Singapore – Page 8 – Bradley's Old Fashioned Weblog

When Dogs Go Wild: A Singapore Misadventure

January 12, 2010 Bradley Farless9 Comments

The afternoon was pretty much like any other. I was getting ready to go out to dinner when I realized that I needed to wash a load of laundry. So, I went down to the laundry area with my basket, sorted the clothes into piles, put in a load and started it up. When I turned around to put everything else back into the basket I noticed the dog trying to chew on a piece of my wife’s clothing.

So, this is where things got a bit ugly. It was a bit shocking too, since it was so unexpected and happened so fast. I picked up the end that was sticking out of his mouth and gave it a little tug, but he wasn’t letting go. I told him, “Let go!” and gave another little tug. Then he growled and before I realized what was going on, the dog had let go and had clamped down on my arm. I yelled, partially in pain and partially in surprise and gave a yank to get free of him. His bite was brutally hard and as I got my arm free I gave him a good solid whack to get him away from me.

Then I was looking down at my disaster of an arm. If you look closely you can see the imprints of his teeth towards the left of the obviously broken skin.

The maid rushed out and quickly hustled the dog into its kennel and then looked at my arm. She insisted that I should go see a doctor and called the homeowner. After hearing what happened, the homeowner also insisted I go. I was a bit reluctant, and my stomach had been growling just previous to this incident, so I washed the wound and put some alcohol on it and got something to eat while waiting to hear from my wife. After my wife heard what happened she told me to stop being hardheaded and just see the doctor. So… I complied.

The polyclinic in Pasir Ris near our place was closed, as it was about 6 PM, so my wife suggested we meet in Tampines and go to a polyclinic there. Unfortunately I wasn’t paying much attention and got on the right bus, but going in the wrong direction. I hopped on the 81 all ready to go and then after about 20 minutes I realized I was in Serangoon instead of Tampines.

After switching buses and getting a good seat on the upper deck of the 72 heading to Tampines Interchange my iPhone unexpectedly gave me the finger. Without the usual 20% battery warning it simply shut itself down and told me to plug it in when I tried to restart it. I could’ve sworn that thing had read at 80% battery before I left the house. Just not my day. I felt a bit naked without access to my iPhone and it made it worse that I was holding it in my hand but couldn’t do anything with it. I considered asking a girl using her laptop if I could plug my phone in, but that would have been a bit ridiculous. Not to mention I didn’t have the USB cable with me anyway. Oh iPhone, you’ve spoiled me.

Luckily my wife was waiting right where the bus dropped me off at the interchange, so I didn’t have to spend a lot of time wandering around looking for her in our typical meeting spots. We made our way to the clinic that’s just across the street from Tampines 1. It’s called Healthway Tampines Central Clinic. If any of you guys ever get hurt and you’re in the Tampines area, I really recommend this place. The staff was all very courteous and warm, especially the doctor, Dr. Vivien Ang. She made the process a lot more pleasant than it could have been.

I wound up getting the wound cleaned and bandaged.

Then I got jabbed with a tetanus shot. Hadn’t had one of those in a while! I also got some Curam 625 mg antibiotics that look like horse pills. The things are massive. I thought I was going to gag on the first one. I’ll have to start breaking them in half. I also got some Bactroban mupirocin, which is antibiotic cream.

I was kinda worried about rabies, but the dog is a house dog, not a stray, and looks healthy enough. I also found out that rabies has been wiped out in Singapore. The last case was in 1953, before Singapore was even an independent country. That’s a relief! Oh, and just as an odd coincidence, that last case of rabies was a human case involving a Caucasian man.

One positive thing I can take away from this is that Singapore’s health care system is very affordable, at the polyclinic level at least. I have no experience with Singapore’s major hospitals, but my bill was small. Very small. Especially when I think about how much the same care would’ve cost me in the US. We’re talking a difference of hundreds of dollars here. Most of that would’ve been taxes and surcharges and inflated medication prices. I know this is off-topic, but I hope that whatever Obama’s doing gets the healthcare industry under control in the US. If it’s possible to have cheap, quality healthcare in Singapore the same should be true of the US.

