Who wants Chili Crab?!?!

One of the signature dishes you have to try when you come to Singapore is the Chili Crab. It consists of a delicious whole crab, smothered in a delicious chili sauce (not too spicy) with egg and generally served with fresh, hot rolls to dip in the sauce. It is awesome. The best way to enjoy this wonderful meal is with a group of friends. Accordingly, Vicky and I went out with a bunch of her co-workers to try some of the local delicacy.


On suggestion from one of the locals, we headed to Changi Village -- an outdoor food market of sorts -- to try some local dishes, including some chili crab. The location was great -- a lively collection of buildings housing numerous eateries and little shops. Our group of nine found the location and gathered for the feast. We started with a few pitchers of beer and scanned the nearby aquariums and cages to see what looked good that night. Like most places around here, your dinner can be seen swimming or hanging out just a few feet from where it will be prepared. We let Vicky's co-worker from Singapore do the ordering for us -- she seemed to know what to do.

In addition to the chili crab we were expecting, we also were treated to a number of other local favorites, including some black pepper crab -- a twist on the chili crab dish. (I think I actually liked this better than the chili crab.) Whole, fried, and crusted giant prawns, and "Singaporean escargot" started things off. The latter were some sort of conch shell with a little creature inside. You could see a small claw-like appendage sticking out of the shell, and used a toothpick to try and slide the meat out from inside the shell. A light dipping sauce accompanied the dish. (If you look close at the picture - the shells at the very bottom have portions of the creature sticking out).

In addition to the above, we ordered some stingray (dish on left in picture) in a really nice sauce and some mixed greens in a garlic sauce. All of the food was delicious -- and messy. As I have discussed before, the lack of napkins can be a bit daunting, especially with chili crab, as you generally eat this with your hands. Needless to say, the sauce, shell, and everything else seem to get everywhere. Luckily, the place at which we were eating had a sink ready for use that was taken advantage of a number of times throughout the meal. Even though the crabs come pre-cracked (for the most part), one still needs to dig in with their fingers, pull loose shell apart, and dig in to the luscious meat. Dipping the soft, warm buns into the delicious sauce can get messy as well!

All-in-all, it was a great night out with fun people, good food, and lots of laughs. If you make it this way, be sure to take some time and enjoy the chili crab! You will not be disappointed.

Hawkers stands and mall food

Food appears to be an important part of life here in Singapore. There are tons of cuisines to choose from and price ranges to fit every budget. Not matter where you are, there seems to be some choice of food within sight. Each of the shopping centers seems to have its own food court, as well as a number of nicer, higher end restaurants. Many areas of the city -- Chinatown, Little India, etc. -- have numerous restaurants and food stalls, as well. It really can be a daunting task just trying to decide what to have for lunch.

Like most places now a days, Singapore has all the great American institutions like McDonald's, Carl's Jr., Starbucks, KFC and even Chili's. You might as well skip all of these since 1) you can get them at home, 2) they aren't really cheaper than back home, and 3) the other food here is WAY better.

Although it can be intimidating heading into the food area in one of the malls, once you figure things out it is not that bad. First, if you are going to eat at one of the many food courts/hawker stand areas, don't forget to bring your packet of tissues. This will serve at least two purposes. One, napkins are not always readily available or provided at most of the food stalls. If you are used to using a napkin throughout a meal, you will likely need to provide your own. (Most of the places that serve messy foods do provide wet napkins, but it's better to play it safe.

The second, and probably more useful reason to bring a packet of tissues, is to save your seat. There is an unwritten rule here that a packet of napkins on a seat/table is reserved. Although some places are trying to discourage this habit, it comes in handy when places are very crowded. It also is nice when you are saving seats for a few friends, you usually don't have to keep telling people that the other 3 seats are taken -- generally, people see the tissues and move on.

Next, take your time and browse around a little. Most of the stalls specialize in one particular thing. Almost all of them have nice, color menus with pictures next to each dish they offer, along with the name. This makes is a lot easier when you have no idea what Mee Tai Mak (Rice noodle soup with fish balls -- no, not that kind) or Laksa (a spicy noodle soup) are. It can be a bit of a problem choosing when you see all the great looking food in the pictures, or just being cooked right in front of you. That is one other nice feature -- the kitchens are often right up front, not hidden away in the back. You can watch them prepare most of what you are going to eat. (This can also be a bad thing -- depending on what they are preparing ;-)

Finally, sit back and enjoy your meal.

Tropical Storms

Being by the equator, there is a lot of moisture and much rain here in Singapore. The occasional downpour in the middle of the day is to be expected. There have been a few times that I have risen from the depths of the shopping malls to find out that the clouds have moved in and decided to let loose with all the rain they had packed into them. Mostly, these showers are relatively short lived, but exciting -- ending within an hour or so.

Sometimes, the rain is accompanied by some thunder and lightning -- to add to the ominous effect. It is a pretty cool sight. Last night, however, things were pretty out of control.

Vicky and I were both awakened around 3 in the morning by a huge BOOM shaking the apartment. It wasn't just a loud clap of thunder, there seemed to be something more. The air sounded like it was sizzling with electricity. Then ... a bright flash of light, followed by another loud rumbling. Not just a short bang of thunder (which is how it normally occurs back home), but a long, drawn-out rumble, again accompanied by the electrifying sizzle of the air.

