Category: Singapore

Entries detailing the two years that I lived in Singapore, and any future trips to visit friends.

Redeeming Shopping Coupons

Bradley Farless5 Comments

Most stores nowadays have a redemption program, or some sort of loyalty program, where you get a discount after spending a certain amount, or when you use your membership card.  It’s basically a common practice.

Shop N Save is no different.  They have a program where you get stamps every time you shop there.  The amount of stamps you get is based on how much you spend.  If you save up enough stamps within the month you can redeem them for discounts or even cookware.

The problem is that the stamps become invalid after the month they were “earned” in, so you feel compelled to buy, buy, buy!

But, who really needs that many groceries?  Especially if you’re elderly and you don’t have kids at home anymore?  People still want to take advantage of the promotion.

What I’ve noticed lately is that when I exit Shop N Save, there is typically an older person standing around and as you pass by the ask you for your stamps, so they can apply them to their own cards.

I always give the person the stamps because I know I’m not going to use them.  I’ll never collect enough in one month to make a redemption, so why not let someone else benefit from it?

I was thinking though, that normally it’s an elderly person asking for the stamps, so I always feel more inclined to hand them over with a smile.  What if it was someone my own age?  Would I be less inclined to give them the stamp?  Would it matter?

Is Religion A Threat To Singapore?

Bradley Farless19 Comments

I came across the following article today on ReporterNews:

Singapore prime minister: Religion threatens stability

Associated Press

Thursday, August 20, 2009

SINGAPORE — Singapore’s prime minister said in his National Day speech that “aggressive preaching” by religious groups and evangelizing threaten the tiny city-state’s stability.

Lee Hsien Loong, a Buddhist by birth, said his education at the island’s Roman Catholic High School was an example of how different religions can coexist peacefully.

“The most visceral and dangerous fault line (in Singapore) is race and religion,” Lee said.

Singapore’s majority Buddhist Chinese, Malay Muslims and Indian Hindus have largely avoided conflict since race riots between Chinese and Malays left about 40 dead in the 1960s.

“Christians can’t expect this to be a Christian society,” he said last Sunday. “Muslims can’t expect this to be a Muslim society, ditto with the Buddhists, the Hindus and the other groups.”

In the most recent census in 2000, 43 percent of Singaporeans said they were Buddhist, 15 percent Muslim, 15 percent Christian, 8.5 percent Taoist and 4 percent Hindu.

Lee cited the case of a Christian couple jailed earlier this year for distributing religious pamphlets deemed offensive to members of other faiths, and he condemned those who try to convert ailing hospital patients “who don’t want to be converted.”

He said the government must remain secular because Singapore’s authority and laws “don’t come from a sacred book.” Lee’s People’s Action Party has ruled Singapore since independence 50 years ago.

Lee said there has been a global surge in religious fervor, including in the United States and Islamic countries.

“There is a wave of revival, megachurches and televangelism,” Lee said. “Religion and politics are supposed to be separated in America, but in reality they are closely entangled.”

The title of the article is pretty provocative and it’s what originally made me stop to read this article. I can’t disagree with the guy. Race and religion are major contention points everywhere. There is always some religious persecution and tension.

It’s also true that people need to learn to look past those differences and get along with each other. Why can’t we all be friends? ^_^ Religion is important, but it shouldn’t become a stumbling block for a nation.

That being said, I think people should respect the laws in Singapore against forcefully proselytizing, especially when it comes to trying to push people that are on their death beds. Somehow, that doesn’t seem too Christian to me. Well, not modern Christian anyway. It could be a page out of a book about the days during the Grand Inquisition. If it’s not welcome, and certainly if it’s not legal, don’t do it! Give unto Rome what is Rome’s and give unto God what is God’s, right?

I’m not too sure about this global surge in religious fervor he mentioned, because I hadn’t noticed it, but it is true that no matter how much people try to deny it, the US Federal Government is based on and borrows heavily from Christianity. Separation of church and state aside, most of the US’s laws are taken from the Bible. Most of the country’s accepted values and morals are taken from the Bible as well.

Looking For Eggs in Singapore?

Bradley Farless4 Comments

I’ve moved around the world a lot, but in most places I’ve been I was on a military installation, so things were more or less the same.  Well, the same in that one military installation is pretty similar to the others, especially when it comes to the stores.

There were times when I lived off of a military installation, or traveled off of a military installation, but I wasn’t exactly looking for eggs, or groceries.

So, coming to Singapore to live, and live in Singapore itself, rather than on a base somewhere, was a whole new experience for me.  Part of that ‘new experience’ was shopping from local stores.

For the most part, shopping in Singapore is just like shopping in the US.  Some of the brands are different, and sometimes you can tell that the item you’re holding is made by the same people that make it in the US, but is just under a different name. One example I can think of is Axe deodorant.  I can’t remember what it’s called here, but the package design is exactly the same, but with a different name.  Unless it’s a Chinese knock-off anyway.  I didn’t look too closely at it.  Also, there is a different variety of vegetables that are more commonly found in the produce section here.  Some of the fish are different too.

One thing you expect to be the same though, is that you will find the items you’re looking for in the same parts of the store.  You want meat?  Go to the coolers along the wall.  Same for dairy products.  Want veggies?  Look in the bins in the produce section.  So… I remember how surprised I was when I couldn’t find any eggs the first time I wanted to buy some here.  I checked every single cooler in the store.  Not to be found.

Where did they end up being?  On a shelf.  Not being chilled.  I was kinda shocked because that was completely foreign to me.  I was actually under the impression that if eggs weren’t chilled, they would go bad.  In the US there are even egg trays built into the doors of the refrigerators.  Thinking about it now, I suppose that chilling them just slows down the spoiling process, or hatching process, though I don’t know if they would actually hatch.

Anyhow, here’s a photo of eggs on a shelf, from Shop N Save:

How are eggs typically stored at the store and in the house where you are?

Seoul Food!

Bradley Farless7 Comments

Yup. That is in fact spelled right. I’m not talking about traditional black American food.  I’m talking about a restaurant chain in Singapore named Seoul Garden!

On Sunday afternoon we went out for a movie, and then afterwards we decided to have dinner at Seoul Food.  It was a group decision.  My wife and I had often seen the place but had decided not to eat there.  We just didn’t care much for the way it looked, and this picture of the goat in the window deterred me:

Some of you may remember me posting this photo before.  Well, I guess I gave in.  I ate the poor goat.

So anyhow, the place was pretty surprising as far as quality of food goes.  When you first walk in your put at a table that has a griddle and bowl of broth in the middle.

It’s up to you to decide your fate:

Some of the items are raw, like the meats in the second photo, and some are precooked and just need to be heated up, like the items just past the person barely visible in the first photo.  There’s also an array of veggies that you can either turn into a plain salad (no dressing) or dump into the pot or onto the hot plate.

It’s all really good, and it’s an all-you-can-eat buffet, so you can sit down, take your time, relax, and chat with your family and friends (and eat more because you’re eating slowly and get more for your money).

The photo above is mainly about that small yellow bowl and what’s in it.  One of the people with us prepared it from the dessert buffet area.  I’m not sure what all of the ingredients are, and either I really misheard what she called it or I just can’t find it on the internet.  She seemed to enjoy it, but I passed on that for ice cream and little pieces of cakes.

The place is a pretty good value for your money and it’s located (the one we went to anyway) on the same floor as the movie theater in Tampines Mall, right in front of you when you come off the escalator.

Last, but not least… a random shot of the table:

If you make it over there, enjoy!  Oh, and from what I saw in the Google search suggestions, there are Seoul Gardens located all over the US as well, including New York City.

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!