This also gave me a deeper appreciation for my cats. They may be snotty sometimes, or aloof, but they’re also very affectionate, very cute, and they don’t try to gnaw my arm off!

I never was much of a dog person to begin with, though there are some small ones I don’t mind, like the one I saw in Thailand, but now I suppose I like them even less. I know it’s not right to judge all dogs based on the actions of one dog, but I suppose this last photo can kinda sum up my feelings towards dogs right now:

Finding Common Ground Through Community Cats in Singapore

January 11, 2010 Bradley FarlessLeave a comment

It’s amazing how friendships can start over something small.

There’s a cat that lives under a block that we pass by on our way home from the Pasir Ris MRT station. My wife had found it one day while jogging and since the cat was very friendly she started bringing a small bit of cat food with her to give it when she passes by. One day, she saw two girls feeding the cat as well and they struck up a conversation.

That was a few weeks ago. Over the weekend, we met up with them for coffee and later sat around playing with the cat and feeding it while talking. It’s amazing how well we get on with these two girls that we just met. We became ‘friends’ on Facebook and even got invited to a wedding. All because we all enjoy looking after a cat.

There was a survey result I saw a week or so ago saying that in Singapore, expats have an easy time making friends, but it’s often with other expats. They don’t typically mingle with the locals. I’m sure people could infer a lot of negative things from that fact, but I think it’s just a matter of not finding a common ground to start from.

Most of the expats in Singapore are from countries where life is tougher and they may see Singaporeans as pampered and not feel that they would have anything in common with them. So, they might not initiate a conversation to get to know someone. On top of that there’s the natural boundary of being from different cultures. Singapore has a long way to go, but it’s a more watered down mix of cultures than what expat workers may be used to where they’re from.

For me, I guess I just haven’t had much interest in getting to know locals. Well, I don’t avoid it. I just don’t go out seeking it. Besides the two girls we met through the cat, the only other Singaporeans I know well (that are in Singapore) are the family we live with. They’re a great bunch of people. I have a feeling I’m missing out on a lot by not getting to know more of the local population.

Singapore’s 2009 New Year’s Eve Fireworks

December 31, 2009 Bradley FarlessLeave a comment

Walking through CitiLink Mall to the Esplanade area was a minor nightmare. The place was jam packed with people. After we finished our dinner at ‘New York, New York’ we took a break at the restroom and then braved the crowds. It wasn’t too bad until we got to the escalator that goes down, where the sign that says Esplanade is. There was a HUGE crowd down there and it only got worse. The pictures are a bit out of order but they’re just to give you an idea of the size of the crowds. In them you can see the busted escalator on the left side. Notice the people looking back behind them as the escalator slowly moves down instead of up.

Part of the problem was that some of the escalators were broken. So many people were trying to use them at once that a few of them gave out and started to slowly go backwards, which could have caused injuries. Security guards and eventually police officers showed up to help direct people around the broken escalators. We used the stairs mostly. As we got to the top of the stairs in the above photo, the security guard at the top started telling people to come up one at a time so the escalator wouldn’t go backwards. I guess if too many people got on it the weight would make it move. One at a time? Better to just use the stairs.

All of these photos are from areas that are underground. CitiLink Mall itself is underground if you’re not familiar with it. By the time we got to the top of the last flight of stairs I was damned glad to see the sky over my head again. Not to mention it was a lot cooler. With so many people down there it was hot and sweaty and… smelly.

When we got to the escalators that open onto Esplanade Waterfront we found it barricaded. Apparently that area had already filled completely and we had to find an alternative. Luckily, following the crowd worked this time. There wasn’t much choice either. With the massive flow of people the only reasonable way to go was to the exit by Esplanade Park or down into the MRT station.

When we got up to the park we wandered around a bit and I wound up using the “Maps” app on my iPhone so we could get our bearings. We’d never even been down there. I want to go again during the day when there are less people. It looks like a nice part of Singapore.

