Header

Japanese Pancakes

By jeni | August 1, 2008

Hello darlings. Haha. I’ve been reading some chick lit (interspersed of course with very important works of literature) and in one of the books I just read the protagonist’s boyfriend suggests they start calling each other darling. Well I thought that was hilarious so now John and I have started calling each other darling whenever we can remember. Which is usually only in text messages but it’s still funny. Or we think it’s funny at least. 

Anyway, it’s come to my attention that having one post solely dedicated to a food of the week might have been a little ambitious, but a girl can dream anyway. So this post is going to be about our food of the week, but also about some other things too. 

This week: japanese pancakes, found at the most awesome department store here in Singapore, Takashimaya. I guess it’s a Japanese department store, but there’s a huge one here and I just love it. The department stores are interesting here because they’ve got all of your typical department store items, think Dillard’s, Macy’s, Marks & Spencer, what have you, but many of them also have big food courts and groceries in them as well. Takashimaya is one such store. 

So at the bottom level they have this food court with tons and tons of food stalls. Lots of your basic Singapore offerings like chicken rice and other things that I can’t remember right now, and also lots of fancy Japanese ice creams and chocolates and these awesome Japanese pancakes at this place called Mr. Obanyaki. Basically, it’s a pancake shaped like a fish, and then you can have whatever treats inside that you choose. Of course John chose chocolate chips, because chocolate chips are awesome. So it’s a big fish-shaped pancake filled with chocolate. Pretty much nothing better than that right? Right. 

 

 

I have a picture, but alas, we are having major internet problems right now, so I can’t upload it. I don’t even know if I’ll be able to post this post. By the way, if I owe you an email and haven’t gotten back to you, this is probably why.

On to other things – we are going to Bintan for the weekend, so no posts for a little while. Bintan is an island in Indonesia right on the South China Sea, and it’s just a 45 or 55 or 65 minute ferry ride away from Singapore, depending on who you believe. Hopefully it’s the first of many travels while we’re out here. We’ll report back next week with a review! 

Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend. 

ETA: Obv I got the pic in there now. Lates! 

Topics: food, food of the week, sightseeing | 1 Comment »

Inside the Mind of a Crazed Expat on a Trip to the Grocery Store

By jeni | July 30, 2008

1. What the %$^! is that racket? German lady, get your kids under control. They are not adorable. I will trip one of them and it won’t be pretty if you don’t bring a sense of order to your family. Aren’t Germans all about order?

2. Ooh, Horizon organic cheese! 

That pricetag says $16.25 for those of you reading without your glasses. Yeah not so much.

3. What the heck is a ladyfinger? I thought it was a cookie (which it is). Then I thought a green bean. Turns out it’s okra. Giant okra. Called ladyfingers. I can see John taking the putting black olives on the tips of his fingers game to a whole new level with this one. Good thing he didn’t come with me.

4. German lady, I swear I will clothesline one of those kids. 

5. Hmmm, maybe I’ll buy some rice. I have a rice cooker. I should learn how to make rice. 

6. Okay so I have rice. Now what do I make with rice? Vindaloo? Curry? I can get all this stuff anywhere in Singapore. I’m putting the rice back. 

7. $3.80 for a can of beans? It’s a steal. I’ll take them.  

8. Wow vegemite in a tube. Yum.

9. Wow this little basket is heavy. But I am not paying $1 to get a proper shopping cart. I’ll grin and bear it. 

10. Checkout time! Oh no there’s one of the British women from the Peranakan tour. I hope she doesn’t see me. Yes, I’m already avoiding people in the grocery store and I know a grand total of seven people on the entire island. Some things never change. 

 

Topics: culture clash, food, shopping | 4 Comments »

Saturday Morning Fun

By jeni | July 26, 2008

Topics: food, Holland V, neighborhoods | 3 Comments »

Rain, Roti John, etc.

By John | July 25, 2008

Rain storms are pretty frequent here in Singapore, even during the “dry season” that we’re supposed to be in now. Jeni mentioned in an earlier post that it only takes getting caught in the rain once to learn that you should never be without an umbrella in Singapore. So true.

For instance, when I decided to leave work today to grab some lunch, this is what was happening:

This is just outside the main lobby of my office building and the downpour was torrential. Strong winds and big drops of rain = soaked suit. Unfortunately when it rains this hard, having an umbrella doesn’t help all that much. The best approach is to use underground walkways to get wherever you’re going or just stay where you are and order in.

As for the Roti John, I wanted to share a picture I took yesterday which I thought was neat:

John Cheese, John Onion, John Chicken Lah!

