Bradley's Old Fashioned Weblog
A serious and sometimes not so serious personal blog
Well, I didn’t take photos inside the mall exactly. There was a courtyard area that I saw through a set of doors as we were walking through the mall so we stepped outside to look around. It was a pretty cool looking spot.
THE Government is studying how to use underground space for future development.
Senior Minister of State for National Development Grace Fu said on Monday the Government should invest in the creation of new land and space.
‘Just as Singapore has reclaimed land in advance to support economic growth in the past, our subcommittee recommends that the government acts early to catalyse the development of underground space,’ she said at a press conference at which the Economic Strategies Committee released its report.
Somehow, this really brings out the dork in me. It reminds me of so many post-apocalyptic novels I’ve read where people have resorted to living in tunnels under the earth. Dorkiness aside, I can see this proving to be a very worthwhile step for Singapore in terms of development since the country has such a limited amount of horizontal space to work with.
Singapore could, in fact, use Montreal’s Underground City as an inspiration:
With over 32 km (20 mi) of tunnels spread over more than 12 km2 (4.6 sq mi), connected areas include shopping malls, apartment buildings, hotels, condominiums, banks, offices, museums, universities, seven metro stations, two commuter train stations, a regional bus terminal and the Bell Centre amphitheatre and arena. There are more than 120 exterior access points to the underground city. Each access point is an entry point to one of 60 residential or commercial complexes comprising 3.6 km2 (1.4 sq mi) of floor space, including 80% of all office space and 35% of all commercial space in downtown Montreal. In winter, some 500,000 people use the underground city every day. Because of its Underground City, Montreal is often referred to as the “Double-Decker City” or “Two Cities in One”.
via Wikipedia
Singapore already has quite a few underground tunnels that connect shopping centers together in the Orchard area as well as malls that descend for multiple stories below ground. These are both heavily used and readily accepted by the public. Having more structures underground that are used publicly like businesses, retail outlets and perhaps eating establishments, would integrate easily into Singapore’s landscape, especially since it offers a ‘cool’ factor. It could be called the Singapore Underground, and it could really be an extensive underground business and retail area. It could really play out well with the right architect at the wheel and could even prove to be a tourist attraction.
So, what will Singapore actually use these underground areas for? The government is just now starting talks about how to properly use the underground space but I think there are at least a few obvious answers, like storage and further transit links. Placing that sort of thing underground could free up Singapore’s limited surface area for more businesses or residences.
Hopefully Singapore sticks to just putting businesses underground. While I have a feeling that sometime in the future people might not mind living below ground, possibly with fake windows that project an image of sunny skies and green meadows (like in the offices at the beginning of the original Resident Evil movie), now is not that time. I think people still cherish the idea of living above ground, with cool breezes coming through their windows.
We’ve known Wendy’s was here in Singapore for quite a few weeks but we just never took the time to get out to it. The reason is that it’s not situated in a very easy to get to area. It’s way out in Lau Pa Sat. First off, that’s a good distance away from where most anyone lives, and it’s not a major thoroughfare like Orchard Road either. It’s sitting off by itself, near Raffles MRT station. It’s not easy to find if you’re not familiar with the area and it’s not a place you can stop to eat at while window shopping.
If you look at this map, you can see that it’s not even close to the MRT station. Zoom out twice and you’ll see Raffles MRT a bit north of the location. The reason this is bad is that this is the first Wendy’s in Singapore. It has to make a name for itself, and it’s not going to be able to do that effectively where it’s located. Besides the fact that it’s hard to get to, it’s been stuck in with a landmark food court that sells local dishes. That makes it a hard choice, even if you went there specifically intending to go to Wendy’s. My wife and I almost passed on it to eat the satay that was being served right next to it. This restaurant would fare a lot better in a mall at the least, and on Orchard Road somewhere for sure. I suppose what it does have going for it is that a lot of foreigners likely work in the surrounding area, but even so it could have been better situated.
That aside, it was nice to see that familiar Wendy’s logo. When I lived in the US I rarely ate there. I just didn’t care for the burgers that much and I still don’t, more so than ever after watching Food Inc. So, in the US I would usually pass them up for Arby’s or Subway or Chinese or Mexican. You get the point. If this were the first Wendy’s in a US town I wouldn’t have even cared. But, since I’m an American in a foreign country it was worth the trip just to have a small taste of home.
