Heroic Pork & Pig Knuckles

The story of the Hero Porker attracted my interest earlier this week. This was an account of a large pig that was buried in the recent Sichuan earthquake but somehow managed to emerge alive after thirty six days trapped beneath the rubble.

So it was with just a twinge of guilt that I got stuck into a large roast pig knuckle with lashing of mash potato while lunching at The White Dog Cafe in Vivo City.

We enjoy this eatery for its $10.80 set lunch and for its eclectic mix of western and eastern cuisine. Best of all is the view out to Sentosa Island and watching the Temple of Mammon (i.e. the Sentosa Integrated Resort/casino) take shape.

There is more than a touch of motor mania in Singapore at the moment as the city builds towards the hosting of Formula One's first night race later in the year.

On display in Vivo City was a racing car sponsored by MediaCorp and it had the rapt attention of youngsters lining up to try out the drivers seat. Some (as in the photograph) were perhaps a little young to fully appreciate what was happening.

Anyone who has been involved with motorsport will tell you it is the sound of high speed cars and the smell of the high octane fuel that makes the sport so addictive.

At an early stage of my life even I joined a central North Island car club in New Zealand and was the proud owner of a modified purple Mini Cooper. But those days are long past and the thought of watching an seemingly endless procession of cars career around a track at night hold little interest for me.

The roar of engines however stays with me. One good reason that it does so is that for the past two Saturday evenings, just on dusk, the aerobatic team from the Singapore Air Forces go through their paces as they practice for the forthcoming National Day Parade, early in August.

These jet aircraft in synchronisation are truly a magnificent team and the rate of climb into the evening sky is wondrous to behold. All of this is viewable from the sanctity of our condominium lounge.

Butane Bungles

There is a push to integrate so-called 'citizen journalism' in to the local Singaporean media. This means in practice that daily rags such as My Paper have a section called Ground Zero where miscreants are exposed.

Today's riveting entry was the discovery of a broken cigarette lighter in a bowl of fish head curry. No doubt a different interpretation of the culinary flambé process.

When the patrons said something like "waiter there's a lighter in my soup" the response they received from the proprietor was terse. He is reported as saying that he would cover any medical bills should his patrons require treatment after consuming his curry.

Very generous I must say. Given the cost of medical treatment here it could turn out to be the most expensive dish of fish head curry ever.

Continuing on the subject of seafood, Ground Zero's next story covers some enteprising Singaporean merchant who is apparently using his local car park to sun dry ikan bilis.

Ikan bilis for those of you who are not familiar with the name are the small anchovies that are much beloved in Malaysian cuisine. They have a pungent odour when drying but not as pervasive as the small dried shrimps that are used for Malaysian sambal.

According to the experts when buying a catty of ikan bilas one should look them in the eye. The best quality ikan bilis will have bright blue colored eyes according to the pundits. Given their size when processed I don't think I will bother. They all taste good to me and are the perfect condiment to a good nasi lemak.