1 – New Friends: Meeting the real locals
This is a sure sign that the world is shrinking. Disney said it best, “It’s a small world”. We’re all on line to take the same ride – life 
Background intro… Erin belongs to an online email book club with friends from Chicago. Desiree, is one of the participants and as it happens is Singaporean and is home through Chinese New Year’s in February. She works from home, and “home” can be Chicago or S’pore! How perfect is that! Erin told Desiree that we just moved to S’pore and Erin e-troduced us. So last Friday night Mick and I met with Desiree and her Dad, Peter. Desiree’s Mom unfortunately couldn’t make it. Desiree is some sort of writer, I think. Peter is an optometrist and owns several optical shops. Cool! I need new glasses.
We met at the Lagoon Hawker’s Center out on the East Coast. I told Desiree that we would leave the meal up to them and that we were interested in experiencing the foods they eat when they go out. Desiree told us that she grew up eating at this hawker’s center and they knew the stall owners, so Peter went to order our dinner. It was a delicious meal of the famous Fish Head (Stew), cereal prawns, clams, noodles, and a salad that looked like meat with gravy but really consisted of fried tofu, pineapples and other things not readily recongnized under the ‘gravy’. It’s not something you go and pick out for yourself at the salad bar. Sweet and savory at the same time. I know, this probably isn’t the worst thing you’ve read after you got past the fish head! Really it’s a must try and not as digusting as it sounds, it wasn’t looking back at us. Sauce hides all evils!
yeah, it’s a little off-putting
After dinner Peter offers to drive us home. He took the scenic route… a not so touristy look at Singapore… through the Geylang district. Got the “district” part? Yes, hookers everywhere plying their wares and their wiles. I watched one gal try to get her John, but he wasn’t interested, when Peter said, see that gal (the one I was observing), it’s a man! I don’t know how he could tell, she looked better as a woman than I do! You can tell some by their adam’s apple but I didn’t notice. It was quite an eye opener. I’m not sure that prostitution is legal per se, the government just looks the other way but it’s mostly confined to this area. Fun night, good food and new friends.
2 – You thought I was kidding about toast eateries here.
We’re not talking about the ubiquitous piece of browned dough that sits next to your all-day breakfast at Denney’s. This eatery is at my local mall. They are the Starbuck’s of bread. I went with coffee and the traditional toast. Not really knowing what to expect, I got this:
Looks fairly innocent. But I forgot to tell them that I wanted my coffee black. NO, that is not a piece of cheese in my toast, it is the food of the gods… butter!!!!! A slab of rich, artery clogging, sweet butter. Oh there’s a bit of jam in there too but who cares when there’s that much butter And how civilized, they cut the crust off! I love this place.
Mick and I went there for breakfast over the weekend but that turned out not to be quite the Denney’s experience as we hoped. They serve eggs with toast, one way… soft boiled. Although on the menu card it’s nicely sunnyside up. Don’t be fooled. You crack them into a bowl and dip your toast. Soft boiled is one thing but this is salmonella in a shell. Don’t they know that chickens pop these things out of their BUTTS!!! I need it to be cooked even just a little more than ooze. Ookey is about the only polite way to describe it. And Mick thought the fish head was going to be gross. They do serve good coffee
Well, that’s it for now. I’ll try and post maybe once during the week and once again after the weekend. Check back.