We almost walked down into the park, but I saw some people moving on the bridge through the trees so we doubled back and walked up there. I figured it would be better to have a higher vantage point. If we staid in the park the bridge would have obstructed part of our view. Later I looked at the park behind where we ended up sitting and saw that it was completely packed out with people. The small bridge between the park and the Fullerton Hotel area was packed too.

We did try to get over towards Fullerton One, as per Mr. Brown’s instructions in his video about where to find the best free spots to view the show, but it was blocked off. The area wasn’t as full as the bridge we were on but I guess it was full enough that they didn’t want any more people there. So, we doubled back and wound up sitting on the guard rail on the far side of the bridge from where the fireworks were being shown.

It proved to be a great spot after all. We had a good view and I didn’t have to move my camera back and forth too much to capture all of the fireworks on video.

Speaking of the video, here it is, for your viewing pleasure!

I thought they did a pretty good job with the fireworks. It was the first time I’d seen any in person since I was a kid in New York City. I’ve been in NYC on quite a few New Year’s Eves, but typically we just watch the show on TV to avoid the crowds.

The crowds as we tried to leave were rough. Brutal even. People were jamming together trying to force their way through as fast as they could. I’m not sure what the hell happened but I heard a woman screaming like a banshee. A lot of people stopped to look but we kept pushing through. Also, people were hopping the barricades on the bridge to try to find quicker routes on the side, where the pedestrian walking area is. Perhaps they got caught up in the moment and the revelry of welcoming a new year, but a few girls in miniskirts hopped the barricade as well and flashed a few dozen people in the process. Hey, I wasn’t complaining.

After the fireworks were over it took us almost an hour to get off the bridge and down into the Raffles MRT station. Oddly enough, the police had the areas set up into intentional bottlenecks. I think it must have been to prevent there from being too many people in the MRT station at once. The train was surprisingly uncrowded.

A short time later we were back in Pasir Ris, topping off the evening with an iced kacang and some cold drinks.

New Year’s Dinner at ‘New York, New York’ at CityLink Mall

December 31, 2009 Bradley Farless2 Comments

We were running behind when it came time for the fireworks show so we had to haul ass down to the Esplanade area without stopping on the way for dinner. Luckily, there’s a ‘New York, New York’ restaurant in CityLink Mall, which you walk through to get to the Esplanade area.

The last time we ate at ‘New York, New York’ it was the DownTown East location and it left something to be desired. I guess it was just what we chose to eat that time though, because our New Year’s Eve dinner was EXCELLENT.

We started off with an appetizer of dry-spiced spare ribs.

Then we moved on to our main course! We both had fajitas. My wife had beef and I got the chicken and beef combo (pictured above). They tasted great, and they even came with guacamole. I hadn’t had guacamole in quite a while so that was a nice treat and the strips of beef tasted great!

Unfortunately we let our eyes get bigger than our stomachs and we weren’t able to finish everything, but hey, it was New Year’s Eve so what the hell? Gotta be a little decadent sometimes right?

The place was packed. We had to wait on a table when we got there. Even so, we managed to get in and out in about an hour. At 10:15 PM we started heading for the Esplanade. It was madness. You’ll see it in the next post. I’m just waiting on the video to finish uploading to YouTube. I recorded the entire fireworks show so it’s taking a bit of time.

Say Cheeze, Tampines 1

December 30, 2009September 4, 2021 Bradley FarlessLeave a comment

My wife and I finally got around to trying this place out. I’d actually decided not to eat there because the decor is hideous. I mean, I want to be nice, but there’s really no excuse for how horribly ugly the place was decorated. So, I’d written it off. It didn’t look that appealing. I know someone is thinking something ‘cheezy’ about books and covers, but when it comes to food, appearance is important.

So, I never really paid attention to the place until about a week ago when someone I know told me the food there is good. A few days later we happened to be in Tampines 1 and realized it was time for dinner, so we started thinking about where we wanted to eat. Then I remembered what the guy had said about Say Cheeze and we decided to give it a shot.