Roti John is a Malay sandwhich-thing which I’ve yet to try since it looks pretty boring. Instead, I usually find myself eating whatever my colleagues suggest – which is always something different each day. Yesterday, while sitting in front of the Roti John stall, I ate nasi lemak for the first time. Nasi lemak is a very well-known Malaysian dish and usually consists of:

Here’s a picture of traditional nasi lemak so you get an idea of what we’re talking about here:

And here’s the hawker center where I ate:

Anyway, the nasi lemak I had was from a very popular stall known for it’s fragrant rice cooked in coconut milk. Their standard version of nasi lemak is coconut rice, fried egg, fried chicken, chili, a weird flat fish-patty thing and dried anchovies. It was really all very good. The chili was great, the rice was perfect and the fried chicken rocked. The anchovies weirded me out a bit since you eat them bones and all (they’re just dried). As usual, I ate everything on my plate — the anchovies aren’t so bad once you get over the strong fishiness of them.

Hope that gives a little insight into my usual lunch experience here. Catch you all later!

Topics: food, rain | 3 Comments »

Sayin’ hi

By jeni | July 25, 2008

Why does it rain every day I plan on going to the pool? I’ve always been the kind of girl that loves rain, you know I was so tortured in high school I loved to brood and write poetry and pretend I was in a music video every time it rained. But I realize growing up in Colorado, it really didn’t rain ALL that much. Now that I’m in Singapore, where it seems to rain at least 5 days out of the week, I don’t love the rain as much. Also, I think I don’t love it because it’s not a cool refreshing rain, although it does cool off a bit, but rather a muggy wet warm rain. 

Anywho, I’m sitting here watching it rain and scouring the big bad Internet for online classes on creative writing since I am having trouble finding anything here, and I’m feeling a little lonely and I’m wondering who’s out there. I know you guys are reading – I am a smarty pants and I have stats trackers and I see there are lots of people visiting. Actually, way more than I anticipated.  

A few of you have commented, so thanks for that. Katy I’m looking at you top commenter! But the rest of you are lurking! So say hi! You have to register with your email address, but I’m the only one who sees it. Oh yeah and John. Don’t worry, I won’t give it to Bill Gates or George Bush or the President of Singapore (whose name I don’t know but I should probably learn). 

So all you have to do is click on the comments link at the end of the post, enter your info, and leave us a little message. Say hello. Tell me to get a haircut. Tell me what you had for breakfast. Tell me your deepest darkest secret. Tell John to stop working so much and spend more time posting on the blog like me. 🙂 Or just tell us what you’re up to this weekend. 

XOXO

Jeni

P.S. Shout outs to my cousin Russell, it’s his birthday today, my cousin Dawn who just had her second baby boy and my friend Hannah getting married this weekend! Wish I could be there to celebrate with you all. 

Topics: friends, rain | 3 Comments »

Food of the Week – Durian

By jeni | July 24, 2008

Welcome to our newest feature – food of the week, wherein each week one of us will try a new food and we’ll blog all about it for you! To start off, we have the KING of FRUITS – duh nananana – the durian!

The durian is native to Brunei, Malaysia and Indonesia and can be found all over the place here in Singapore. 

The durian is used in all kinds of fruity drinks, desserts and what not and there are whole cafes dedicated to it here. People love it. I mean they really love it. Why? 

I truly have no clue. 

Wikipedia says the durian has a “distinctive odor.” Umm yeah. That’s an understatement. It smells like hot garbage. Or a swiss fondue restaurant in the middle of a bank of port-a-potties . Or some other equally awful odor.  And that’s just the smell. Some say it has the texture of a cow pattie. I prefer to describe it as an avocado. It’s creamy and gushy and bleh. 

Based on the smell and the rumors alone, John and I had successfully avoided durians up until recently. But when our service apartment had a little party and durians were part of the fare, we decided to just go for it. The staff told us to try not to think of it as a fruit, but rather as if we were tasting a fine cheese. Okay, sure. Fine cheese it is.

Catherine (my BFF from guest services) plucks a supposedly “good” piece from the spiky shell.

Okay, I’m ready. Let’s give this a shot.

Umm, I’m just supposed to take a bite right? I think I’ll close my eyes. 


I don’t think I like this. 

Fine cheese this is NOT. I know fine cheese. I mean, I know Kraft at least. And this is not on par. In fact, I think I may have to spit this out. 

I got it all down. In fact, I couldn’t stop taking bites, even though I hated it. It was a trainwreck. I just couldn’t stop. John just had one tiny bite. Wimp. Then he moved on to lychee. Mmmm lychee. We just love lychee. 

I decide to cleanse my pallet by having a popsicle. Of course I fail to look at the wrapper – it’s a durian popsicle. Disgusting. 

