Bradley's Old Fashioned Weblog
A serious and sometimes not so serious personal blog
Cults can be dangerous, socially disruptive elements in society. As such they should be treated with extreme care, to ensure that they’re not planning anything crazy, like blowing something up or destroying the local playground.
When in Singapore, be aware that the following cults have been spotted hanging around a bakery in Pasir Ris:
The Yam Bis Cult
The Suji Bis Cult
(Image Source: Coffee in Malaysia)
This is just something short that I wanted to mention.
Last night my wife and I went up to the shopping area at around midnight to pick up a few things. There’s a 24 hour Shop ‘n’ Save there! Afterwards, we dropped by the hawker so I could get a cup of iced Kopi O. I’m addicted to the stuff. My wife had some juice. She likes the Kopi O, but had to get up early for work today, so she had guava juice instead.
Anyhow, as we were sitting there chatting we noticed this little old lady walking up the aisle between the tables. She must have been about 70 years old and used a cane to help get herself around. I was surprised that she was out so late. Like I said, it was around midnight! Still, it seems like people in Singapore stay out later than anywhere I’ve ever lived. It has to be because the country is so safe!
This little old lady walked up to a table of young guys next to us and started speaking in Chinese. I’m not exactly sure what she said, but I picked out the word Kopi O, and I recognized her tone. She was asking the young guys drinking beer to do an old lady a favor and get her a cup of coffee.
I started imagining the worst case scenario, where the guys would ignore her, or blow her off, or, worse yet, say something rude to her. That would’ve been quite a scene! I bet that old lady would have gained retard strength and gone to work on them with her cane.
Instead, it caused a lot of indulgent smiles, and one of the guys got up right away to go get her the coffee she wanted.
I suppose I wasn’t really that surprised. Asian culture is different from Western culture after all. There’s a lot more emphasis placed on respect for elders here. And, in the end, it was somehow satisfying to see this little old lady smiling and laughing over something as simple as being treated to a cup of coffee at the hawker. I’d like to think I would have done the same for her, if she had asked us instead.
When you move abroad you expect to run into things that are different from what you’re accustomed to. Things like the types of food you’ll find, the language, the customs, and the way people dress.
One thing I didn’t expect however is that “to go” drinks are usually given out in plastic bags. The first time I saw this was in the Philippines in March of 2008, when I was visiting Margee’s family. I thought it was really amusing. The bags are mass produced and shops buy them to put the drinks in. When you buy a drink, and say you want it “to go” they will open it and pour it into a bag, along with some ice. Then they’ll drop a straw in, pull the drawstring tight and pass it over to you.
I asked my wife about this and she said it’s because it’s cheaper. I didn’t get it. I asked her, “In what way is it cheaper for them to have to hand out an additional plastic bag?” So she told me that there are deposits on the bottles and cans. If you get a drink and take the bottle or can with you, you have to pay for the deposit as well as the drink, and it’s inconvenient, or sometimes not possible, to return the container to get the deposit. So, to avoid that, the stores pour the drinks in bags and handle the return of the containers themselves.
I later found the same to be true in Singapore at hawker centers. When you get a drink to go, it’s most often poured into a plastic bag. The hawker centers use the bags not only for drinks from cans or containers, but for the drinks they make themselves, like the local iced Kopi. I imagine it’s cheaper for them to use the bags than to use paper cups. I also imagine it’s more about being able to put ice in the drink than having something to do with a deposit in Singapore.
I’ve seen people carrying everything in these little bags: juice, soda, coffee, and even beer (in the Philippines). It took a while to get used to, and it was a bit strange to carry one around myself, but I’ve become accustomed to it.
Oh, and one other thing about “to go” orders. Here in Singapore it’s referred to as “take-away.” When I first got here I would sometimes ask for something “to go” and the person taking my order would just give me a blank look and ask again if I wanted my order “for here” or “take-away.” In the Philippines, it’s referred to as “take-out.”
Sometimes it’s small things like that, that remind you of how far from home you are.