When we first glanced over the menu we weren’t that impressed but we couldn’t think of anywhere else to eat so we sat down and ordered. We were very surprised. I wish I’d brought my regular camera. These are just from my iPhone.

The dishes we ordered had an upgrade ‘combo’ deal. For 5.90 SGD (4.90 on weekdays) we got a drink and a choice of soup. The add-on price seemed kind of high until we saw the soups.

My wife’s minestrone soup was very, very good. She let me try it. Seems like I forgot to take a picture of it, but it was really thick and had pieces of pasta and vegetable in it.

I asked for the cream of mushroom soup. It wasn’t watered down at all. It was also very thick and could’ve been a light lunch by itself if it came with a piece of bread.

The soups were a real treat. They reminded me of the soups we used to get at OrganiCafExperience in Century Square’s basement level, before it closed.

The main dishes:

My wife's mushroom stuffed ravioli. — My wife’s mushroom stuffed ravioli.

The sauces were delicious and the servings were just the right size. I can’t believe how good the food is there, considering the way the place looks and the relatively low cost of the meals. We’ll definitely be going back!

Example of Figure Photography in Singapore

December 29, 2009 Bradley FarlessLeave a comment

One subculture of Japan is people who have a serious fascination with figurines. I’m not talking about the Precious Moments porcelain figures your grandma keeps in her cupboard either. I’m talking about anime or manga related figurines. These collectors sometimes go above and beyond simply filling shelves with their favorite figurines. They sometimes take a figurine with them wherever they go and take photos of it along with the background scenery. That’s some hardcore fandom right there!

There are a lot of anime and manga fans all over the world. There are even people that collect wall scrolls and figures. I’d sort of expected this particular hobby to be a Japan-only thing, for fear of being socially ostracized. I was wrong! I saw a group of young guys sitting next to the dome covering the Orchard MRT entrance in front of Ion with cameras and figurines out. They were busy positioning their figurines in the perfect poses while taking photos of them against the backdrop of the Christmas shopping crowds, the lights and the mall.

Well, I enjoy anime and manga, to some extent, but this is a bit over the line for me. Still, can’t help but respect their boldness for not caring what other people think and enjoying their hobby.

The guy was nice enough to let me take these photos of his figurine. Does anyone know what anime or manga this character is from?

If you’re into this sort of thing and want to find more about it, the biggest sites I can think of off the top of my head are Dannychoo.com and also his site specifically for figures, Figure.fm. I didn’t see anything specifically about figure photography in Singapore, but you might try this site: Singapore Anime News Network. The link goes to their forum section.

Are Singaporean Importers Hiding Nutritional Information?

December 28, 2009 Bradley FarlessLeave a comment

Imported goods in Singapore come with a label that shows who imported the product, their address, where the product is from and other miscellaneous information. After living here for so long I’d gotten used to seeing them, but one day I was looking at my jar of Peter Pan peanut butter and I wondered why they had covered up the nutritional information with another label that also shows nutritional information. It seemed kind of pointless, so I slowly peeled back the sticker to see what was underneath.

Oddly enough, the importer relabeled the product with incorrect nutritional information. In the photo above you can see that the importer label doesn’t show the potassium at all, and it also incorrectly shows how much of the daily percentage of recommended niacin the product contains. It rates it at 20%, instead of 15%.

It isn’t just the peanut butter labels that were changed. There were other food items I checked where the value of how much of a certain substance in the food was changed. For example, I think one reported there being a lesser amount of iron in the product than the original label indicated. Do the importers open the products and extract the iron? I doubt it.

These are both based on a 2,000 calorie daily intake, so what’s the reason? Do Singaporeans, as multiracial as the country is, need less niacin than other human beings?

Another Round of Christmas Decoration Photos From Around Singapore

December 24, 2009 Bradley FarlessLeave a comment

Back in November, I made a post with photos of the Christmas decorations on Orchard Road for this year. Since then, quite a few have been added, but I didn’t get shots of them all. There’s just too many! Orchard Road really turns into a sea of lights at this time of the year and helps you to forget about the hot weather and the lack of snow. It helps get you in the ‘Christmas spirit’.