So what’s the verdict? Durian is not for us. We were told you have to try it four times and you’ll like it after that. I don’t think I can handle the smell three more times. But you never know. 

Topics: food, food of the week | No Comments »

They Take Some Getting Used To

By jeni | July 23, 2008

The little things I mean. Every day things, things you probably don’t even think twice about in your day-to-day life. Sometimes we’re on autopilot, maybe even lots of times, and we don’t realize how we move through this life. So I think it’s good to throw a wrench in the system every once in a while. Even if it is just some of the little things. 

1. Writing and saying the date. Today’s date, for instance, I would typically write July 23, 2008. Or 7/23/08. No longer. Now it’s 23rd July 2008 or 23/7/08. 

2. Transition from the English measurement system to the metric system. How many centimeters tall am I? I have no clue. Littleton Public Schools, I blame you. I’m sure I was taught this at some point, and I do know a bit – running a 5K, etc. –  but clearly it does not come naturally. Well now I know. I’m 167.64 cm.

I’m surprised at how often I feel like a fool for not knowing the metric system well. How fast in kilometers are we driving in this taxi? How much weight in kilograms can I lift? How much water in liters should I put in this pot? At what temperature in centigrade does a human being melt? 

3. Two dollar bills. I love this feature of Singaporean money. It’s just so great to have two dollar bills. That is all. 

4. Lah. This is just one of the little features of Singlish that I am growing to understand. It’s used at the end of sentences and is very prevalent here. I’m sure we’ll do a whole post on Singlish some day, but this is just one of the little things okay lah. 

5. Ordering coffee. How in the hell do you order a plain old black coffee? I don’t know. Unless I’m at Starbucks. Sometimes I order a long black, which is like an Americano, which is like espresso with hot water. Or sometimes you can say kopi and see what you end up with. But now I’m kind of on a cappuccino kick anyway. Mmm cappuccino. 

6. Carrying an umbrella everywhere. And I mean everywhere. It only takes getting caught in the rain one time to know that this is an imperative. Do not leave the house without an umbrella. See my earlier point about melting. 

7. Crossing the street when the cars drive on the other side. Look right, then left. No left, then right. Or just look back and forth side to side frantically and run like the wind if it looks clear. But don’t jaywalk. You get a fine for jaywalking. Big fine. 

8. No tipping. Actually this didn’t take much getting used to. I like this! The service is usually mediocre at best, but that’s okay, because you don’t have to tip. No tipping taxi drivers either. 

9. Six digit pin numbers and eight digit telephone numbers. Numbers numbers numbers boring. 

10. Chinese subtitles on everything. Actually I don’t notice it all that much anymore, but at first it kind of threw me for a loop. When they do both English and Chinese subtitles it can still get a little confusing. So many places for my eyes to look! 

I’m sure there are one million more, but these are just some of the little things that we’re slowly adapting to over here. Kisses. 

Topics: culture clash | 3 Comments »

Going to the movies

By jeni | July 20, 2008

What’s the coolest thing about going to see a movie in Singapore? 

Two words: Assigned seating. 

I love assigned seating. You can buy your tickets online before you go, or even reserve them on your mobile, or just go wait in the queue (yes, I’m still using queue) like the rest of the plebeians. But regardless of how you buy your tickets, you get to choose your seat. So assuming you’ve purchased your seat in advance enough to guarantee a wide range of choices, you can pick your perfect seat, yet still show up for the film with only minutes to spare before the previews. No more sitting through a boring 20 minute pre-show and eating all of your popcorn before the movie even starts just to spare yourself the pain of sitting in the front row. 

My perfect seat? About halfway up the stairs in most theaters, in the middle section, but closer to the aisle (just in case I need to make a run for the restroom during a slow scene). Yesterday I enjoyed this perfect seat while watching The Dark Knight with 600 of John’s colleagues and their families. It was “the company” day at the Cathay Cineplex – employees, their families and a bunch of clients were invited for a lunch buffet and then to see the movie, so of course John and I went to take it all in. 

And take it in we did – it was pure madness. Little kids laughing maniacally at a magician in the lobby, hundreds of people swooping in like vultures when the buffet was replenished, and of course watching the movie, which I’ll get to in a moment. 

This wasn’t your typical movie outing of course since the entire theater was reserved for the company, but it was a good representation of a typical day at the movies in Singapore. The bathrooms are the best – they have those fancy hand dryers that you move your hands in and out of, all while watching a tiny screen with the latest movie previews. The entire theater is carpeted, and the seats are big red numbers that are incredibly plush and comfortable. This works in Singapore because everyone is incredibly concerned with cleanliness and tidiness. There are large fines for littering in this city, so it is rarely done, even indoors in the dark. Thus, everyone just tends to clean up for themselves. No spilled sodas, no popcorn bits or candy wrappers all over the floor. 