Everyone knows that in Asia, bicycles are used quite frequently as a means of transportation. It’s even used in jokes occasionally, but it’s true. People do use bikes quite a bit, for quite a few reasons, here in Singapore at least. It’s cheaper, as opposed to buying, fueling, and maintaining a car. It’s also smaller and easier to park or store. In fact, there are some foldable bikes here that you can take on the buses with you. That could be perfect for a family outing to a nice park that you want to bike through, but that’s too far away to bike to. Plus, it’s a great way to get where you want to go and get some exercise at the same time.
The problem with having so many bike riders is that there’s rarely enough room to accommodate all of the parked bicycles, especially in major traffic hubs or around the malls. For example, if you go to the Tampines MRT area, you’ll see bicycles jammed in at the bike racks, but you’ll also see bicycles chained to poles, fences, gates, or basically anything that’s stuck to the ground. In some extreme cases you’ll find bicycles that aren’t chained to anything at all, but just have a chain through the wheel spokes instead, because there’s just no space available.
It all seemed crazy and amusing to me and I never really gave it any thought. Apparently, someone did though. At the Pasir Ris MRT station there are also bike racks, but the bike racks there are two tiered. I guess they figured that if there wasn’t enough horizontal space to accommodate all of the bicycles, they could go vertical with them. It looked like it worked well too. There was more space to park bikes, and as a result, the area looked a lot nicer and neater, which seems to be something Singapore as a whole looks highly upon.
This isn’t the only measure I’ve seen to accommodate the bicycle riders in Singapore, but it’s definitely the neatest. There are also bicycle only lanes that run parallel to sidewalks on most major roads, as well as Park Connectors that run between major parks in different regional areas. Also, there is a wide path that follows the MRT tracks that seems to get used pretty heavily by cyclists. I think I noticed a bicycle lane there as well.
My wife and I enjoy getting out of the house when possible, and we’re interested in finding new ways to get some exercise. It was only natural that we would find ourselves in Pasir Ris Park sooner than later, considering how close it is to our house.
When I looked at the map of Singapore, Pasir Ris seemed to be such a big area. I was sure that we would have to take a bus to get anywhere. That doesn’t seem to be the case though. We can walk to either of the two malls in Pasir Ris in about 15 minutes and there are two parks close to us. One is the Pasir Ris Town Park, which is just around the corner. We’re planning on checking it out in a few days. The bigger one is Pasir Ris Park, the one that borders on the water. That’s about a 25 to 30 minute walk from our house, but it’s well worth the trip.
We entered the park through one of the larger walkways and we were greeted with the fantastic sign pictured at the top of the post. We didn’t get to see everything, not by a long-shot, but we really got to stretch our legs. Don’t let the map fool you! It’s bigger than it looks!
What stood out to me the most about the park wasn’t just it’s well manicured appearance, but how lively it was. The place was packed with people, all engaged in their own activities. I saw groups of friends rollerskating, couples walking under the trees or sitting on benches, joggers, bikers, people walking, kids playing, and even one football (soccer) game. Oh, and there were campers and fishers too! Everywhere I looked there were people, out having a good time!
It gave the place a very lively feel that made walking through it a joy, despite the heat. In fact, my wife and I have decided that it will be our primary jogging location in Pasir Ris. It looks like you could spend weeks going to the park to jog and rarely cross the same path, other than the main junctions where the bridges are.
Below are some great photos I got of the park!
[Edit: I found out later that the part of the mall that these photos is from is actually called E-Hub. Though I think it is part of Downtown East, there is half again as much mall as this that I completely missed. When I make an updated post I’ll leave a link here to it.]
My wife and decided to stop by the Downtown East mall on our walk around Pasir Ris. It was sort of on the way, and we hadn’t been there yet, so, why not?
It looks like a great place. As we came through the door we noticed a girl handing out free samples for premium yogurt. I didn’t catch the name of the place, but the yogurt was nice. It had toppings added onto it too that went along with the flavor. It looked a bit pricey, but one of these days when I have money to burn I’ll probably get a cup to share with my wife.
The mall as a whole seems to be tailored to young kids and teenagers. I guess you could say it has a theme, including the types of stores in the mall. It’s really not that big a place, as far as how many stores are inside it, but it does have quite a few restaurants and drink shops, plus an arcade, a type of paid playground for kids, an indoor Ferris wheel, some anime shops, and a movie theater.
I suppose the best part of it all is that the mall is only a 15 minute walk from where we live.