Over the last few weeks I’ve been snapping photos with my iPhone and camera when I saw things that stood out to me. Here are a few more decorations from around Singapore:

This giant ball that opens and closes is in Terminal 3 at Changi International Airport.

This is the outside and inside of the Christmas tree in front of Ion Orchard mall on Orchard Road.

These are photos of the Christmas tree at Bugis Junction. I really love the white and blue combination!

There were a series of dressed up deer characters along Orchard Road (including a creepy one with no eyes). I had to wait a while, but managed to get this great photo taken!

Oops! Someone dropped this tree in upside down! This is at Tampines 1.

These three Christmas trees were walking around Tampines 1 offering up great photo opportunities to shoppers!

I think this will be my last Christmas in Singapore, so I was happy to have the chance to see so many of the decorations. Christmas isn’t just about decorations, but it really sets the mood, and I’ve never seen it done better. Bravo Singapore!

The Med at Orchard Central, Almost Ready For Business

December 24, 2009September 4, 2021 Bradley FarlessLeave a comment

At the beginning of November my wife and I went to Orchard Road to look at the Christmas decorations. While we were there we walked through Orchard Central. A lot of the good decorations are inside the malls after all! While we were exploring, we noticed that the very bottom level of Orchard Central was still closed off. It was still under construction. The decor looked fascinating though, so I took some pictures. (Scroll to the bottom of that post to see them).

Well, it turns out that as of this past weekend (at least) it’s open for people to go down and look around. There’s still nothing open down there, but it was neat to see what they’ve already done with the place. In keeping with the rest of the mall’s appearance, the decor and style that’s gone into the basement level is impressive.

The whole floor will be called “The Med” and it’s going to be a Mediterranean style eating area. So, I’m assuming there’ll be a lot of Italian food. I’m hoping it won’t be that bland though. I’m hoping they’ll be bold and have restaurants serving Greek, Egyptian, Lebanese and Turkish dishes, among others. Just going by the way looks, I have a feeling the prices will be a bit steep. Let’s hope it’s worth it! I’m looking forward to trying the restaurants out once they’re open.

Speaking of the class of people the area will cater to, I laughed when I saw the sign down there showing the concept picture of the finished area. It was packed with Caucasian people. Do they think no locals will eat or shop there? Is it only to cater to tourists? Here’s an image of the part of the sign I’m talking about:

And a few photos of the area:

Even the bathrooms are well-appointed.

These last three photos are of a mural painted on the wall directly across from the escalators. It’ll be the first thing you see when you enter the level, assuming you don’t use the stairs that go directly to it from street level. I was really impressed with it. The colors are very vivid and attractive. It’s not a sticker or a poster either. It was actually painted on.

Hopefully in about a month or so the restaurants will open their doors to customers, but for now it’s still worth it just to go down and have a look at the level of work and attention to detail that’s been put into creating a Mediterranean atmosphere in subterranean Singapore.

Trattoria Italian Restaurant at 313 @ Somerset

December 22, 2009September 4, 2021 Bradley Farless1 Comment

A few months ago I was complaining that I hadn’t been able to find decent pizza in Singapore, but I think that quest has finally ended.

You may be thinking that Singapore has Pizza Hut, but that doesn’t do it for me. Even in the US I think Pizza Hut is gross. The stuff is just too oily. You shouldn’t be able to see grease dripping from your slice of pizza when you pick it up. I prefer pizza that’s lighter, where you can taste the flavors of the toppings, not just the grease.

So, I’ve been sampling around, trying to find good pizza.

We did try Pizza Hut once when I first got here but, besides the fact that it’s Pizza Hut, the servings are small compared to how much they charge. It feels like a rip off for poor quality food. Also, they have a lot of bizarre (to me anyway) topping combinations, but last I checked (which was quite a while ago so don’t hang me) they were missing some of the traditional ones that I enjoy. They also didn’t have plain pepperoni. They had chicken pepperoni (I think it was), but not the real pepperoni.

