Duck Curry At The ACM

The Asian Civilisations Museum is one of the treasures of Singapore. In recent years there has been something of a museum renaissance and the old colonial administration building (which for a while was christened Empress Place) has become the A.C.M.

To me, museums are about one-to-one experiences with collection objects. I don't reject the IT driven displays that seem so often to dominate exhibits nowadays, but I do enjoy my contemplative spaces where such a communion can take place.

It's the "Stuffed Elephant Syndrome". The iconic object that generations can remember from their museum visits and look forward to upon their return.

When I lived in Auckland, one such object was a small jade buffalo of exquisite form that had belonged in the Chinese Imperial collection and was no doubt looted when the Summer Palace was sacked. It came into the possession of a former colonial Governor of New Zealand, Sir George Grey and subsequently ended up in the Auckland Museum collection. When I last visited it was no longer on exhibit, spirited away by a well-meaning curator to basement storage. I felt a certain loss over this action.

The ACM has some wonderful collections, many of which I remembered from a previous visit four years ago. It felt like renewing old friendships to stand in front of such items and wonder about their provenance. If you truly want to understand the history of what makes Singapore what it is today, you should pay this museum a visit.

There is another reason.

IndoChine cuisine is quite distinctive and there is a fine restaurant that served the Museum Director, Dr Kenson Kwok and I, a magnificent duck curry. Not surprisingly it is called the IndoChine Wine Bar and Restaurant.

The crispness of Vietnamese / Laotian food and the subtle use of coriander makes their food very refreshing.

On The Trail Of The Blue Tooth Dongle

I can't really imagine Elvis singing "Don't step on my Blue Tooth Dongle" - it simply doesn't have the same ring to it.

Equally I cannot fathom where IT people dredge up the generic names for perfectly simple pieces of equipment.

At my last place of employment we had a server labelled "Black Lettuce". I am still uncertain as to how IT came up with this name. Certainly the box was black, but "lettuce"....?

The dictionary defines a Dongle thus " A hardware device that serves as copy protection for certain software by rendering the software inoperable when the device is not plugged into a printer port"

Clearly there is nothing worse than an inoperable dongle - think how exposed one might be to the possibility of being rendered inoperable.

The one I seek however is the of the "Blue Tooth" genus. To put it simply, a small device that I can plug in to the USB port of my PC which allows my blue tooth-enabled telephone and iPAQ to 'talk' to each other in a soothing manner.

Singapore is well endowed with Dongles of various behaviours. There are dongles for storage, dongles for infrared and I am delighted to report, blue tooth dongles.

As with other electronic equipment, it is probably best to head to Sim Lim Square where a good bargain can be had if one is prepared to bargain. It is near the Bugis MRT station and has surplanted the Funnan Centre as the place to buy such equipment

I would not however buy a camera from Sim Lim Square as I much prefer the reliability of my favourite camera shop - Lords Camera who are at #01-79 in Lucky Plaza. Ask for James for a good deal and friendly service.

Our small staff went to Tiong Bahru for lunch and a spot of stationery shopping. The shop's catalogue listed a dongle device. However as it wasn't described in such terms I spent a good few minutes gesticulating with my hands and attempting to explain to a bemused older sales lady, the dimensions of a blue tooth dongle.

Both the terminology and my gestures no doubt reinforced in her mind what strange and obessive people Expat males are! She did take one or two steps back during my explanation and assured me as she scurried away that they didn't have any such thing in stock.

Just as we were leaving the shop however I spied one in a lower rack and the purchase was made. This just goes to show that persistance pays off.

"Mind me Dongle!"

Goodnight Irenidae - a tale of Bluebirds and Bau

I may be mistaken, but I believe I spotted the melodious bird that acts as my wake-up call each morning. Each evening at dusk it repeats the performance.

A quick glance at local bird reference on the web suggests that it is the Singapore Fairy Bluebird (or Irenidae as it is known in scientific circles). It is a rather drab bird to look at, not unlike a crow in plumage, but it certainly has a booming and beautiful call.

There is quite a good photograph of "Irene" at this site.



And so to bau...... the ubiquitous steam bun sometimes spelt as "pau" but still tastes just as good whatever your spelling preference. My favourite is from Ah Teck Bau. They started as a smallish family business off Orchard Road about 50 years ago. The family then expanded their business which was not wholey successful and later reverted to a smaller scale operation. You can find their outlets in places such as Killinney Road and in Cold Storage, Orchard Road.

These bau are a meal in a bun and the secret is in the dough which should be light in texture and taste and generous in the filling.