part of the platform where the LCD screen said only 4 min to the next train, perfect!. Thank god the trains come so often. I was still not feeling normal but I got in, went one stop, got off then started the 15 min walk back to my place which seemed to take an eternity. Once I got to my place I was straight to the bathroom and puked a few more times and I think I got it all out. I took a quick shower and went straight to bed where I finally felt good.
Looking back over the night, I'm glad I tried everything but I'm not really happy the way it wound down.
So my summary for the night is:
frog legs= good
frog bodies= bad
porridge= good (tasteless)
beef= good
seafood= good
soy milk= good
fried dough= too greasy and bad
bean curd= bad
durian= good in moderation
fried pig intestines= bad
fried fermented bean curd= just wrong
lime juice= good
Thursday, May 3, 2007
more random Life in the SGP
one funny thing about Singaporeans is that they call themselves Spores (actually S'pores since the somewhat official abbreviation in the media for Singapore in Singapore is S'pore but they mostly just write Spores or worse yet: spores) . I think this is horrifying and would never willing call myself a spore. I think they like it... like it's some kind of sci-fi thing or they're going to take over and multiply... it's kind of ironic since the birth rate is so low here and the population isn't on track to even sustain it self moving forward. I guess all the women want to have a career here or something. At work we use the abbreviation SGP which is think far better and more humane.
Camera phones have really changed the way people... well, use their phones. To quote The Streets "
Ahhh see
Right see the thing that's got it all fucked up now is camera-phones.
How the hell am I supposed to be able to do a line in front of complete strangers
When I know they've all got cameras?
I've seen a few articles in the paper encouraging people use their camera phones and post images to the STOMP webstie of the Straits Times. Interesting. Never miss a chance to report your fellow citizen breaking the law. It turns out I am Big Brother and I've signed on for a two year contract with the phone company. Actually everyone is more Big Brother than me and He doesn't even have to do anything...probably wasting away in Bali. Well the point of this entry was just to post a bunch of photos I've found on my camera phone that I've taken since I arrived. There's nothing much special about them but I guess I thought they were interesting enough since I had decided to commit the space on my camera for them until now when I've taken them off.
Camera phones have really changed the way people... well, use their phones. To quote The Streets "
Ahhh see
Right see the thing that's got it all fucked up now is camera-phones.
How the hell am I supposed to be able to do a line in front of complete strangers
When I know they've all got cameras?
I've seen a few articles in the paper encouraging people use their camera phones and post images to the STOMP webstie of the Straits Times. Interesting. Never miss a chance to report your fellow citizen breaking the law. It turns out I am Big Brother and I've signed on for a two year contract with the phone company. Actually everyone is more Big Brother than me and He doesn't even have to do anything...probably wasting away in Bali. Well the point of this entry was just to post a bunch of photos I've found on my camera phone that I've taken since I arrived. There's nothing much special about them but I guess I thought they were interesting enough since I had decided to commit the space on my camera for them until now when I've taken them off.
Indian food is often served on a washed banana leaf. It's claimed to be more hygenic since one can never be sure a plate had been washed and cleaned enough...but if it's a banana leaf, be assured it's nice and clean. I guess maybe it's the same reasoning why you should eat with your right hand only.
Archipelago Brewery is a very good craft brewery here in Singapore. I met the brewer at a tasting he was hosting a few months ago and he's from California as well and related to a co-worker of mine. He's using a lot of local SE Asia ingredients in the beers like lemon grass, ginger, and other spices resulting in very nice beers and a lot of press. 
Cabs with my name written on them. I am some kind of bank loan called 'James'
your ordinay Lizard traping box next to the rest of the pest control. I haven't seen any geckos in my apt here up on the 7th floor but the are all over the place.
I saw two snails in the last two days! and I had never seen a snail here before that. these look like sea snails. At least the shells do. I've never seen snails like this before on land so I figured they must have crawled up from the sea but this one was on the wall just at the subway (MRT) exit by my place...that's basically the center of the city so it had a long crawl. The other one looked just like this one but I was late to a meeting so I didn't take it's picture. Now I wish I would have. I'll look for it tomorrow.
My morning commute. This was a strange time when there was NO one else on the MRT platform. It rarely happens and it only lasted less than a 30 seconds.
