Durians in Chinatown.
Posted in Asia, Chinatown, Food, Food Photography, Food Stalls, Foodie Photo of the Day, fruit, Fruit Stalls, Hawker Food Diaries, Photography, Raw foods, Singapore, singapore photo of the day, travel photography, Uncategorized, Weird Asia, tagged Asia, asian fruit, banned fruits, Chinatown, durian, Food, food photography, foodie photo of the day, fruit, Fruit Stalls, Photography, Singapore, Singapore photo of the day, smelly, Street Food, travel photography, weird Asia on April 15, 2016| Leave a Comment »
Posted in Asian, Bathrooms, Cheap Eats, culture clash, Food, Food Stalls, fruit, Fruit Stalls, Hawker Food Diaries, Hygiene, issues, Lau Pa Sat, Singapore, take out, Vegetarian/Vegan, Weird Asia, tagged bathroom, culture clash, Food, hawker market, juice stall, Lau Pa Sat, office, poor hygiene, sign, Singapore, Vegan, Vegetarian, wash hands, weird Asia on June 20, 2013| 7 Comments »
The other day I noticed this odd sign in the office I sometimes work from. It has detailed instructions on how to wash your hands. I mean, I get it if you want to put up a sign reminding people to do it, but are there really people out there that don’t know how?
I apologize for the blurriness, but have you ever tried to discretely take a photo in a busy office bathroom?
An expat friend of mine and I send each other photos of things we think are unusual in Singapore, so naturally this was immediately sent to her. She replied with one of her own. No tutorial but a less than gentle hand washing reminder from an angry cartoon.
The next day I’m in the hawker market ordering a juice. I am waiting for the juice lady to finish dealing with the trash. She has her fist happily plunging ahead into a bag full of waste for a full 3-4 minutes of my waiting time, before she comes to serve me. I order my juice and patiently wait for her to a.) wash her hands and b.) prepare my juice.
You would guess it, she never took care of part a. She did not even bother to change or remove her glove. When I asked her if she was going to wash her hands, she pretended to not understand me, alienating me with a funny look on her face. What was the strange foreigner asking of her?? Surely it was too difficult and taxing! Let’s intimidate her by furrowing our brow and pretending not to understand why she might be upset or flailing about across the counter. Another lady, a nice one who communicates well in Singlish, had to tell her what was going on. Her hands. The germs. The glove. The trash. My juice.
She leaves halfway through making the juice and another lady takes over. What to do now? Take the juice half way made by trash glove lady or walk away thirsty?
I did not get a juice that day. I also did not get diphtheria, so you win some you lose some.
The takeaway to this post seems to be two-fold.
1.) The wash your hand signs in the bathroom may not be so silly after all. Perhaps it’s not a ritual everyone is accustomed to.
2.) Do not buy juice from the juice stand at Lau Pa Sat.
Posted in burgers, Food, Food Stalls, Peranaken, Restaurants, Singapore, take out, Tanjong Pagar, Thai, Vegetarian/Vegan, tagged Asian, CBD, Food, no msg, Peranakan, restaurants, Singapore, Tanjong Pagar, Thai, the Loving Hut, Vegan, Vegetarian, Whole Earth on January 24, 2013| Leave a Comment »
Dear Whole Earth Singapore,
I love you.
xx Laura
I was taking a graphic design short course in Tanjong Pagar when I found this vegetarian place that specializes in Peranakan and Thai cuisine.
A main with brown rice after tax and service charge was $24, so it’s not particularly cheap. It is, however, healthy and delicious with nice interiors. I even experienced good service.
If you are a vegetarian but have always wondered what some of the classic Asian dishes taste like (hello shark fin soup), you must go here. My penang rendang was made of pan-fried mushrooms and had an amazingly meaty texture with the perfect blend of spices.
I took a look at the dessert menu and passed in favor of a green tea ($1.50) at the nearby divey but vegan Loving Hut. Excellent tactic as tea to go at the nearby western coffee stands was $4-$6. People, it’s just hot water and a tea bag I’m after.
I figured I was on a roll so the next day I gave Loving Hut a chance. This was a much less exciting experience. The vegan ocean burger was, shall I say.. disgusting. The lemon ice tea was full of sugar. Why do people pre-load sugar? I really wish they would stop. Singapore does indeed have a sweet tooth that I am missing.