Despite the location, many people were making their way out there to eat. The line stayed consistently long the entire time we were there.
And also despite my desire for a small taste of home, I wound up loading two trays with my order for my wife and I. My wife was downtown already and couldn’t wait so she got started with a cup of chili and a salad. When I got there, I ordered some additional food. Like I said, I never did care for the burgers so I didn’t bother to order one. Instead I opted for the Grilled Chicken Ceaser Salad, which was good. We also got a cup of chili, a chili cheese baked potato, sour cream and chives baked potato, two small Frosties and a medium Coke. It’s more filling than it sounds. It was all great, especially the chili. I was surprised at how well it was priced, considering how much meat was in it. I think it was only 3.50. Or maybe 2.50.
It’s well worth the effort of finding it and I’m sure we’ll be making another trip soon to enjoy the chili and Frosties again.
I was looking forward to this solar eclipse. I’ve never even seen one before and even though this wasn’t going to be a full solar eclipse it would still have been a first for me.
Somehow, I managed to let it slip my mind, and at 4:20 I found myself staring at my computer screen, scanning Twitter. Then I was making a mad scramble for my camera and I ran outside to try to get a photo or a video of the eclipse.
Unfortunately, there was nothing but clouds. It was a bit cooler out than usual. It was also a bit darker than usual. Well, not even that really. It wasn’t much darker than on a normal cloudy day. I took a photo of where the sun appeared to be with my camera. Unfortunately, my camera and Ubuntu don’t want to play nice together, so later I snapped this picture of the cloudy sky with my iPhone to share.
It seems like every time there’s an eclipse, Singapore has cloudy weather that prevents me from enjoying it. The last eclipse I tried to view was a lunar eclipse and it was cloudy that night as well. Downfall of a tropical climate I guess!
Hopefully I’ll get to see one sometime soon.
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.
Earlier today, from 5 to 7 PM Singapore was giving away free ‘tall’ sized drinks, but with a good-hearted catch. They weren’t just handing out free drinks because they felt generous, or to drum up business or publicity, it was to raise funds and awareness for the Salvation Army.
I went to the Tampines Starbucks at 5:30 PM and there was already a sizable line reaching back out the door. Starbucks was well prepared for the crowds with partitions set up and employees outside to keep the line under control. I decided to go eat dinner first, but when I came back at 6:30 PM the line was still wrapped around the back of the cafe.
Regardless, I wanted my chance to get a drink and offer a donation so I got in line. As I fell in at the back of the line a Starbucks employee asked me what I wanted and then handed me a paper with my order on it. I suppose that was their way of ensuring that they could effectively cut off the line when the promotion time was over. Shortly after that the line moved and I walked up to two Salvation Army workers with the traditional bell and pot. I made my donation and moved on.
Surprisingly, it didn’t take me long to get my drink, which wound up being a vanilla latte because they ran out of toffee nut, and I found a seat inside and watched the end of the event. The employees were surprisingly upbeat and excited, despite the overwhelming crowd. There looked to be about 20 of them there though so they weren’t overworked.
After the event was over they all posed for a group photo. Another person was there taking photos with a big DSLR. He seemed to know the employees so he probably worked for Starbucks as well.
I think this was a great way for Starbucks to help give back to the community in Singapore and I was more than happy to part with a few dollars, which would’ve been spent on coffee anyway.
Often considered the “national dish” of Singapore, this is a food that’s widely loved by Singaporeans and visitors alike. Also, it’s one of the few local dishes served on Singapore Airlines, giving you the opportunity to get a taste of Singapore before you’re even in Singapore.
Here’s a quick history of the dish (the links in this quote will all go to Wikipedia pages):
Hainanese chicken rice is a dish of Chinese origin most commonly associated with Singaporean cuisine or Malaysian cuisine, although it is also commonly sold in neighbouring Thailand, and found in Hainan, China itself. So-called due to its roots in Hainan cuisine and its adoption by the Hainanese overseas Chinese population in the Nanyang area (present-day Singapore), the version found in Singapore region combines elements of Hainanese and Cantonese cuisines along with culinary preferences in the Southeast Asian region. The dish was popularised in the 1950s by Moh Lee Twee, whose Swee Kee Chicken Rice Restaurant operated from 1947 to 1997. [1]
You can find at least one stall at every food center selling chicken rice, as it’s usually called here. Typically you can get it either roasted or steamed. I prefer the roasted, but my wife loves the steamed version, which is probably why she loves Mr. Chicken Rice so much (shown in the top picture).