A rainly day though a cab window
another rainy day though a cab window.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
various rants
Late last night I walked up to Mustafa Center in Little India since my shower broke (a lot of things you buy here are from China and break very easily...but what can you expect since they're so cheap. I hear that a lot as an explanation as if it should make sense to me. It's not an excuse. It's more of just a statement that everyone excepts. It wouldn't be so bad if you actually had the choice to buy a high quality item for more money but I haven’t seen those options. Plus it was late and I really needed to fix that thing so I went to Mustafa Center since it's open 24hours a day, every day, and has everything you could need for anything. Six stories of everything from clothes to food to TVs to whatever. I don't agree with this wikipedia description that it 'caters to the budget market'... you can see it's a Singapore based entry which makes me think it has a strong anti-Indian bias. The prices are good there, maybe better than other places in Singapore, but that doesn't mean they sell cheap stuff only.) Anyways this brings me back to the point of the story. While I was walking there I was thinking how quite the normally busy streets were. It wasn’t that late, maybe around 9:30pm. Then I noticed a group of Police officers just strolling down the street up ahead of me and I was thinking how strange that was. Then I found out they were stopping suspicious looking people on the streets and questioning them. Literally as I passed them they stopped an Indian and apparently asked for either ID or some kind of residence card. As I kept walking I saw them searching though his bag... he must have been a very suspicious guy... and some of the other cops were pointing out another guy across the street they thought seemed suspect, too. This is so crazy, I can't believe someone can just be stopped and searched here for walking down the street. As I kept walking I could hear the people talking about "immigration" coming through. Maybe if Bush is serious about protecting the borders he could learn something from Singapore. Civil liberties whatever. I spent way too much time in Mustafa Center looking at random things. I bought some sunflower and cilantro seeds to plant on the balcony. I refused to buy the potting soil since I was sure it came from China and was just some dirt they packaged after digging it up at a construction site. Forget that! I can just get some dirt from the construction site across the street from my place. On my way back home I saw the police again. They had a few other Indians stopped and were going through their bags. I have to admit though, all those Indians they stopped did have their shirts untucked and their hair looked uncombed... not too different from . . . me. This reminds me I have to write up my thoughts on my India trip and post photos...
Speaking of my construction site though, it's really coming along. I think the whole foundation is poured now and they're starting to build up. The sounds of jackhammers breaking up the old foundation and rocks have been replaced by the constant soft hum of pumps for pouring concrete and grinders cutting rebar.
On my way home tonight I saw like 50 Harley-Davidson's parked outside a movie theater/mall near my house. It was obviously the Harley-Davidson club I've heard about here. Possibly the most candy-assed motorcycle gang in the world. I heard someone tell me they wanted to go up to Phuket, Tailand to ride their bikes around.. but instead of driving up though Malaysia they shipped them all up by plane then flew up separately then just drove around the island and came home. Anyways the bikes were all outside and all lined up in about 3 rows then I noticed 3 security guards standing there watching over them. Like Singapore isn't the safest country in the world, these bikers hired security guards to stand out there making sure no one messed with their hogs while they were inside watching a movie or maybe having a drink at starbucks.
Speaking of my construction site though, it's really coming along. I think the whole foundation is poured now and they're starting to build up. The sounds of jackhammers breaking up the old foundation and rocks have been replaced by the constant soft hum of pumps for pouring concrete and grinders cutting rebar.
On my way home tonight I saw like 50 Harley-Davidson's parked outside a movie theater/mall near my house. It was obviously the Harley-Davidson club I've heard about here. Possibly the most candy-assed motorcycle gang in the world. I heard someone tell me they wanted to go up to Phuket, Tailand to ride their bikes around.. but instead of driving up though Malaysia they shipped them all up by plane then flew up separately then just drove around the island and came home. Anyways the bikes were all outside and all lined up in about 3 rows then I noticed 3 security guards standing there watching over them. Like Singapore isn't the safest country in the world, these bikers hired security guards to stand out there making sure no one messed with their hogs while they were inside watching a movie or maybe having a drink at starbucks.
Sunday, April 8, 2007
Happy Easter
Happy Easter!