The burst came closer together and really lit up the sky. We peaked outside for a little while to watch the sky light up and the air shake with the powerful energy. It was as if Thor himself was coming to awaken the sleeping city/country of Singapore! (Okay, that might be a bit much, but if you get a chance to reference Thor in a blog, how do you pass it up?)

It was pretty cool to watch dazzling lighting and hear and feel the monstrous thunder booming in the night. The storms here are quite a bit different than those we have back in San Francisco. I was impressed to see there did not appear to be any flooding or huge messes from the storm coming morning's light. Singapore held off the terror of the skies ... for now!

Hiking in Singapore

Roughly in the middle of the country is a large natural preserve with a number of reservoirs and hiking trails. There is a really nice trail around the MacRitchie Reservoir which makes you feel (for the most part) that you are really out, away from the big city. The hike we chose was about 11 km (about 6.8 miles).

Being Singapore, there were plenty of signs telling us what not to do and the path was in excellent condition. A large section of the trail consists of a raised wood walking path set a foot or two above ground level so that people do not disturb the wildlife. Even though it was a Sunday, the trail was not too crowded.

The trail starts off (where we started) on a nice, gradual climb on a dirt path. Not more than 5 minutes into the walk, we already noticed the wildlife coming out to greet us. A whole group of monkeys were hanging in and around the path. They were looking for food, playing and just hanging out. Most of them were pretty playful and did not mind us stopping to take some pictures. There were a few temperamental ones that bared their teeth and hissed when we got near them. We were impressed that we got to see monkeys so soon into our hike.

Next stop was one of the main attractions on this trail -- the Tree Top Walk. It is a suspension bridge that is about 250m (750 ft.) long that rises over 75 feet over the ground. It literally takes you walking through the tree tops. It is very narrow and can only be crossed in one direction. The views are really nice and you can feel a nice cool breeze (which is always welcome in Singapore) up in the canopy. Well worth the trek out to walk across.

About halfway through the hike, there is another cool feature which doubles as a nice rest stop for a snack. It is a 4 story lookout tower in the middle of the trees. I am not quite sure if it was actually used for anything before, or just put in for the hikers. Either way, it is nice to get up into the breeze and sit a spell away from the animals so you can rest a few and have a snack. The views were nice, but they also dispel the myth that you are out in some wild jungle as you can see a few hundred yards away is a golf course.

After a short break, and a nice snack (rice balls, stuffed with different things -e.g. chicken, sweet beans or pork -- wrapped in a lotus leaf) it was time to finish the trail. Here, we had an option of staying in the trees, or walking along the water. We chose the water. There is a great wooden path built right alongside the reservoir which makes for an easy stroll around the water. Here, were saw some more wildlife, including turtles and a pretty large monitor lizard. The monitor was approx. 5 ft. long and right under the walkway. It scurried into the underbrush as we passed over him.

Overall, it was a great day at the reservoir. Hot and humid as usual, so make sure you bring plenty of water! It is a nice break to head to a jungle of trees as an escape from the jungle of shopping malls!

I am trying to add some pictures here, so hope they come through. Will add more when we download Vicky's pictures as I think she got some better shots.

Singapore -- The City below the City

Singapore is an amazing country/city. It is incredibly small (about 275 sq. miles), but has a lot crammed into that small package. To call this place a shopping mecca would be an understatement. You can plainly see this just walking down the main shopping district -- Orchard Road. Malls shoot up on all sides, with brilliant displays and signs showcasing every imaginable item. (There do not appear to be any zoning issues as "adult" shops are right next to clothing stores and electronics.)

The real interesting part, however, is when you step off the main road into one of the shopping cathedrals and go underground...

Not only are the large shopping centers five, six, ten stories tall; each of them seem to reach as far into the earth as well. There is a whole extra city below your feet. And I don't just mean each mall has its own sub-levels. Most of them are intertwined, creating a huge network of connected shopping centers spanning (what appears to be) miles under the city streets.

One of the reasons for this is undoubtedly access to the very clean, efficient (SF could learn from this!), and economical public transportation: the MRT. It is akin to BART, but nice, clean, timely and generally comfortable. As the MRT runs underground, it makes sense to put some shops down there as well to aid in the comfort of the commuters. It sure is nice to be able to step off the MRT and grab a cold beverage or a light snack for your walk above ground (if required) to your destination. This need/desire for a cold beverage leads to the next major reason...

The weather. Singapore is a mere 85 miles north of the equator. Thus the weather is constantly hot, humid and muggy. It sometimes takes a concerted effort just to breath the thick air. (Okay, a bit of an overexaggeration, but it gets the point across -- or just shows that I am really out of shape.) Walking out in the humidity tends to get uncomfortable. Thus, huge expanses of underground passages -- fully air conditioned for the shopper/commuter's comfort. It wouldn't be good to show up to the important business meeting or first date dripping with sweat, right?

Needless to say, there is a lot more to see in Singapore than just what you see on the surface. The city below, with the shops, MRT and vast array of hawker stands (i.e. food stalls), is an adventure in itself. I am sure I'll write more about the food soon, as that seems to be a big part of life out here and there are tons of places to try and a large variety of cuisines to sample.

I'll try to add some pictures soon, but wanted to give everyone a quick update on some of the first impressions I have from settling in here in Singapore. More soon!