Fish Tales

Beep. Beep. Beep.

That’s my least favorite sound of the day.

It’s when “Morning Greg” spends the next few minutes trying to convince “Nighttime Greg” that things need to change. The conversation usually follows the same script. Mornings arrive too quickly. Enough staying up so late. Need to be more considerate. An agreement is reached.

But, things never change.

“Nighttime Greg” continues to be an inconsiderate jerk to “Morning Greg”.

And, “Morning Greg” has no defense.

Except for today.

The unexpected happened.

An extra hour of sleep.

Sometime during the night, my mobile phone switched over to an Indonesia telecommunications network. At least that’s where TELKOMSEL is located.

Why? Good question. Just because I can see Indonesia from my condo doesn’t mean I want to roam on their network. Thanks SINGTEL.

Because of the network change, my phone automatically adjusted time zones. Indonesia is an hour earlier.

So, my 6:15 alarm became 7:15 in Singapore time.

And, “Morning Greg” enjoyed the extra hour of sleep. Guilt free.

Apparently need to use a real alarm clock...

Last week a visitor from the US asked me what grocery store items I missed most.  Ahh… where to start? There are so many things. Here’s a short-list:

		Cherry Coke Technically it’s ‘Coca Cola Cherry’. But no matter what you call it, you aren’t finding it in Singapore. It’s been my sad story for a while now.
		Tillamook Extra Sharp Cheddar Cheese There’s no such thing as extra sharp cheese in Singapore. And, sharp is nearly impossible to find. Just plain old cheddar. And, it’s usually white… not orange. Isn’t cheddar supposed to be orange?
		Oregon Berries I know, I know. You can find berries at the store in Singapore. But, they are not great. I’ve mostly given up, because it usually ends in disappointment. Once you’ve eaten picked-that-morning berries in Oregon, nothing else tastes quite as good.
		Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups It’s only the best combination of peanut butter and chocolate ever. Even the 7-11 around the corner doesn’t stock it. And, no, I’m not counting the not-so-sweet Canadian export version occasionally available. Nope, not gonna cut it.
		Barbara’s Jalapeño Cheese Puffs All natural. No artificial flavors, colors or preservatives. And they’re my favorite snack not found in Singapore.
		USDA Prime Top Sirloin Australian beef is certainly better than no beef. And, for sure, it’s the best option in Asia. But, nothing beats an American USDA Prime Top Sirloin steak. Don’t mess with Texas. Or the Midwest. Or anywhere in the US for that matter. Best. Beef. In. The. World.
		Kellogg’s Low Fat Granola The real breakfast of champions. Oh, how I miss this granola. Without raisins, of course.
		Yellow Corn Tortilla Chips They struggle with tortilla chips in Asia. Makes sense – it’s only an ocean away from Mexico. Sometimes you can find Tostitos Restaurant-Style white chips. But, give me my YELLOW corn chips, please.
		Great Harvest Bread Nothing beats fresh bread straight out of the Great Harvest bread ovens. Either plain whole wheat or five-grain. And, on Saturdays, the cinnamon rolls are tough to pass up.
		Red Baron Singles – Deep Dish Mini Pizzas These used to be my guilty little pleasure. Not anymore.
		High-Country Teriyaki Beef Jerky Okay, so maybe this is only found in Montana grocery stores. But, at least the High Country online store ships anywhere in the continental US. But, not to Singapore.
		Cherries I’ve already written about buying cherries in Singapore. Yes, the stores have cherries and, they are good. But, they are expensive, expensive, expensive! So, they are getting filed under not available here.
		Skor Another candy bar makes the list, but this is my favorite of all time. Hard butter toffee with a milk chocolate coating. No one in Asia has heard of it. Sorry state of affairs.
		Crest Regular Toothpaste It’s not something anyone spends much time thinking about. What, maybe a few minues a day? That is, until it doesn’t taste right. Then you think about it more. And it bugs you everytime you’re at the grocery store and all they sell are Colgate products.
		Advil Who wants to mess around with unknown brands when it comes to getting rid of a headache? No one, that’s who. Singapore has a pain killer called Panadol. It isn’t as effective. I’ll take the advanced medicine for pain!

So, there you have it. The top 15 items missing from my Singapore grocery store. And, I’m craving every one of them right now. Except the Advil, of course. But, I probably would be if I ate all that.

P.S. I do get great things in my Singapore grocery store that are not available back home. Like the most excellent mangoes ever. And great Thai fragrant rice. And tasty curry spices. And, many more things. So, this post isn’t a complaint… just a summary of my homesickness for familiar foods.

Check-out the demolition project across the street from the Taj Land’s End Hotel in Mumbai. Talk about a renewed perspective of hard labor.

Seriously, the entire building is being demolished brick by brick. Floor by floor. With sledge hammers.

And lots of laborers.

No explosives. No wrecking ball. No machinery.

Making a pile of bricks, the hard way

Someone explained the reason to me. Something about the building resting on reconstructed land along the coastline and close proximity to the Taj.

All I can say is. Wow.

Stuffed tiger decoration

The Chinese lunar calendar doesn’t always seem to be fair. That is, at least when it comes to the animal zodiac associations.