In Singapore, Good Friday is a public holiday. Since there are so many religions here, most of the public holidays are for some kind of religious holiday actually. I had Friday off so I went to Batam, Indonesia with James, one of the American friends I've met here. It was very relaxing and also nice to get out of Singapore, especially since it's only a 40min ferry ride. Batam, along with the rest of Indonesia... along with the rest of the world really... has a reputation as being very unsafe according to the Singaporians. But the Indonesians especially would kidnap and kill you for just $1000 SGD (according to one of my co-workers)...I guess it's to be expected from a Muslim nation. However, my experiences with Indonesia so far have been nothing but good. I've never felt unsafe and the people are some of the friendliest I've met. I think it's very ironic that there was actually a stabbing at Holland Village just on Saturday night. From the newspaper article it sounds like no one was killed and both involved parties got away with out the police capturing them. I really want to get my co-workers opinion on this when I see them tomorrow. Anyways, that's besides the point. Happy Easter! and back to work tomorrow.
In Singapore, Good Friday is a public holiday. Since there are so many religions here, most of the public holidays are for some kind of religious holiday actually. I had Friday off so I went to Batam, Indonesia with James, one of the American friends I've met here. It was very relaxing and also nice to get out of Singapore, especially since it's only a 40min ferry ride. Batam, along with the rest of Indonesia... along with the rest of the world really... has a reputation as being very unsafe according to the Singaporians. But the Indonesians especially would kidnap and kill you for just $1000 SGD (according to one of my co-workers)...I guess it's to be expected from a Muslim nation. However, my experiences with Indonesia so far have been nothing but good. I've never felt unsafe and the people are some of the friendliest I've met. I think it's very ironic that there was actually a stabbing at Holland Village just on Saturday night. From the newspaper article it sounds like no one was killed and both involved parties got away with out the police capturing them. I really want to get my co-workers opinion on this when I see them tomorrow. Anyways, that's besides the point. Happy Easter! and back to work tomorrow.
Friday, April 6, 2007
Good Friday
It's Good Friday and I have the day off work since it's a public holiday here. I went to one of the specialty grocery stores figuring they might have some hot cross buns at their bakery today and I was right. Got a few and had some coffee and relaxed. I'm going to Batam Indonesia w/ another American friend, James, in a little. It's a quick trip on a boat to get there and it should be a good vacation. Looking forward to it since I havn't been yet.
Thursday, April 5, 2007
strange stuff
I saw a few things today that make you think how ridiculous this country is.
This is some Tiger Beer on SALE! Okay, not really that strange in it self. It's not the price that's the shocker but that the special is a 25 cent (Singapore cents) discount ! in U.S. terms that's like 15 cents off a $10 six pack of beer. This isn't such a great special but this is the kind of special that's always going on at the stores... really bad sales just making you want to buy more since you're getting a deal which is really what it's all about here. If you pay too much... you're just a sucka.
I was also supprised to see Budweiser at the store today there with all the other premium export beers. This grocery store across from my apartment seems to be one of the worst in Singapore for their stock and selection so you could imagine my excitment to see they started stocking it. I thought it is was funny when I was in St. Louis last summer and realized the 'local beer' was Budweiser and now it's been reinvented as an export to me. Although the logo here does seems a little off; I'm pretty sure this is not the same Budweiser label I've seen in the U.S.
This is some Tiger Beer on SALE! Okay, not really that strange in it self. It's not the price that's the shocker but that the special is a 25 cent (Singapore cents) discount ! in U.S. terms that's like 15 cents off a $10 six pack of beer. This isn't such a great special but this is the kind of special that's always going on at the stores... really bad sales just making you want to buy more since you're getting a deal which is really what it's all about here. If you pay too much... you're just a sucka.I was also supprised to see Budweiser at the store today there with all the other premium export beers. This grocery store across from my apartment seems to be one of the worst in Singapore for their stock and selection so you could imagine my excitment to see they started stocking it. I thought it is was funny when I was in St. Louis last summer and realized the 'local beer' was Budweiser and now it's been reinvented as an export to me. Although the logo here does seems a little off; I'm pretty sure this is not the same Budweiser label I've seen in the U.S.
This is the famous Busweiser beer. We know of no brand produced by any other brewer which costs so much to brew and age. Our exclusive Beechwood Aging produces a taste, a smoothness and a drinkability you will find in no other beer at any price.
Maybe I've been out of California for too long but I just don't remember ever reading that before so I guess they've handcrafted that message for the locals here to make sure they know they're getting an exceptional value when making this purchase. It also seems strange that I was so excited to buy Budweiser and I can't wait to drink some
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