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 Cheap Eats, Food, Foodie Photo of the Day, fried, Hawker Food Diaries, Singapore, Thai, Vegetarian/Vegan, tagged Food, foodie photo of the day, fried, Hawker Center Diaries, hawker market, Holland Village, Singapore, thai food, Vegetarian on December 28, 2012| Leave a Comment »
Posted in city life, culture clash, culture shock, expats, Immigrant Life, Immigration, mall food, MRT, Perceptions, perspectives, Relocation, Singapore, Singapore buses, Transportation, Weather, tagged ATMs, banking, buses, cabs, cell phones, expat, expat guide, Food, foreigner, hand phones, mall food, moving, MRT, NETS card, relocation, Singapore, walking, Weather on December 20, 2012| 1 Comment »
So you’ve arrived in Singapore and you’ve done a bit of homework. You may know a few of the areas around town, that drugs are punishable by death (don’t do drugs, kids), what a hawker market is and that it’s summer year round. You may even have figured out how the hospitals work and how to file your taxes. In that case, you are a step ahead of me.
But of course, there are inevitably things you don’t know. You just have no idea what type of things those are. Unknown unknowns, not to get all Donald Rumsfeld-y on you.
Anyway, here are some things I wish somebody would have told me.
ATMs
Your ATM situation just got complicated. Singapore is more of a cash society than many of us expats are use to. Many times you have to have cash or this thing they call a NETS card. Personally my will hasn’t given in to the NETS thing, but from what I can tell it’s this card you get from certain banks that you have to load money on to and then use. I feel like my money is my money until I spend it, I shouldn’t have to load it onto a card that I have to keep track of. That’s what a bank is for. Let’s not complicate it all with another system. But anyway, back to the point. ATMs.
If you are from Europe, you may be conditioned to use any ATM you find. If you are from the U.S. you may be conditioned to try to look for your ATM and then if you can’t find it in an emergency or fit of laziness, give in and pay the outrageous fees another bank’s ATM and your bank’s ATM add on top.
In Singapore, if it’s not your bank’s ATM or within a group of banks that your bank has joined forces with, your stuck. You can’t withdrawl money. At all. Not if you agree to ridiculous fees, not if you kick the machine, not if you yell at the person at 7-11 when they can’t tell you where the nearest ATM machine that takes your card is located. (Don’t yell at the locals.) You just have to hope that the people you are out with that you just met through a friend of a friend, some expat meetup or some work do will loan you $15 to go home and another $50 for your bar tab.
The first time this happened to me I had to leave where I was to rush around for half an hour trying to find an ATM that took my card. 50 SGD doesn’t go that far even though it sounds like a big number, so consider that when you make your withdrawal for the evening. The exception is a night out at the hawker market. Also, some cabs take credit card, some don’t. I always try to have a little cab fare in my purse for an emergency.
Tip #1: Keep your home country’s bank card on you for emergency as any ATM will take a foreign card and happily charge you for the privilege. You may want to do this at least until you are a bit more comfortable with the area and have an understanding of how much cash you should carry on you at any time. It could help you out in a tight spot.
Tip #2: Your bank likely has a cell phone app that will tell you where there is an ATM you can use nearby. I have found these apps not to be very useful, but others like them.
Tip #3: Places like Cold Storage usually let you do a cash back, minimum $50.
Cell Phones
Or Hand phones as they call them in Singapore. I assume that when you got off the plane and got over your jetlag the next morning, you got a pay as you go phone. Your intent was to keep that until you could get settled in, have a paycheck and get on a plan. Well, don’t go getting your business cards made with that number. The phone company won’t let you take it with you. You’ll have to get a new phone number when you get a plan.
Riding Buses and MRTs
Navigating buses is tricky anywhere new. Sometimes it’s easier to go underground and just pop up like a whack-a-mole when you get to your destination. Unless you are near that Ion/Patterson link/ Orchard Road/ Scotts Road mess. You’ll know what I mean when you experience it. Don’t worry about that for now.