Don’t get me wrong. There’s nothing wrong with the ox.

But, how much more awesome is the tiger?

A lot more.

Tiger may be my second favorite zodiac animal.

But, what could be better tiger?

Dragon.

For sure, dragon beats tiger.

Chinese Lunar New Year is just around the corner. And that means Chinatown is all decked out with fancy decorations.

Welcome, Year of the Tiger!

Old colonial building behind hanging lanterns

Festive items & food sold in Chinatown

Dried fruits

Liquorice-flavored melon seeds

Old man singing

Here in Singapore, if you say, “does the line end here” people mostly just look at you with a confused look. That’s because it’s called a “queue” around these parts.

Sometimes the queues can be a bit frustrating.

Why?

Because they’re often long and move very slowly. Especially the taxi queues.

And there’s no reason for it.

Long taxi queue at Takashimaya

Instead of allowing multiple people to board multiple taxis simultaneously, the taxi queue directors only allow passengers to board one car at a time.

Argh.

It drives me crazy!

The queue can be a hundred people long, like at Takashimaya tonight… but, everyone still boards one car at a time.

Am I the ONLY person who notices the queue could move five times faster with a minor process change?

I miss lines. Queues are too slow.

Just call me iron chef, Greg-san.

After two weeks on my new ‘get fit’ diet, I haven’t fallen off the wagon. Yet.

Although, I am finding cooking healthy takes a bit more effort than, say, take-out.

Like the chicken teriyaki stir-fry I made tonight. About thirty minutes to make, versus… mmm, zero for take-out.

Anyway…

The recipe only requires 3 teaspoons of oil. So, it’s pretty low fat.

Start by preparing all the ingredients:

Cut two chicken breasts into bit-sizes pieces and marinade with 2 tablespoons teriyaki sauce and 1 tbsp sherry cooking wine.

Dice 1 medium sized onion and press 4 cloves garlic and a 1 inch, peeled ginger root.

Slice 1 green pepper, a half carton of mushrooms, several baby carrots and a few pineapple rings (dried with a paper towel).

Takes about 15 minutes to prepare everything

Warm 2 teaspoons of vegetable oil on medium heat, until it shimmers.

Put the chicken into the pan. Don’t stir. Let the meat brown on one side. Then use tongs to turn each piece and brown the opposite side.

Brown both sides for extra flavor

Take the chicken out of the pan and set aside. Rinse the pan.

Warm 1 teaspoon of oil, until shimmering. Then sauté the onion, ginger and carrots in the pan for several minutes, stirring occasionally until brown.

Smells really good, especially the ginger

Clear the center of the pan and add the garlic. Press flat. Cook until fragrant.

Next, throw in the green peppers and mushrooms. Pour in a bit of water, if things are sticking to the pan.

Fry until the vegetables are cooked.

Add the pineapple and sauté for two minutes.

Lower the heat to medium-low.

Add the chicken and pour ⅓ cup teriyaki sauce into the pan. Stir until all the ingredients are coated with sauce.

Serve with rice.

As Rachael Ray would say... YUMMO!

That’s “Happy New Year” in case you don’t read Chinese. Appropriate for my second New Year’s Eve in Singapore, I’d say.

Welcome to 2010. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

New Year's Eve fireworks from the apartment

Expensive. That sums up my grocery shopping experience in Singapore during the last eighteen months.

Especially for cherries.

Why must my favorite fruit cost so much!

Expensive cherries @ Singapore Paragon Marketplace

A conversion for those who need it:

1 kilogram = 2.2 pounds.

$47.90 Singapore dollars = $34.03 US dollars

Do the math.

Rainier Cherries cost nearly $15.50 USD a pound!

That’s a lot, especially considering cherries are in-season in Australia right now.

By my calculations, that’s about $13.50 a pound more than I’m used to paying.

That’s the pits.

One of my friends at work warned me to stay away from the shopping malls in Singapore on Christmas, but I didn’t heed her advice.

And, then paid the price.

Holy smokes!

I’ve never seen anything like it before. Literally, the Wisma Atria Mall walkways were jam-packed with people. Wall-to-wall. Front-to-back.

Apparently, the traditional “day after Christmas, rush the mall” activity common in America starts a day early here.

Or, perhaps it has something to do with stores offering great sales.

But, the only special deal I noticed was for huge crowds.

Christmas Day crowds @ Wisma Atria Mall

Three guys wondering why they didn't stay home

Bling! Bling!

Every Christmas season Singapore gets iced out. In a big way.

It’s flashy, over-the-top and beautiful all at the same time. And, you can almost hear that stereotypical sound as you roll down Orchard Road.

You need to see it to believe it. Hope this helps a bit…

Electric blue snowflake above Orchard Road

Electric blue snowflakes across Orchard Road (west)

Orchard ION shopping mall & Christmas tree

Thousands of blue orbs along Orchard Road

Christmas tree across Orchard Road (central)

Red stars across Orchard Road (east)

Thousands of red & white orbs along Orchard Road

Snowman orchestra - one of many carousels along Orchard Road