Category: I Used to Live There!

Secret Chinese Medicine For Fevers

Bradley Farless8 Comments

Growing up, I would watch Kung Fu movies and there would always be some secret technique, or Eastern magic that would save the day. I was fascinated by it, but as I grew older I realized that there was nothing really magic about what was being done (pressure points). Well, either that or it was just made up for the movies.

Anyhow, just like with anywhere, there are some family secrets that get passed down and passed along. I came across one of these family ‘secrets’ a few days ago when a lady I know was preparing a treatment for her son, who had a high fever at the time.

At first I thought she was about to cook something, because what she pulled out was one raw egg and some glutinous rice flour. When she explained that it was for reducing a fever, I was still under the assumption that it would be consumed. So I asked her, “Will your son eat it?”

She laughed, but went on to explain that it’s used to roll over the fevered body, and that the mix will “pull the heat out” and reduce the fever.

I took some photos of the preparation process, which she thought was really amusing.

This is where she cracked the top off the egg and started pouring it onto the flour she had put on the plate.

At this point, she got a cup with some water and then slowly mixed this all together by hand, until it became a … thing… that looked sort of like dough, and sort of like colorless Play-Doh.

And, this is our end result:

She took this and rolled it out, so it had a shape similar to a rolling pin. She then took it and rolled it across the boy’s chest. She said that as you roll it across the chest it will change from cool to hot, as it absorbs the heat. Then you let it cool and repeat.

So, ya sorry. No strange incense made from snake blood and mountain moss that turned blue under a full moon. Just egg, rice flour and water.

If you’re really adventurous, and try this out, let me know. If you’re even more adventurous, let me know if you were able to successfully turn this into a food product afterwards.

(Just kidding. Don’t eat this. It’ll have sweat from a sick person mixed in! Ya, some people have to be warned.)

Kopi Alley (at Downtown East)

Bradley Farless4 Comments

One of the best things about Singapore, to me anyway, has been the food.  Also, as a coffee lover, it didn’t take me long to try the Kopi that you can find at most every hawker center in Singapore.  There are people that hate it, but somehow I got addicted to the stuff and love to have it after dinner whenever possible.  I won’t go into the details of how it’s prepared, because I honestly don’t know them, but it’s well worth trying if you ever get the chance.

There are plenty of places you can go to get Kopi.  Like I said, you can get it from hawker centers, but there are also fancier looking restaurants set up in malls that sell Kopi.  Some of them call it coffee, like the place on the bottom level of White Sands in Pasir Ris (Kayakun Toast I think?), but it’s still the same, and it’s still good.

Here are some photos of Kopi Alley at Downtown East:

I really like the design theme they went with for Kopi Alley, and I was a bit surprised, considering what they sell.  It looks nicer than a lot of so-called fine dining restaurants I’ve been in.  By the way, the total cost for the items in the last 3 photos was only 5.30 SGD.  That’s not too bad at all, and it was overkill.  We went there after dinner and we wound up not finishing that chocolate spread toast, so we could’ve done without it.  It was a bit too sweet too, but… what did I expect, ordering chocolate spread toast?

New Safety Doors on Singapore’s Above-ground MRT Stations (Part 2)

Bradley Farless4 Comments

In the last post I basically just mentioned what the news mentioned.  There are new “half-height” safety doors being installed on all 36 above-ground MRT stations in Singapore.  That article also mentioned that they had started their project with the Pasir Ris MRT station and it said they had already been installed there.

Well, that was only partially true.  One side was done.  The other wasn’t.  I’ve included above a photo I took so you can have a better look at them.  I don’t think they’re doing much to block overall ventilation of the area.  That’s why they’re called half-height screens.  You can see the openings beyond and they’re quite large.  Still, any reduction in ventilation in Singapore is a problem, because it’s so hot.

Maybe they should just fully enclose it and install air conditioners?  I bet no one would complain then!  I certainly wouldn’t!

By the way, in the above photo you can see the often mentioned lines on the floor showing people how to properly wait to board the train.  Even though it’s there in yellow lines, sometimes people stand right in front of the doors and then force their way into the train.  I saw this happen today in fact.  A rather portly woman (or in other words fat) nearly knocked over this poor skinny girl that was alighting from the train.  You should have seen the nasty look she gave the back of that chubby girl’s head.

The Cat’s Out of the Bag!

Bradley Farless2 Comments

I just wanted to say thanks to all you lovely folks who have dropped by my blog via Singapore Community Cats and Cat Welfare Society to check out my “Cats Are Good For Singapore” post. I appreciate the attention, the compliments on the article, and hope all of you enjoy it!

Also, if you’re a reader of my blog and love animals, please do take a moment to check out the Singapore Community Cats blog and the Cat Welfare Society (links are above).