Anyway, buses can sometimes be much quicker than the MRT since the MRT has lots of transport dead spots. Just remember to tap the card in when you get on AND out again when you exit. In Singapore, they charge bus fair by a GPS measured distance you’ve traveled.
While we are talking about public transportation, I should tell you that to recharge your EZ link card you need at least $10 cash. In London, I used to load up my Oyster card with whatever change was at the bottom of my purse. That doesn’t fly here. If you get stuck, you can buy a one time use pass. It takes a $1 deposit and you pay exact fare to get from point A to point B. Point is, carry some cash.
Tip: Google and gothere.sg can tell you how long it takes you to get from point A to point B, the fastest route and price. Sometimes it just makes sense to take a cab. They are fairly cheap. If you’ve come from somewhere where cabs are expensive, it just takes a while to adjust your mindset.
Cabs
While we are on the subject of cabs, some cab drivers do not have a clue where things are on this island. As someone new to the country, you probably don’t either. Smart phones are good if you can get the cab driver to look at the map function. Also, addresses and names of establishments often mean nothing. Note the name of the building they are in and the street that building is on. That will be more recognizable for the driver.
Cab drivers are also often choose-y about where they will take you. They will roll down the window, signal for you to tell them where you are going in a panicked manner and by the time you’ve figured out what is going on and open your mouth to shout out “Tanjong Pagar!”, they’ve driven off. It’s a test of patience.
Tip #1: Get an app for ordering cabs. I use one by Comfort Del Gro. You can skip the taxi cab lines this way or order one to your house. The GPS on your smartphone will tell the cab where your location is.
Tip #2: Good luck with finding a cab in the rain. Start trying early.
Scooters and Motorcycles
To ride a scooter in Singapore, you need a motorcycle license. This takes 2 days in the US to obtain or 6-9 months in Singapore. God bless the U.S.
Singapore law requires you to have the motorcycle license for a year first in order to convert it to a Singapore license. If you think you may want to move to Singapore in the future, consider getting your motorcycle license in whatever country you currently inhabit. Since I’m not a bike fanatic, I think of riding a motorcycle as a skill set I need to have in life. Like changing a flat tire or knowing how to swim.
You may have to arrange your day around the rain, but a scooter or motorcycle may be the right option. Prices of cars here will make your mind explode and there can be serious public transport black spots.
Walking
People will think you are crazy for wanting to walk somewhere. After a while, you will start to understand why as a 20 minute walk in intense sunshine is not your 20 minute walk in London or NYC.
I’ve had people argue with me about how I couldn’t walk somewhere because it was too far when I simply just asked for directions. When you arrive sweaty and exhausted having gone the wrong way first you may understand why. Of course, if they had just told you where to go in the first place, you might not have got lost and ended up sweaty and exhausted. But that’s the way it goes. It’s Singapore.
Tip: Umbrellas are for sunshine and rain. Get a compact one and carry it with you. It goes in your bag, even if you don’t think you will need it.
Mall Food
People eat mall food. It happens here and is not looked on as weird or gross. In fact, people eat everywhere. Even the movie theaters have extensive food selections and not just popcorn, soda and nachos with imitation cheese. Singaporeans eat. That’s their thing.
Yes Sometimes Means No
OK, so maybe people don’t mean to lie, but the local culture has a real thing about not wanting to tell you no. Sometimes they just don’t want to disappoint you. This can get really confusing and frustrating. Use your Spidey Sense. If the person on the phone or at customer service twitches or inflates their voice weird or perhaps doesn’t expand with logic and reason to the answer, then ask the question again in a different way. If it sounds to good to be true or suspicious, it may well be. This has happened to me with the bank, when asking people for directions, with scheduling installation of products… the list goes on.
Well that’s probably good for now. Go see how all that treats you and report back. All cultures have quirks, it’s part of the experience and excitement to learn to navigate them.