Mr. Chicken Rice is a restaurant in E-Hub, Pasir Ris in the Downtown East area that sells a specific type of steamed chicken rice. I don’t recall the whole back-story, but the chef that got that location going used to work for a five star hotel in downtown Singapore. Eventually, I think the restaurant decided they didn’t need him anymore, so he went out on his own and started up his own business. The restaurant at E-Hub is always jam packed, and even though I don’t generally like the steamed version it’s damn good!
To me, chicken rice is the staple dish of Singapore. It’s also my ‘safe’ dish. When I’m wandering back and forth in the food court and I can’t figure out what I want, or I’m scared to try something new, I always settle on the chicken rice. I know it’s good and I know it’s safe. The recipe is more or less the same wherever you go. All you have to worry about with chicken rice is whether the guy behind the counter gives you a bad cut of meat (too many bones) or not.
Chicken rice is also something that people apparently get really passionate about. For example, recently the Malaysian government tried to claim chicken rice (“”We cannot continue to let other countries hijack our food. Chili crab is Malaysian. Hainanese chicken rice is Malaysian,” in The Star newspaper.”) as a native Malay dish, which is kinda ridiculous. Even the name says Hainanese. Singaporeans were outraged by the idea, but I don’t see why either side is fighting so hard over where chicken rice belongs. The current status or love of the dish in either country doesn’t matter much when you realize that it’s originally, and factually, from Hainan in China. The dish doesn’t belong to Singapore or Malaysia. It belongs to China. It’s simply been imported to the two countries along with other cultural and culinary traditions. That’s one of the drawbacks of being a multicultural society of immigrants like Singapore, Malaysia and my own country (US) are. The only traditions you can claim as actually being your own are the ones that develop in the area. Previous traditions that you bring with you don’t really count. Also, it’s worth it to note that 44 years ago Singapore was a part of Malaysia, rather than an independent nation.
Regardless of where it came from, or who it ‘belongs’ to, chicken rice is a dish that I’ve come to love greatly and will come to miss greatly if I can’t find it when I leave this country. My loss on that one.
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).
Sunday afternoon, my wife and I were on our way to the Pasir Ris MRT station when we saw this couple strolling down the sidewalk. I was surprised and my wife told me we should run and get pictures with them, so of course we did.
Their outfits are really cool, but I have no idea what anime or game this is supposed to be from. Maybe someone can help me out here?
Lately I’ve had the weirdest craving. I really want a can of pork ‘n’ beans. Ya, weird right? Sometimes I crave NYC pizza (‘cuz no other pizza comes close), sometimes I crave my grandmother’s homemade biscuits and gravy (yup, made from scratch). Lately though, it’s just plain old canned pork ‘n’ beans.
I suppose it’s just a symptom of my having been outside the US for such a long amount of time. A couple of other expat bloggers I’m familiar with have also been expressing similar sentiments recently. Sometimes, no matter where you are, and no matter how good the food is, you just want to eat something that reminds you of home.
Luckily, Singapore is fairly well modernized and most grocery chains like Cold Storage, Fairprice, and especially Giants carry a fair amount of imported products. They do come with a higher price tag, but occasionally I feel the need to indulge myself and get that bottle of Aunt Jemima’s pancake syrup, that box of Bisquick buttermilk pancakes, that bottle of Season All, or a can of Campbell’s Chunky Soup.
Imagine my surprise though, when I found this:
I haven’t seen this for sale in a grocery store in a long time. I haven’t exactly looked for it actively, but the last time I made it was 8 years ago and I remember it being very good! This Hurst’s HamBeens Brand “15 Bean Soup” comes with 1 pound of beans and a seasoning packet. You’re encouraged to add pork or smoked sausage to it, and the last time I made it I tossed in some jalapeños which really added to the flavor. When it’s ready to eat, it’s a very thick soup that can be eaten by itself and is very filling. Though, after living in Asia for so long, I have this weird craving to eat it over rice.
Sometimes, small things like that make all the difference.
Bradley's Old Fashioned Weblog 