A View of Orchard Road From the Lucky Plaza Mall

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Orchard Road is the main shopping strip in Singapore and is well maintained by the government to present the best image possible to foreigners who are in the country.  You can find everything from Louis Vuitton to McDonald’s there.

I read an article recently that was talking about counterfeiting in Singapore, and wrote a post about it because I saw it for myself, and it was saying that it is very prevalent, but they keep Orchard clear of it.  Well, as much as possible anyway.  Not that I can blame them for it.  Singapore wants to present the best image possible to tourists, and they want that image to be clean and law abiding.  I guess getting Singapore 100% free of bootleg items is impossible given the nature of the surrounding countries.

Regardless, Orchard Road is filled with malls that are very clean and posh looking, including the new Ion mall that was recently opened.  Lucky Plaza, however, is the ugly kid on the block.  Lucky Plaza is a sort of ‘bargain bin’ mall, with a lot of little shops that have, honestly, cheap looking products.  The whole interior of the mall has sort of a cheap feel to it actually.  It’s also acquired a reputation of being the Filipino mall in Singapore, since a majority of the shops there are run by Filipinos and there are mostly Filipino eateries on the top floor.  There are also quite a few money remitting establishments there.  Money remitters are where people go in Singapore to send money back to their home countries.  It goes without saying that most of the patrons in Lucky Plaza are Filipinos.

Those things together make Lucky Plaza a somewhat undesirable place to visit for most locals.  Adding to that negative reputation is the rumor that a portion of the Filipinas that hang around in the mall are prostitutes.  It could be true.  I don’t know.  That sort of behavior isn’t just limited to Lucky Plaza though.  There’s a rumor that if you go towards the end of Orchard Rd, where it meets Tanglin Rd, there are prostitutes there as well.  So, it looks like the hookers are slowly making their way out of Geylang!

Still, Lucky Plaza’s not that bad a place.  The Filipino food is cheap and good.  You can get products there that aren’t available in many other places in Singapore.  Also, there are imported products from the Philippines, which is probably what initially drew such a predominately Filipino crowd.

And, there’s a nice view from the balcony, as seen in the photos above!

Half-Height Safety Doors at Singapore MRT Stations

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I read an article on ChannelNewsAsia’s website saying that by 2012 Singapore will finish installing half-height screens (or safety doors) along the lengths of above-ground MRT stations.

They’re doing this in an attempt to make the stations more safe for passengers.  There have been 92 instances since 2006 where people have fallen onto the tracks, accidentally or otherwise, and it causes a serious disruption to MRT traffic that can last up to an hour while police do investigations.  That may not seem like much, but there is only one line going in most directions, so it can cripple public transportation. Not to mention it’s just not that cool for people to be killing themselves.

Here’s a map of Singapore’s MRT lines, just so you can get an idea of what I’m talking about:

So anyway, this all seems like a good thing right?  It’s gonna cost some cash (S$126 million for all 36 stations) but in the long-run it will save lives and prevent costly disruptions.

When polled, most Singaporeans were in favor of the idea, quoting safety reasons.  Some even wanted to see the entirety of the outdoor stations enclosed (and I’m guessing air conditioned, though it wasn’t stated).

However, you can’t please everyone!  Here’s a quote from the original article:

Most commuters 938LIVE spoke to welcomed the addition, as they believe the doors can prevent accidental intrusion onto the tracks.

“When it’s too crowded, and people start to push each other around, then it can stop that from happening,” said a passenger.

However, some raised concerns about ventilation. “I think it’s very unsightly. It just blocks the flow of… the air. (The air) doesn’t flow from left to right. Mainly it’s unsightly,” said another commuter.

They were nice enough to make it sound more like the woman was concerned about ventilation, but as you can see, she mentions first, and then again at the end, that it is “unsightly”.  She even says that it is “mainly” unsightly.

I mean, come on.  What’s more important?  Preventing the loss of human life or aesthetics?  It’s a train station, not an art gallery, and not the Prada or Louis Vuitton store.

Personally, I think these screens are a fantastic addition to the above-ground train stations and will help to prevent accidental loss of life and suicide attempts.

According to the article they were installed at the Pasir Ris MRT station, but I haven’t been through the MRT station since Tuesday, so I’ll have to get over there and check it out!

Buddy Hoagies at Downtown East

Bradley Farless4 Comments

The first time my wife and I saw this place we kinda scoffed at the name.  It sounds pretty lame right?  So, we didn’t bother trying it out.  We didn’t even bother looking it up online.

I was really in the mood to try something new, though, so when a Friday night rolled around and we couldn’t decide where we wanted to go, I said, “Well, how about that Buddy Hoagies at Downtown East?”  My wife couldn’t think of anything she’d rather have, so that’s where we went.

I have to say I was pleasantly surprised.  The first thing I noticed was that the place has a nice ambiance.