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 British Experience, culture shock, expats, Food, holidays, Immigrant Life, London, Singapore, Thanksgiving, tagged bbq, expat, Food, london, Singapore, Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving abroad, turkey on November 14, 2012| 3 Comments »
For myself and a lot of Americans, Thanksgiving is a much bigger family holiday than Christmas.
This sentiment was not noticed until I started living in England where there is obviously no real celebration of Thanksgiving. Christmas in the UK is the major holiday and the month of December is full of many parties leading up to the event.
My view is different.
When working in the American corporate world, a week off of work is rare. Since I saw travel as an important life experience, I always used that week accordingly.
Thanksgiving, however, is a long weekend meant for families. You spend the day cooking real food, relaxing with your biological or adoptive family and trying to remind yourself of all you have to be grateful for.
Thanksgiving is the underdog. So much more wholesome than it’s greedy expensive sibling, Christmas.
When you are living abroad, things shift. Sure the grocery stores stock American food items including cans of french fried onions for your green bean casserole and free range turkeys, but you don’t get the day off work and the people around you don’t understand the holiday in its entirety.
Last year in London I decided to host a Thanksgiving dinner at my home. I had a friend visiting from the US who had brought along a friend of hers and a few other American and non American friends to invite over.
I envisioned a day full of cooking and sipping wine followed by lively conversation around the gorgeous dinner table in our conservatory. I spent time sourcing ingredients and pre-ordered my groceries online.
And then things just fell apart.
The girls staying with me had a massive fight the night before, leaving one of them missing until the next morning and when she did reappear they were not speaking.
My groceries were late. Really late. Which left me late to put the turkey in.
People’s schedules got delayed and I spent the day cooking alone with two house guests who were in a sour mood.
And as the weather was changing, the nights getting longer, people were more and more fatigued. Dragging their bones from across London to my house after a long day of work to have a few bites of turkey and leave.
So much preparation, and then it was over. The guests had given it their all, considering the situation. My expectations obviously needed to be adjusted.
I had made sure there were plenty of leftovers to take home, but few obliged. As I don’t eat turkey, there were to be turkey sandwiches for my husband for weeks to come.
“I tried to get a small one,” I reasoned.
“Next year can we just get a small chicken or a ham?” he asked.
“You’re lucky it wasn’t a tofurkey,” I answered.
So this year, we have done a major oops. Without the constant reminder that it is around the corner, we have made other irreversible plans that do not involve traditional Thanksgiving activities.
Maybe it will be better this way. We can celebrate the following Saturday. Gather together the few Americans we know across the island of Singapore and cook a turkey on our primitive gas fired camping stove that acts as our primary cooking device.
Or perhaps its time to redefine Thanksgiving and make it work for us. Afterall, the Australians spend Christmas having a BBQ on the beach. Maybe we trade in the warm cider and oven baked turkey for corn on the cob and champagne. Adapt. New traditions are all in the making.
Editor’s note: You’ll be happy to know that the primitive gas camping stove was eventually upgraded to a real stove complete with oven and burners.
Posted in Cheap Eats, Food, Food Photography, Hawker Food Diaries, Holland Village, Singapore, Vegetarian/Vegan, tagged Carrot Cake, Eggs, Food, Hawker, Holland Village, Hot Sauce, Market, Radish, Singapore on August 1, 2012| 3 Comments »
Carrot Cake in Singapore is made of neither carrot nor cake. Woh.
The dish is basically an omelet, or maybe more of a fried egg, with steamed rice flour and radish “cakes” and spring onions. You can get it black or white. The white is without soy sauce and the black is with soy sauce, which is more popular in Malaysia.
Why do they call it carrot cake then? Well apparently the radish is known as “white carrot” in Chinese.
This one is from Holland Village Food Centre. $3 for a small, $4 for a medium, $5 for a large, prices in Singaporean dollars. Honestly I’ve seen the small and medium portions and they seemed the same, so I’m not sure why the price difference. Maybe the man thought I looked a bit skinny when I ordered the small.