In summary, in two days I had good vegan food and not so good vegan food near Tanjong Pagar.
OMG I just found out that you can get Whole Earth delivered.
Whole Earth is located at 76 Peck Seah St (Tg Pagar MRT Exit A)
For Reservations: Tel: 65 6323 3308
Open Daily. Operating Hours: Lunch: 11:30am to 3pm (last order at 2:30pm) Dinner: 5:30 to 10pm (last order at 9:15pm
Posted in Cheap Eats, Food, Food Photography, Food Stalls, fruit, Raw foods, Singapore, Weird Asia, tagged asian fruit, Food, food photography, fruit, Fruit Stalls, lychee, rambutans, Singapore, weird Asia on December 5, 2012| 3 Comments »
With the likes of durian and passionfruit, my life has become a lot like that lastminute.com advert that urges you to “go somewhere with complementary fruit you’ve never even heard of.” Oh come on, you’ve seen it. There’s a version of it here.
My friend, Eva, whom I recently met in Thailand urged me to try rambutans. Tricky to open, they are delicious, sweet and they come in small bite size portions. Because of their small portion size, I like to refer to them as “low commitment fruit.”
Cruising through the market in Singapore, the aunties are pushing their produce. Lo and behold! Rambutans.
I picked up a bunch for snacking. I had to, they wouldn’t sell them in any smaller quantities.
RAMBUTANS!
To eat, cut the skin open or squeeze in your hand until a lychee-like ball appears. Be careful of the seed!
Posted in 24 hour, Food Stalls, Little India, Restaurants, Shopping, Singapore, the Mustafa Center, Weird Asia, tagged 24 hours, cheap eats, discount shopping, eye massager, Little India, sensory overload, shopping, Singapore, the Mustafa Center, tomato soap on November 13, 2012| 1 Comment »
Oh no! They’ve closed the Singapore Carrefour! Both of them!
Panic. Where am I going to get things?
“Imagine not having a Walmart or a Target to go to,” I tell Leslie back in Texas.
“Yeah, I could see how that would be annoying,” she says.
It’s not that either of us like or philosophically support Walmart, it’s just that sometimes it becomes a necessary evil.
“Can’t you order things online?” Leslie asks.
“No,” I sigh. “Some things you can, but its not like they have an Amazon here.”
“Can you Yelp it?” she suggests.
“Nope no Yelp either,” I answer.
Hopefully someone more business-minded and less lazy than myself will see this as an opportunity.
But alas, this may be an overreaction. Afterall, there’s always the Mustafa Center.
In the heart of little India and open 24 hours, it’s 75,000sq ft of random and not so random items, a hotel, café and supermarket. It is the place to go to buy tomato soap, an engagement ring, an ipad and an eye massager all at 2 am on a Tuesday, emerging three days later after a sensory overload induced psychosis has finally run its course.
That’s right, I said tomato soap, not soup. And yes, an eye massager as well.
Did you think I was kidding?
In the spirit of Diwali, maybe I’ll head down to little India. Since I’m there anyway, perhaps I’ll pick up a curry, some aspirin and a new laser printer.
If I’m not back by Friday, send a search party out.
Editor’s note: Yelp has answered my plea! Or maybe I was mistaken in the past. Seems like some Singapore places are rated on the site. It’s a start.
Posted in Bugis, Camden, Food Stalls, Fruit Stalls, Market, Photography, Singapore, travel photography, tagged Bugis, Bugis Street Market, Camden, cheap clothes, Food stalls, Fruit Stalls, iPhone Covers, Mandarin, Market, Photography, Singapore, slow moving people, travel photography on September 4, 2012| 2 Comments »
Have you had a walk around Bugis Street Market?
It may not be a great place to head if you know what you want and are in a hurry, but if you are looking for some aimless interesting walking and shopping, maybe some bargaining or snacking, it’s a good place to be.
You can buy everything from purses to iPhone covers to $1 fruit juices. Do you realize how much fruit has to go into a juicer to make a glass of juice? I recently acquired a juicer and I promise you that a knob of ginger, an apple and three carrots only makes about a third of a glass.
It reminded me of a very small and Asian version of London’s Camden Market with a mix of cheap items, food stalls and slow moving people. There even seemed to be some astrology reading sessions going on just outside the tent. The writing on the tent was in Mandarin, so maybe I will never know.
Unless I have a volunteer to come along and interpret for me.