Here's Lukan At You

Boxes of Lukan mandarins from China have appeared in Singapore as the country gets ready for next week's Chinese New Year.

A Journey Down Orchard Road

I took a short 'photographic' trip down Orchard Road yesterday morning. The above are some of the images. Click on the book to enlarge.

Sunday Best and Somerset Simplicity

Our sunday meal is usually taken in the AnchorPoint shopping mall's food court. We have two favourite stalls; the Village Smoked Chicken stall (which I have mentioned before) and a pasta outlet which is featured above.

For a modest $S6.50 a largish portion of pasta and chicken cutlet can be procured. What makes it memorable is the tomato sauce which is clearly not out of a bottle.

On the subject of malls, today we visited the latest to be launched in Orchard Road - 311 @Somerset. Not that Singapore really needs another mall!

This one however has risen from the ashes of the Phoenix Hotel which used to occupy the site between Somerset and Orchard Roads. Its design is more akin to that of Centrepoint across the road and I much prefer it to its recently opened neighbour, Orchard Central.

Some folks of a certain age will remember a song by Leo Sayer called "Orchard Road". While older Singaporeans might wish to claim ownership of the locality, it was actually written by Sayer for his estranged wife, pleading for her return from her flat and forgiveness after a lapse of judgement in their 7-year marital life. She had moved out to a flat in Orchard Road in London.

One can't help but wonder what Tiger Wood's composition will be like given the litany of indiscretions that are unfolding in media this past week? A Putter In My Pocket perhaps?

The Big Squeeze - Vivo City

The Big Squeeze - today's Xmas display by Tang's at Vivo City

Hands On

Trying to win - Ngee Ann City

The 1930's depression were infamous for marathon dance sessions which saw people literally drop dead from exhaustion in their quest to win a prize.

While no one yet had succumbed to the heat in Singapore this week, or died from exposure as a result of dancing, there are a number of stalwarts still with their hands firmly glued to cars.

The last one standing gets the vehicle.

Farrer Park and Friday Weather

It's Friday evening again and the thunder and lightening is illuminating the nearby HDB estates. Tonight the storm centre is quite far away but this morning we had a good 'rainy season' pour. This evening the rain is more gentle.

It is not yet fully into the rainy season when the temperatures drop a couple of degrees but at least the cloying humidity is dissipating a little.

SU is to the be the name of the new university that Singapore is building. The Singapore University of Technology is being headed by a US university professor on secondment from M.I.T.

The irony is of course that the new SU campus is situated on the grounds of the previously proposed UNSWAsia which was originally planned to open about now; that is before the Vice Chancellor in Sydney beat a hasty retreat.

Tomorrow we are going via the Farrer Park MRT to visit the new eco mall - City Square. Energy conservation is now being enthusiastically promoted by the government and this one of the malls that is built on eco principles. The toilets use little water for instance; which should be a revelation after a curry in nearby Little India.

There is also an eco-roof that harnesses solar power and rainwater, of which we now have an abundance.

Farrer Park is an area of historic interest as it was here that Singapore's first racecourse was built and where the island's aviation history began.

As I write this I am aware that my friends in New Zealand are experiencing yet another 'late winter cold snap' even though they are supposedly in the middle of Spring.

It is going to be quite a wrench to the system re-adjusting to the chilly temperatures when we finally head south again for retirement. My wife can't wait!

Today's Culinary Hint - Village Smoked Chicken

We live not far from the Anchor Point Mall and on a Sunday often take the free bus from Queenstown MRT station to the mall. In the basement is a recently revamped food court and my favourite is the village smoked chicken from the Old Hong Kong Roast stall.

It is simply delicious as it is prepared in the traditional manner - smoked inside a claypot for maximum flavour.

The dessert stall is also very reasonable and their chendol is one of the best in terms of ingredients offered

Another Day, Another Shopping Mall - Ion Opens

Bedlam in Basement 4

More sins of the flesh - Chocolat!