Have it with hot sauce. Lots and lots of amazing hot sauce. Yum.
Posted in Architecture, Art, Beach, cake, cathedral, City Breaks, Dance, Food, gothic, grafitti, Landmark, modern, Photography, Roman, Spain, spanish, Spanish, street performance, Travel, travel photography, Weather, tagged Architecture, Art, bachelorette party, Beach, cathedral, city breaks, costume, Food, hen party, La Pepica, Landscapes, paella, parade, Photography, Plaza de la Virgin, reflexology on beach, Roman architecture, Spain, Torre del Micalet., Travel, travel photography, vacation, Valencia on April 23, 2012| 1 Comment »
Sun. Paella at La Pepica. Roman architecture in the city centre. Spontaneous street parades. Independent designer street vendors. Reflexology from my beach chair. 14 girl hen / bachelorette party. Sangria. Cava.
A great weekend in a beautiful city with a wicked group of ladies. I really do love Spain. Although Seville is so far my favorite Spanish city, it does lack a beach, a quality Valencia delivers highly on. Unfortunately my fancy pants camera is in the shop. Again. Well, technically it’s not in the shop anymore. It’s being held ransom in UK customs. Here are a few shots I took with my extremely vintage iPhone. Let me know what you think.
We were greeted at the airport by these lovely gluten free, vegan hen cupcakes. What a great way to start our journey.
The silly sunglasses man made out like a bandit on us. Here is the normally gorgeous Anna giving the rest of us a fair shot at looking beautiful too.
Valencia Beach. If you get a reflexology on the beach, pick the lady with the Dora the Explorer bag and flowered hat. The rest pale in comparison. Kind of like standing next to Anna when she’s not wearing those ugly glasses.
After some partying and beach time with the ladies, I took a later flight so that I could explore the old city myself. I am so glad I did as I ran across many spectacular moments in the short span of a Sunday afternoon.
And now I’m finding it difficult to get back to the mundane tasks that life is requiring. I guess that’s what Monday is all about. What do you think the people of Valencia are doing right now?
Posted in burgers, Chelsea, Food, Food Photography, Foodie Photo of the Day, fried, Restaurants, Vegetarian/Vegan, tagged burgers, byron, courgette, courgette fries, Food, food photography, foodie photo of the day, fries, london, Photography, zuchinni on September 1, 2011| Leave a Comment »
In case you were wondering, the grilled portobello mushroom burger with roasted red pepper and goat’s cheese was pretty damn good too.
http://www.byronhamburgers.com/
Posted in Cheap Eats, coffee, Food, New Zealand, Soho, Vegetarian/Vegan, tagged breakfast, cheap eats, coffee, Covent Garden, Food, New Zealand, Soho, Vegetarian on April 19, 2011| 1 Comment »
People love Sacred. Time Out recommends it, my coworker recommends it, random stranger on the street recommends it, so I decide to try it.
Sacred plays on it’s name as a place of worship. The barista is set up on a pulpit and the congregation spills out onto the street at it’s Soho location near Carnaby Street. This makes it a very nice place to hang out on a sunny day soaking up the rays or people watching, on your lunch break, or in-between shopping.
Sacred offers plenty of sandwiches and pastries. It’s run by New Zealanders who sell things like jelly lolly cake. My experiences at Sacred and the Roastery are causing me to wonder what exactly is the deal with antipodeans and London coffee shops. Two coffee shops in a row- is this a chance thing or are NZ natives really into their coffee hangouts? I think I’m going to have to make a trip to New Zealand to get to the bottom of this. Either that or call up a friend and ask. The former option seems more dramatic and fun.
I had scrambled eggs with feta and spring onion on wholewheat toast and an Americano. This set me back between £8 and £9. Quite a bit for what is basically an egg sandwich and regular coffee. It took about 20 minutes to get my eggs and coffee, even though there weren’t many in the congregation that morning. In their defense, it was early morning so there were probably a lot of unseen to go orders and I think one of the baristas was training. Also, the coffee was very good.