Canadian pizza isn’t too bad. It’s like the Domino’s of Singapore. It’ll do in a pinch! Still, it wasn’t quite up to par.

We also tried pizza in the New York New York restaurant. I was hoping that a restaurant named after a city that has incredible pizza would live up to its name, but I was disappointed. It was incredibly oily and very bland. The sauce was spread so thin it might as well have not been there at all. I didn’t even finish it.

New York New York Restaurant’s Pizza

In the US, I’d gotten spoiled on great pizza from pizzerias in New York City. Notably, Mariella’s. That stuff is just good! Good enough that it draws celebrities sometimes. Plus it’s a good price. For about 3 bucks, depending on what you order, you get a slice of pizza that’s so big you almost have to hold it with two hands. Here’s a photo:

Mariella’s Pizza in New York City

When I wasn’t in New York City I would go for thin crust pizzas from Papa John’s. Depending on what toppings you order, they are really good and the cheese, garlic butter, and marinara dipping cups you can get along with your pizza are great.

Sunday my wife and I were checking out 313 @ Somerset, the new mall on Orchard Road. On the ground level just across from the escalator that leads down into the MRT station is a restaurant called Trattoria. It’s very nice looking. The decor is very well done and the menu looked good, so before heading home we stopped by to give it a try.

Getting seated was a bit confusing. The staff is obviously new. When we first walked in I asked the first person I saw if we have to go to the counter to order. He directed us to a register. When I got there the cashier asked me for my receipt. I told him we hadn’t ordered yet and we were then directed to a table.

Complimentary appetizer at Trattoria

After that, the confusion didn’t end. We ordered a pizza and two raspberry Italian sodas. While waiting on our order, another server came by and dropped off a plate with a complimentary appetizer. It was good and it reminded me of Italian restaurants in the US. In the US you’re typically served a loaf of fresh bread and a type of butter while waiting for your meal. Sometimes it’s plain butter, sometimes cinnamon, honey, or even garlic. It depends on where you go. What we were served was a bit different but still a pleasant surprise. After we finished it a third server took the plate and a few minutes later a fourth server dropped off another plate of the appetizers. I think they didn’t realize we’d already been served an appetizer. I’m not complaining that I got something free, just noting that the servers were a bit unorganized.

Raspberry Italian Soda, before stirring

Shortly after that one raspberry Italian soda showed up at our table along with a receipt marked with one pizza and one soda. I had to get up and tell a server that we’d ordered two, not one. It took about 10 minutes for the second soda to be prepared, despite the fact that only four tables in the restaurant were in use. The soda showed up at the same time as our pizza, but we never got our receipt back which made the check-out process a bit more annoying later.

Trattoria’s Pepperoni Pizza

The pizza more than made up for the questionable service. The crust was thin and crispy along the edges, which is just how I like it. A regular crust pizza gets you full on bread and you can’t enjoy as much of the sauce or toppings! The sauce on this pizza is what stood out the most. It tasted really fresh. It wasn’t sweet and they didn’t overdo the seasoning. Typically I hate an aftertaste, but all the way home on the MRT I savored the lingering taste of that pizza sauce. The pepperoni on the pizza tasted a lot like what I’m used to in the US as well. The pizza was light, with a balanced amount of toppings and was a great overall dish. I could’ve eaten the whole thing by myself and still craved for more.

I can’t really hold the shaky service against Trattoria. It’s a brand new restaurant and the servers looked inexperienced. They weren’t even serving everything on the menu yet. Also, it was about 10:30 PM. The end of the day is always kind of rough in a restaurant. I’m sure that aspect of the Trattoria dining experience will improve over time.

That aside, the pizza was excellent. The raspberry Italian soda tasted great! I’m curious as to how their other dishes taste, but I’ll probably just go back again for more pizza. Thanks for satisfying my craving, Trattoria! See you soon!

Oh and by the way, the Vespa on display is a really nice touch!