Gastronomic Delights

The culture of Singapore is largely wrapped up in large banana leaf, namely the rich variety of cuisine from otah otah to home grown soy sauce (and all other delicacies in between).

Satay Hawker - Singapore 1982

Personally I think it is difficult to beat the smell of cooking over charcoal. One of the earliest photographs I took of Singapore in the 1980's was of a satay hawker at the old Satay club, crouched over a small charcoal brazier.

There are a number of excellent 'foodie' sites in Singapore.  My favourites are as follows:

• Makansutra - still the best in my opinion and has become somewhat of an institution in its own right. Mr Seetoh even has his own YouTube channel (see example below).
• HungryGoWhere -  their warts and all reviews make for interesting reading
• Ieatishootipost -  the pride and joy of Dr Leslie Tay who when he is not in the clinic is photographing and commenting upon food.
• Gastronomic Ruminations -  complied by a coffee addict under the non de plume of SuperFineFeline.  the food photos are of high quality.
• ChubbyHubby - although the site is currently in recess the archive is still worth reading and some of his recipes such as Pork Belly in Almond Milk are not restricted to South East Asia.
• FoodSpotting - social media made good. See also their sections such as Top Hawker Fare.

Singapore food: "So Shiok"!

Yes Coke Yes

Cocoa Cola has been noticeable for its clever choice of marketing slogans to promote its sales to target markets.  In 1886 the text was simple, "Drink Coca Cola".

By 1924 this had turned into "Refresh Yourself" and in the year of my birth it was "Where there's Coke there's hospitality".

Each year they trot out a new slogan and the current one is (believe it or not) "Life Begins Here".

Now this piece of information is clearly something that a substantial proportion of Singaporeans are not aware of. According to Today Online, 3% of the population copulate in the profound belief that washing their genitals with Coca Cola will prevent pregnancy.

Presumably this application happens before rather than after, giving new meaning to the expression "putting some fizz into your sex life".

I can just see the Cocoa Cola advertising gurus in the USA adopting this slogan for their 2012 campaign.

There are regional variations of the company's slogans as well. In 1980's Japan (a country not always known for its rigid translation of English) the thought of the day was "Yes Coke Yes", which seems strangely in context with the current Singaporean situation.

Mind you, another 3% from the Republic believes that "staying upside down for two hours" after sex has the same effect as Coke.

So I look forward seeing what rival Pepsi come up with. " The cola that makes you stand on your head" perhaps?

You might also think that given Singapore's push (and I use this word advisedly) to increase its population, the government would not worried by this misplaced belief in home-spun contraception.  Not so, there is a more serious side, the rising incidence of sexually transmitted diseases and abortions in the country.