When we got to our seats we had little containers of carmel corn and a can of Coca Cola in our seats, courtesy of the company. Nice! The first thing I noticed when the movie started – it was loud! Super loud. Why? Probably to drown out the kiddies cowering in fear over the scary Batman movie. No matter where you go I guess, people tend to bring kids to see movies they probably aren’t ready to see. Ahh, such is life. 

Movie theaters are air-conditioned here to the point of pain. They turn the temperature down so low that it’s common to see women pulling sweaters, ski pants, down comforters and earmuffs, and of course I was no exception. I learned my lesson after the first movie we saw, so in my bag I had stuffed a hoodie, and boy was I glad once the movie got going. It was freezing! By the time it was over we were both frozen popsicles, so we were actually excited for once to go back outside to the sauna that is Singapore. 

I loved The Dark Knight – it was dark and brooding and had lots of great action scenes. Heath Ledger is amazing of course and Christian Bale isn’t too shabby either. Funny how Morgan Freeman always plays the same basic character – we just saw him in Wanted – but obviously it works for him. The movie was a little long, but then again I always think movies are long. My favorite part was the stunt where they turn the semi over – that was awesome.

Anyway, our next trip is going to be to the Golden Village Gold Class Cinema. That’s the one where you basically get your own couch and butler and they serve you dinner. Can’t wait for that. I love the movies. :) 

XOXO

Jeni

Topics: movies | No Comments »

Excuse Me Miss, You’re in My Way!

By John | July 17, 2008

Singapore is crowded, period. It’s one gigantic city with loads of people moving about at a zillion miles an hour. Everyone’s got places to go, things to buy, and some have to be back at work since they’re on lunch. Including me.

When walking through the city streets you’ve got to keep your eyes open and plan your route at least two steps ahead. It’s like a game of urban speed chess. I laugh a little inside every time I see a blonde westerner moving every which way in the hopes of protecting her personal “bubble”. This…is…SPARTA woman! Just pick your feet up, look straight ahead and use your eyes to let the other people know that you’re walking with a purpose!

Maybe I have it easy because I wear a suit and tie and have a sh*t-eating grin on my face half the time. I dunno, but if we’re coming toward one another in the same general path, you’d better get out of my way!

Topics: culture clash, facetious | 3 Comments »

Excuse Me Sir, You’re Sitting in My Lap

By jeni | July 17, 2008

Let’s talk about personal space. I like it. John likes it. You guys probably like it. Most Americans do. I’m not talking about giant penthouse apartments or 8 bedroom houses with six-car garages or huge SUVs or anything like that. I’m just talking about the little box of space that SHOULD be around me when I’m walking down the street or standing on a train or in the queue for the movie (yes they say queue here instead of “line” so that’s what I’m going to say too). 

In Singapore, and I think in a lot of Eastern cultures, they don’t really have the same sense of personal space that westerners have. Every day, I walk down Orchard Road, either to go get coffee or do grocery shopping or, like today, to take the MRT to meet John for lunch. Usually the street looks something like this. 

Lots and lots of people. Fine. I know this is a big city. I know lots of people live here. I know they all want to walk around and shop and do the same things I do. And I guess I’m okay with that. I mean they should try to empty out the city whenever I’m about to go outdoors, but these things don’t always work that way. 

But what I’m not okay with is the constant touching and running into each other and just general lack of regard for the fact that I am trying to live and breathe right next to you! I know this happens a lot in big cities, like New York of course, but it just seems magnified here. Maybe it’s the heat.

Case in point: The steps on an average escalator here are probably two feet wide. Yet you feel the need to stand on the same step I’m on, even though there is a free one below me. Oh and forget about moving out of the way if we’re coming toward one another in the same general path. It’s every man for himself at that point. If we smack into each other like bowling pins, so be it. All’s well that ends well right? 

Which brings me to another point. DO NOT SMILE AT THE NATIVES. Meaning everyone who lives here unless they are clearly an expat or a tourist. John’s colleagues were already making fun of him for being a “smiley American.” Apparently they get confused by us smiling at each other all of the time because in Singapore, a big toothy grin, or even just a little baby smile, toward a stranger usually means you’re interested (you know, in THAT way) in said stranger. 

So now of course, I’m totally scared to smile at anyone. Instead I just walk around scowling. Now I’m the angry American. Don’t look at me. Don’t touch me. Don’t smile at me. And definitely don’t stand on the same escalator step as me.

Topics: culture clash | 4 Comments »

« Previous Entries Next Entries »