Time Out Under The Stairs

Manchu Munchies and Copper Calculators

It been what I might describe as a typical "Singapore Saturday" After some online work and house keeping we took the MRT to see one of the special exhibitions staged by the Asian Civilisations Museum.

Five stops from our station brought us to Raffles Place and then it was a pleasant stroll across the river to the Museum. The exhibition in question is entitled " The Kangxi Emperor - Treasures from the Forbidden City".

I have always enjoyed these mini-blockbusters that show off the culture and opulence of the Imperial Court.

The Emperor was no slug - a man of intellect, a warrior of some distinction and clearly a diplomat par excellence, at a time when the minority Manchu were greatly outnumbered by the ethnic Han Chinese. He ascended to the throne at the tender age of 14 and was the longest reigning of all the Emperors.

Interestingly, the influence of Western culture was encouraged under his reign. A twelve digit copper calculator from the imperial collections was modelled on the 15th century invention of a Frenchman, Pascal.

He had three wives who all predeceased him and according to the headcount, some 64 consorts in total (if one counts his concubines). He fathered 36 children. This number is probably higher as many of his offspring died early.

Despite all of this conjugal activity has still had time for the finer things of life and was the first Emperor to play a western instrument - the piano.

After viewing the exhibition we adjourned to the attached Indochine restaurant for a lunch of duck curry (my favourite at this eatery) and beef ragout.

To walk off the dietary effects of the lunch we strolled down the Esplanade Walk towards the "Durian" the Esplanade's theatre and convention centre. In so doing, we had to run a gauntlet of Falun Gong activists who were staging a mini-exhibit and protest against China, under the traffic overpass.

I found this rather surprising as the authorities don't take kindly to unauthorised activities of this kind.

Next we scaled the steps into the Marina Mall and walked across to SunTec, which last week was filled with IT bargain hunters.

This week it is the turn of the "foodies" as it is the Singapore Food fair that is drawing the crowds. One can nibble one's way around the exhibits, sampling many of the delicacies from this part of the world. Unfortunately being filled with curry and ragout I was not overly inclined to do so.

We did however buy something back for an evening snack. Here I must give an enthusiastic thumbs up for Pie-Kia's product. There small pies are only one dollar apiece and generous in their filling, with a good buttery crust to boot (not to be confuded with tasting like an old boot).

They are part of the Old Chang Kee Group which is renowned in Singapore for their curry puffs, fried sotong (squid) on a stick and similar delights. So far I have only tried Pie-Kia's savoury pies but given the chance I wouldn't mind nibbling on a jackfruit or mango version!

I have a feeling that such fare would not have been acceptable in Kangxi's court, even if he suffered an attack of the 'Manchu munchies' following strenuous evening exercise and was craving for western sustenance.

My Kingdom For A Thong

Mine is not a delicate foot. Nor it is in Ang Mo terms an overly large one.
I like to think of it as an appendage befitting my yeoman ancestry - sturdy and well proportioned.

This perception makes not a jot of difference when it comes to buying shoes in Singapore. My shoe size is 45 which translates to 10 1/2 in New Zealand terms.

Almost without exception every make and model of footwear in Robinsons and nearby stores stops at size 44. The salesgirls smile politely and suggest squeezing into their largest size, a scene reminiscent of one an Ugly Sister trying on the glass slipper in Cinderella.

Occasionally I do find something that fits and a nice pair of Florsheims are a recent purchase. My problem in recent times has been finding a pair of rubber jandals (or flip-flops or thongs depending on your country of origin).

My wife carried a paper cut out traced from the sole of my jandals in her handbag for several months, on the off chance that she might stumble across something suitable. Alas she did not and I have resorted in recent times to cloth slippers of the Japanese variety, purloined from various hotels I have stayed at.

Today however I was in luck which just shows that perseverance pays.

On one of the higher levels in Centrepoint mall I came across a temporary stall that was retailing warehouse overruns. Rising like a periscope out of a pile of odds and sods was a biliously coloured pair of what seemed to be rubber jandals.