Buddy Hoagies at Pasir Ris White Sands / E-Hub
Buddy Hoagies at Pasir Ris White Sands / E-Hub
Buddy Hoagies sitting area.
Buddy Hoagies sitting area.

The place is really relaxed.  The lighting isn’t too bright either, though it seems that way in the second photo.  That’s just a bad shot!  I think it helped that there weren’t too many other people in the place at the time.  It gave the whole dining experience a relaxed feel and was conducive to conversation.

The place also has a fun look to it, with nifty little pictures up on the wall, a cafeteria style bar, and (though you can’t see them in the photo) a section of seating with nice, cushioned seats that help you relax.

The service was pretty good.  I got the impression that our waitress wasn’t having a good day, but she still forced a smile and was passably polite, if a little brusque.

The food itself was another surprise.  For what we paid I wasn’t expecting a miracle, but you definitely get a lot of value for your money.  I was so happy with our food in fact that at the time I snapped these photos on my phone and put them out on Twitter.  Some of my Twitter followers were quite jealous of my meal that night!

Buddy Hoagies sirloin mushroom steak.
Buddy Hoagies sirloin mushroom steak.
Buddy Hoagies sirloin steak.
Buddy Hoagies sirloin steak.

The Sirloin Steak

The veggies were crunchy, the meat was well cooked, and I was actually kinda shocked to see baked potatoes.  I think this was the first time I’d had one in over a year.  Too bad there was no sour cream, chives, and bacon bits to go on it, but hey, can’t have everything right?

Overall, Buddy Hoagies was a great dining experience.  The food was fantastic and the value for the food was great too.  We’ll definitely be going back.

The Search For Great Pizza in Singapore Continues

Bradley Farless11 Comments

One of the things I’ve been unable to do since moving to Singapore is locate a great pizza. I mean a great pizza that tastes like a slice of pizza I could get in New York City. I know that’s not likely to happen, but man, I was hoping for something close at least.

There are Pizza Hut franchises here, but they’re just not the same. They use a different type of tomato sauce and they use a lot of weird ingredients that you’d never find on the menu in the US. I never liked Pizza hut anyway, since it’s so greasy. The last time I ate at a pizza hut was in Alabama and I literally used a napkin to sponge the grease off of it before I ate it.

In the US, my preferred pizza, as far as franchises go, is Papa John’s. That stuff is just plain good!

Here in Singapore, I’d take just about anything.

There’s a Sbarro’s in the Philippines that I ate at. It was great! There’s another restaurant there that looks good too, an Italian place, but I just can’t remember the name of it. I haven’t been able to try it yet, but hopefully the next time I’m there I will. I have a craving for Mexican food too, so hopefully we’ll get to stop by Mexicali. Not sure when that’ll be though, since my next trips are lined up for Phuket and maybe Bali or Sabah.

But… my quest for great pizza in Singapore is still incomplete. I thought I might have found a winner at a restaurant called ‘New York, New York’, but it wasn’t quite up to par either.

To start off with, the pizza was really greasy. You can see that in the photo. The second problem is that the sauce was put on so lightly they might as well have just excluded it from the recipe, and what sauce was on there wasn’t very tasty. I guess they missed the whole part about pizza sauce having spices and being more than just tomato sauce.

The worst part is that we had to pay 13 SGD for this disaster and it was only 9 inches in diameter.

Oh, and speaking of ‘diameter’, our waiter didn’t understand what the word meant. He got so confused that he wound up telling me that they only sold pizza by the slice and that the slice was 9 inches long, and cost 13 SGD. I told him to go get a manager and the manager was able to clarify for me. Plus, I just wanted to point out to him that his waiter should at least know what’s on the menu.

So, ya, ‘New York, New York’ was another fail.

The closest I’ve seen so far is that ‘Canada Pizza’, I think it’s called, but it wasn’t good enough to make me want more.

On a positive note, I heard from another person’s blog (An American Girl in Singapore) that there’s a Dunkin Donuts in the new Ion Mall down on Orchard. That’s GREAT news. The donuts at most shops here in Singapore are just… too much I guess you could say. They’re overdone with icing and overdone with fillings and way too sweet to the point they’re not even good anymore. Some of them are so bad you might as well just be eating a big ball of sugar. The mom and pop bakeries here, on the other hand, don’t put enough and you wind up feeling like you’re just eating plain dough. Dunkin Donuts is a franchise though. They should get it right, because it’s a standard recipe. I can’t wait to get down there and check to see if they have Bavarian Cream!

(A photo of the last Dunkin Donuts we had in Kuala Lumpur’s airport a few months ago)
If you enjoy reading articles about pizza, you might enjoy THIS great article about a Singaporean’s search for good pizza in Italy. It’s quite enjoyable and funny!