My wife and I were walking down the street in Pasir Ris, intent on exploring the area. We spent most of last weekend moving our stuff, so there wasn’t much time to do anything special.
As we walked by these two guys, I heard a snapping sound, so I stopped to take a look at what was going on. One of the guys was holding what looked to be a preserved cobra that had been turned into some sort of whip, with the head and hood and skin intact. He would hold the snake over his head, as seen in the top picture, and then he would snap it out, to make the crack noise. I also noticed that there was incense burning.
I imagine this is some sort of religious or remembrance ceremony, but it’s definitely one of the most bizarre things I’ve seen during my stay in Singapore. Perhaps someone can shed some light on exactly what’s going on here? I didn’t want to disturb them, as it might have been improper and rude.
This is just something odd I saw while at the shopping center near my new place. I was leaning against a rail while my wife was using the ATM, and I noticed this sign behind me. I thought it was amusing so I snapped some photos.
Apparently, the children are supposed to hang out on the adjoining playground while the old people get their workout:
These workout areas and playgrounds are common in Singapore, but this is the first time I’d seen one that claimed to be specifically for old people.
A few weeks ago I was checking around the new mall in Tampines (Tampines 1) and I saw the entrance to a restaurant called Manpuku. The entrance area was jam packed with people in line to get in and people ogling the items on display in the window:
I met up with my wife there during her lunch break and while we were walking around together we even got to see the mascot. At the time we didn’t know what restaurant or store the mascot represented but it was fun anyways.
We both love to go out and eat, and we particularly love Japanese food, so we were excited about going to check this place out. We finally made a visit to Manpuku today and it was great!
It wasn’t quite what I expected, in a good and interesting way. As you get to the head of the line a greeter will ask you how many people are in your party and will then pass you a corresponding number of cards that look and act like credit cards. The waiter will explain that as you walk around inside the restaurant, you pick different foods from the various stalls and the price of the item is charged to your assigned card. At the end of your meal, you bring the card to the cashier by the exit and settle your bill.
That’s when I realized that Manpuku isn’t simply one restaurant. It’s a collection of restaurants acting under one name, serving Japanese style food. In fact, the place reminded me of a big, themed food court, though a very well appointed one.
Here are some photos we took inside Manpuku:
As you can see from the pictures, the interior of Manpuku is pretty big. It sits at one end of the mall on the 3rd floor and stretches from front to back. There are at least half a dozen different mini-restaurants inside, offering everything from skillet plates to sushi.
The prices have a wide range from a bit on the high side (a four piece sushi plate at 38 bucks) to the affordable (my pork okas was 9.90). I saw quite a few dishes I want to try, and I’m looking forward to going back again. For this trip, we wound up having a sushi set, a dish called pork okas, and a soup that my wife devoured and said was delicious. I forgot to ask her what it was and she’s asleep now! Just thinking about it is making me hungry again!
Looking for something sweet to nibble on while you’re walking around Vivocity mall? Want a snack to enjoy while you’re sitting outside, enjoying the breeze and the wading pools? I really have to recommend that anyone who visits Vivocity stops by this stand and picks up some of these coconut cakes. They’re about the size of your palm and about half an inch thick. They’re made fresh as you wait, and they’re best when eaten warm. The outside is some sort of chewy dough and the inside is sweetened coconut shavings. It looks like it’s mixed with brown sugar, but it still maintains a mellow, even taste. I know, I know, I should’ve taken a photo of them, but we gobbled them down too fast!
If my recommendation isn’t enough, you can see in the picture above that her stall was featured in The Straits Times, which is the major newspaper for Singapore.
The last time we were at Vivocity, which I think was in September, we tried these coconut cakes on a whim. I mean, why not? You get four for only 2 SGD. They were incredible, and since then I’ve talked about them frequently, reminding my wife that the next time we’re there we should get more. Sure enough, almost right after arriving at the mall we made our way to this cart and snagged a little bag of four of them. We then found a cozy spot outside with a view of the water, got comfortable and enjoyed them.
The shop lady making our coconut cakes.
A cruise ship docked in front of the mall, and you can also see the Sentosa cable cars that go between Sentosa and the main island of Singapore.
Bradley's Old Fashioned Weblog 