Number Eight Singapore Flyer

15 December 2012

For our first trip to Malaysia, we decided to go somewhere a bit off the main path, which turned out to be Rimba Resort on Sibu Island (Palau Sibu), off the east coast of the Malaysian peninsula. "Resort" is a relative term, since we were in thatched huts with cold showers, but on quiet inlet with a "house reef" reachable by a 10-minute swim. Rimba arranged a van for us from Singapore, which was able to take us through immigration and customs without disembarking (as you need to do with a bus). The drive up took us through lots and lots of oil-palm plantations (many of which replaced rubber plantations), with some swaths of dense forest interspersed. The roads got progressively narrower, until we got to a small jetty and payed our 5-ringgit (~$1.70) embarkation fee before taking a 45-minute ride in a small boat to get there. The food was reasonable, though I would have enjoyed more local dishes. One of the main reasons for the trip was to get in some snorkeling before monsoon season. We managed to go every day, sometimes more than once. In addition to the reef at the edge of the inlet, we tagged along on some dive trips to little islets nearby. We'd get dropped on the islet while others would go off for dives. Saw a decent amount of sea life the various places we went, including large clams of all colors. The islets were also great places for beachcombing, with tons of shells of different sizes. As per usual in tropical places, I was covered up with dive skins and sun shirt against the sun. However, I neglected to do something with the top of my feet when I took my fins off to walk on the sand, resulting in a real nasty burn there. It was good, though, to see the sun without the haze that was constantly over Singapore at the time. There were a coupe of thunder cells that passed through, but they provided time to go read by the bar.

We went to see a third NUS dance group, Dance Synergy, at the Cultural Centre. DS started as a jazz ballet group but has branched out into other forms of modern dance. The performance was titled "R.E.M.", and the different numbers represented dreams at different points through the night -- drifting off, deep sleep, anxiety dreams, coming awake. We continue to be impressed by the quality of dancing in NUS groups. With exams and the holiday break, there hasn't been much going on recently at the UCC. We're hoping events will pick up once NUS is back in session.

The next afternoon we headed in to the theaters at Marina Bay Sands, to see a touring show called "Nanta", which is essentially Stomp meets Korean cookery. The premise is that three chefs must prepare a wedding feast, having just been saddled with the manager's nephew as a helper. The story is mostly a device to let the actors play Korean samul nori percussion rhythms on pots, bowls and chopping blocks instead of traditional instruments. By virtue of having a seat on the aisle not far from the front, I ended up in costume on stage at one point, as a taster for a dish being prepared. I am also apparently married to another person in the audience.

The budget airline terminal was closed recently, with the flights moving into one of the main terminals. They are tearing it down to expand the regular terminal space. As near as I can figure out, it has been open for just six years. Structures are often rebuilt here at a point where they would still be considered not that old by US standards. I think there are several things going on:

- The climate, with the heat, humidity and rain, is hard on structures.

- Singaporeans gravitate to the new -- malls have to renovate often to keep customers coming.

- The need for expansion. The new building will have more stories than the old.

- "Intensity of use" -- a given parcel of space will have many more people in it in a day compared to most places in the US. Thus spaces wear out faster.

Kaye's docent training for the Peranakan Museum is astonishingly complete. One of the items you see in various museums is a betel set, often silver, with little canisters and a device between a scissors and a nutcracker to divide the nut. Hospitality for guests usually began with betel. You might notice I haven't said "betel nut", which turns out to be a misnomer. A betel "quid" is wrapped in betel leaves, but it actually has fragments of areca nut, which is from a palm tree. A quid will typically include lime (calcium hydroxide, not the juice), and spices. Some are made with tobacco. The alkalinity of the lime helps keep the active ingredient in the nut in easily absorbed form. The leaf is so you can crush and suck on the nut without swallowing it. It's interesting that a country that bans chewing gum allows quids, especially since they turn your saliva red, and people who chew them are prone to spitting.

As part of my continuing culinary eduction being conducted by my Dean, we went, with Kaye and some PhD students, for duck rice. This isn't roast duck as you mostly get, but duck stewed with spices and served over rice. It is a Teochew dish, I believe, and it is yummy. One of the options is "spare parts" -- chopped up bits of heart, liver, etc.

One of the things I bribe myself with here is Bak Kwa, which I can best describe as "pork jerky". It is bits of pork mixed with sugar and spices and cooked (or dried?) in large flat sheets. Utterly addictive. It's not cheap, but Kaye is good as spotting specials or finding "remnants" for sale -- smaller pieces that result from trimming the large sheets into squares.

One weekend afternoon Kaye and I headed off after a special Indonesian layer cake, to take along to a dinner. (She had gotten advice on where to buy one from some of her "aunties" in her docent study group.) On the way, we stopped off in Tiong Bahru to have lunch and look around. "Tiong Bahru" is "graves new" in Chinese + Malay, and was the second cemetery area after the one nearer the center of town was displaced. We came across several graves on a hillside when we ascended to use a pedestrian overpass, and have since noticed another one from the bus when passing through. Tiong Bahru was the site of one of the first apartment developments in the 1930s, and some of the Art Deco apartment blocks have been listed as historic places and hence preserved. It's interesting to get a look back at the scale of the first apartments (3-4 stories) compared to what has replaced them (20-30 stories, or storeys, if you prefer). Not long after it was completed, it acquired the name "Den of Beauties", as men with the means would house their mistresses there. The Tiong Bahru food centre has a good reputation, and we both got good meals via the stratagem of "stand in the longest line". While stall owners are anxious to get your orders and keep the line moving, they are almost always willing to explain how to eat something: mix this with that, take some of these peppers in vinegar to dip your food in.

From Tiong Bahru we went to the Great World City shopping center to get the cake (and some pistachio cookies for us). Kaye wanted to look around some more, so I took the cake home in a cab. I had a great conversation with "taxi uncle". He suggested we go for coffee, and eat the cake. He also told me about "German coffee" -- full cream heated to almost boiling with instant coffee and sugar. He wanted to know what I thought about Obama (this was shortly before the election)*. He seemed well read, but when I enquired, he said he didn't read newspapers, or listen to news on radio or TV. He said he would rather look at plants and birds. He asked how I liked Singapore, and the conversation got around to how my wife liked to take pictures of the food we have. He said he likes food centres, and driving a taxi means he has tried them all over the island. He also takes pictures of his meals, and pulled out his cell phone to show me. He also recommended an area nearby to where we live, Ghim Moh, has having a good food centre and wet market. Alas -- haven't gotten over there yet.

We do get some US news here, but unfortunately, it is sometimes garbled. For example, I just read an article in the sports section that said the LA Clippers are leading the NBA.

*From what I can tell, Obama would have won by a landslide in Singapore. I saw an international poll where he led in every country surveyed except Pakistan.