A closer inspection revealed that this was so and I had hit the jackpot - two pairs of size 45's for a mere $5. Being the Hang Ten brand they are reasonably well constructed.

There is of course always a drawback with such bargains. The jandals are remnants of the last soccer world cup purchased by patriotic Spaniards (the red and yellow design) and Englishman (the embellished Union Jack design). There is further challenge with the British version as the flag in question is red, pink and blue - rather than the official red, white and blue.

One can only summise that the dye ran during manufacture which probably goes a long way to explaining why few of them sold. No self respecting British soccer fan would be seen dead in jandals of this hue.

Beggars cannot be choosers and at least I can now shuffle around our condo in my new footwear muttering "Ole!" or singing "Swing Low Sweet Chariot" -I am a rugby follower - depending on how the mood takes me.

Gorilla In The Mall

In the main, the mall architecture in Singapore is impressive as is the interior design. There are however some rather obvious exceptions.

Our nearest mall, Anchorpoint, has sprouted a very strange juxtaposition of a kangaroo, a gorilla and some pirates - a sort of spot the odd one out if you will.

The gorilla in question is crouching by some articial shubbery in the basement level of the mall. In contrast, a mouse of the Disney variety occupies one of the upper level restaurant areas and is attracting youngsters of all ages to its fare which is billed as 'healthy'.

Quite why Captain Hook is guarding his dubloons while eyeballing a kangaroo remains a complete mystery?

Viva Las Vivo

Vivo City is the latest in a long line of Singaporean shopping complexes. It was officially opened shortly after we arrived in Singapore and well before it was actually completed.

Biding our time we waited until today to visit the complex to see what all of the fuss was about.

The MRT goes straight to Harbourside and a subterranean maze guides the unwary to the shopping mecca.

Am I alone in thinking that there is something very sterile about shopping malls? What ever layer of glitz is applied they still are built to the same formula and visiting one brings on a rapid feeling of deja vu. Vivo City is designed by Japanese architect Toyo Ito and the design claims to focus on nature and open spaces. Being Saturday, I cannot in all honesty say that I saw any open spaces - there were droves of Singaporeans in all directions.

By comparison, I slipped down to my local bau shop on Killiney Road this evening . The pungent mix of balachan (or belacan if you prefer) and other spices were in the air; the sound of a youngster practising the cello in the upper reaches of a shop house and there was a steady, but not oppressive bustle along the footpath. All in all a pleasant and relaxing encounter and the food is not the sanitised variety that one finds in the malls. Give me the genuine smell of 'smoking woks at dawn' any day!

Vivo City has one thing going for it and that is its strategic location. Being situated directly opposite Sentosa Island it stands to benefit greatly from the new 'Integrated Resort' that is about to be built there and opens in three years.

The term 'Integrated Resort' is PR spin for 'casino'. The selection of the consortium to build both casinos has been the subject of much speculation in the local media. I was hoping that the Gehry design might win through as visitors would have come from around the world just to view the iconic architecture but this was not to be.

If you ask Singaporeans about the building of casinos in their country you will get a very mixed response. Many are really worried about the social problems that will inevitably follow the opening of such venues. Others are more pragmatic and appreciate that the country needs to provide more attractions to make Singapore the tourism destination of choice that it once was.

The reality is that Singapores status as an electronics hub is under serious threat from China. Another factor is that modern aircraft can go further without stop-overs or refuelling and combined with the rapidly increasing competition of countries such as China and Dubai, Singapore has to reinvent itself for destination and convention / incentive tourism. An example of this is the cessation of services to this country by Air New Zealand, an airline that had been travelling here for forty years and now has moved its hub further North to Hong Kong.

Dubai is religiously copying Singapore's style as a hub and using copious amounts of oil money in the process so clearly Singapore faces many challenges in the immediate future.

The country will however overcome these as it has a very procative and pragmatic government, one that is thankfully not prone to the endless vacilation and political corection of many western democracies.