I start my day with a Singapore tradition, "Kaya Kopi". ('Kopi', as a word has long, multi-national history, but has been embraced as a Singlish word for 'coffee'.) The 'Kopi Set' is a light, fast breakfast and is perfect for people on-the-go, or for me since I can't face much food early in the day. For SD4.20, you get a cup of thick, sweet coffee, two VERY soft-boiled eggs, and two slices of toast (crust removed) smeared with kaya, a sweet coconut spread. Your eggs come with a spare, small bowl. The proper etiquette is to crack your egg, (one at a time please) pour into the spare bowl, add a few drops of soy sauce, stir it into a rich, yolk-y, yummy mess and sip it from the bowl. The more demure may use the tiny spoon that comes with. It is also permissible to dip your toast or mop up the last bits of eggy goodness. Mmmmmm.
I have heard a lot about Sim Lim Square, the giant technology mall, and wanted to check it out since I will eventually be shopping for a lap top.
This place is mind boggling. Six floors of private vendors selling every techno-gadget you can dream of, and a few you haven't. Stall after stall of computers, cell phones, cameras, T.V.'s, closed circuit systems, stereos, gaming systems, MP3's and every possible do-dad, whatsit and extendo-thing you'd ever need. It really makes you realize how disposable technology has become. It is important to remember that most things don't have a price on them for a reason - haggling is expected here. But be warned: Know what you're buying and how much you should be paying. Even the taxi driver warned me not to go unless I know how to bargain! Also, you have to make sure that everything you need is included in the final price. What looks like a good deal can sometimes end up costing much more when you start adding things that would usually be included, like a battery or power cord.After frying my brain on techno-input, I wander down the Albert Street Mall. It is a Sunday afternoon, and Singaporean families are out in full force. The mall is a retail circus. You can walk from Sim Lim to the OG department store where the sale items are dragged out into the street and advertised by shouting sales-people (usually in Mandarin), then on toward the Fu Lu Shou complex which seems to be Chinese New Year central,
through the Bugis Street covered market and into Bugis Junction, another huge mall. AND, the whole walk is lined with street stalls. Singaporeans loooove to shop. In fact, I've been told that they are a triple-threat: They eat, drink and shop like champions. Anyone who considers themselves a pro-shopper at home is in for a rude awakening as Singaporeans will show you how it's done!Bugis market is a trip.
Packed with people, it is two stories of tiny vendor stalls selling clothes, wallets, sunglasses, clothes, shoes, clothes, jewelery, clothes, hats & bags, clothes, baby clothes and clothes and everything in between. You can't be in a hurry in the market, or anywhere in a crowded place for that matter. Bugis is particularly crowed because the aisles are so narrow and you have to adopt the Asian attitude toward 'flow'. Think of the crowd as a river and find a current that's going in your direction, then just let it carry you.As a side note, I have to say that Singapore is only just taking it's first baby steps into being 'green'. Pretty much everything in a food court is still served on Styrofoam plates with plastic utensils, drinks in plastic cups. There are places that use cutlery and actual dishes, but I've found that they are the exception. Hotel laundry gets returned with everything hermetically sealed in plastic, wrapped in plastic and then wrapped in plastic again for good measure. Some places offer re-usable shopping bags, but generally everything is put into at least one, if not two or three, plastic shopping bags. There are plenty of garbage cans on the street and a prominent "Let's Bin It" campaign, but this is more about eradicating street litter than reducing waste. Still, unlike many places in Asia, Singapore is at least trying to make people more aware.
At the Bugis fruit market, I decide to put my culinary big-boy pants on and try my first durian.
The smell: not unlike your full kitchen compost bucket after it sits on the back deck in the heat for a few days.
The texture: very soft and creamy, slightly slimy, a bit like un-set jell-o or over-firm rice pudding.
The taste: who can say? Can't get past the smell.
I will say that it wasn't as unpleasant as I expected it to be, but I can see where it is definitely an acquired taste.
This is one of my favourite buildings in Singapore, near Bugis.
At night, the white snow-flake-globe-things ripple, undulate and flash with patterns creating a pretty amazing light show. I've been to lots of places that feature cutting-edge architecture, but here, everywhere you turn you see another amazing, gravity-defying, perception-changing structure.After a busy morning of navigating the crowds, (think 'flow'), I retreat for a refreshing dip and relax at poolside, followed by a glass of wine.
And speaking of wine...!
Have I mentioned how expen$ive liquor is here?!?!?! A bottle of Chilean plonk that I pay CDN$9.00 for at home, sells for around CDN$20 here. A bottle of Absolut, CDN$24 at home, sells here for between CDN$50 and CDN$65. And if you're drinking at an up-scale, tourist-driven hotel, it gets even crazier. The other day, I paid SD$40 (CDN$30-ish)for two glasses of forgettable Chilean Chardonnay. A glass of bubbly and two glasses of wine in the lounge, ...SD$90! I have heard that prices are a bit lower on the outskirts of the city, away from the tourist area at city centre. Still, I can't see myself taking the MRT or a taxi to the suburbs to stock up on liquor.
*sigh* Drinking shouldn't be this hard.
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